Woman accused of killing husband, mutilating his corpse
UPDATE: On September 29, a judge sentenced Allen to 63 years in prison.
ORIGINAL STORY:
LA PORTE COUNTY, Ind. -- A La Porte County woman is accused of killing her husband, dismembering his body and placing his remains in a tote with the assistance of her minor children, according to court records.
Thessalonica Allen has been charged with murder, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor-crime is a F6 and child is under 16, abuse of a corpse, altering the scene of death, interference with the reporting of a crime, and two counts of neglect of a dependent - places dependent in situation that endangers the dependent.
Randy Allen was killed on July 27 and Thessalonica was charged on Monday.
The charging documents detail how police learned of Randy's body, how he was allegedly killed and how the mother allegedly asked the children to help her hide the body.
On an unspecified date, Thessalonica asked her ex to come to her house because her current husband, Randy, was harming the child the two have together.
When he arrived, Thessalonica showed him Randy's body inside her closet, reports said.
Thessalonica allegedly asked her former partner for help moving the body, reports said.
He refused and asked Thessalonica to take him back to Michigan.
During the drive, Thessalonica told her ex she had to shoot Randy because he was beating on her and the kids, according to the probable cause affidavit.
When she dropped her ex off in Michigan, Thessalonica threw a gun out of the vehicle and he kept it, reports said.
The ex then called 9-1-1.
After receiving the 9-1-1 call, La Porte Police began searching for Thessalonica. She was eventually located outside a hardware store.
When police approached her and identified themselves, she began crying and said, "You guys don't understand he beats me," according to the probable cause affidavit.
During an interview with detectives, Thessalonica confessed she shot her husband Randy after they got into an argument, and physical altercation, reports said.
Thessalonica said she came home and her kids said Randy had beaten them.
She and Randy got into an argument, then Randy grabbed her by the neck, reports said.
Randy let her go and she thought he was walking away, but she saw him come at her again, so she grabbed her gun and shot him once, according to the probable cause affidavit.
She told police his body was in her daughter's closet, reports said.
In a second interview, Thessalonica admitted to cutting off his legs with an axe because he didn't fit in the tote, reports said.
In an interview with her children, the children said Randy was helping them with homework when Randy saw a website their mom had visited. When Thessalonica got home, he confronted her about it and they began to argue. Randy and Thessalonica went into their bedroom to continue the argument, reports said.
The kids then heard a loud bang and ran to their mom's bedroom. There, they saw Randy on the ground asking for help. He asked the kids to call 9-1-1, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Their mom told them not to call 9-1-1 but to go to their room, reports said.
In the middle of the night, Thessalonica woke the children up and asked them to help her drag Randy's body out of the room and load it into a vehicle. They made several attempts, but he was too heavy, the kids told police.
The next day, the kids saw their mom come home with cleaning supplies and an axe. She then asked them to help her drag the body back into her bedroom, reports said.
Wednesday night Thessalonica woke the children up and asked them to help put Randy's body in a tote, according to the probable cause affidavit.
One of the children told police she saw Randy's legs had been cut off and his legs were in a plastic bag, reports said.
Thessalonica then asked the children to help her load the tote into her vehicle, the kids told police. She had planned to take the body to South Bend and set it on fire, according to information the children told police. They were unable to get Randy's body into the vehicle because it was still too heavy, reports said.
The children also told police they only heard verbal arguing and never saw a physical altercation. They said during the argument, Randy was getting his things and leaving, according to the probable cause affidavit.
The kids said they did not see their mom with a gun on her person that day, but that she usually carried it in her purse or car, reports said.
Police executed a search warrant at Thessalonica's apartment. They located an axe and knife and a red substance in her bedroom, reports said. Randy's body was found in a bag in a closet in the children's room, police said.
There were several notes in the home as well. They are written as described in the probable cause affidavit.
One note said:
- Get drugs from friend
- Get ziplock bags
- When Randy is in shower, get pawn tickets out of wallet
- Put gun/drugs in car under seat while in car
- Call Hearthside and tell them Rand had drugs and gun in car
A second note said:
- Spray [expletive deleted] in face, hit him in right knee w/hammer
- Hit w/hammer/stab him
- Roll body up in sheets & plastic bags
- Pick up Jay no phones, Jay follows me to LP, put body in Lincoln w/his Boost phone leave Jay car here
- Take my keys and his car key off the ring
A third note said
Go to SB, Jay follow me back to LaPorte put body in Lincoln, Drive to SB, leave body in car while running, Jay brings me back to LP. While doing this be on "compt" doing ATI.
An autopsy was conducted on Randy's body on July 31. It revealed he had a gunshot wound to the right arm that entered his chest/abdomen and the spinal cord. The location of the round kept Randy from moving after he was shot, according to reports.
When his body was located, the legs had been cut off and there had been an attempt to amputate the left arm, according to the probable cause affidavit.