A mother daughter duo is charged with murder after the wife poisons husband over and over again until his death finally took.
Wife poisons husband with his step daughter’s help
Their murderous actions are what is believed to be a villainous scheme to get their hands on his life savings.
Marsha Allen and her adult daughter, Ashley Jones, are accused of poisoning Harold Allen by adding various toxic substances to his food and drinks.
These different poisons included an ingredient found in antifreeze, a toxic plant purchased on Etsy, and poisonous seeds they bought off of eBay.
Harold, 52, was discovered deceased in Freetown, Indiana, after consuming a root beer float laced with deadly ethylene glycol in December 2022.
Initially, no foul play was suspected in his death, but police soon suspected that his wife and stepdaughter were behind Harold’s demise.
Marsha Allen and Ashley Jones, 30, were formally charged with two counts of murder, one count of conspiracy to commit murder, one count of consumer product tampering, and two counts of attempted murder, on Friday.
Wife poisons husband but isn’t charged until she’s already dead
In a surprising twist, though she was charged, Marsha Allen has been dead since October 2023, when she was suspected of committing suicide in her home.
Even weirder, Jones, who was in police custody at the time, revealed to authorities that her mother had poisoned Harold Allen’s root beer float.
In September of last year, Jones ordered two men to Steven White and Nathaniel Kane Napier, to help her carry out a residential burglary.
According to a police report, they made off with jewelry and firearms from the location, but were eventually nabbed by police.
While being interviewed about the crime by police, White told them that Marsha Allen previously “murdered her husband by poisoning him somehow.”
Jones implicated her mother in the crime, but her involvement was revealed when law enforcement officials got a hold of her phone.
Police dug into her text messages, which allegedly indicated that money was behind the murder, with discussions about getting their hands on “all his retirements and saving.”
Further investigation revealed multiple attempts to poison Harold Allen. Detectives discovered two email accounts linked to Jones, one of which used a “Hide My Email” feature, which ironically ended up tying her to the crime.
Mother and daughter finally succeed in plot to kill husband
The emails shed light on more attempts by the mother daughter duo to poison Harold.
Marsha and Ashley had purchased poisonous seeds from an eBay seller in September 2022 and baked these seeds into a batch of brownies.
In a November 28, 2022 message, Marsha reportedly told Jones, “I am irritated and can’t sleep peacefully. I need this to be over… I wish it would reach its climax and be done lol.”
Jones reportedly replied, “Same.”
In November 2022, they allegedly poisoned Harold’s chili, which sent him to the emergency room. He returned home two days later with a diagnosis of inflamed intestines.
Three days later, Marsha and Jones bought a water hemlock plant, which is wildly toxic, on Etsy.
For several consecutive days, the mother and daughter reportedly added the plant’s leaves to Harold’s chili, soda, and margarita.
Miraculously, he also survived these attempts at ending his life, but that’s when his alleged killers upped the anti.
Ultimately, on December 13, the duo bought ethylene glycol, the poison they would put into his root beer float and kill him with.
Jones eventually confessed to buying the poison, but said it was her mother who put it in Harold’s drink.
Police conducted a search at Marsha Allen’s home, seized all of her electronic devices, and interviewed her about Harold’s murder.
She was released from police custody without being charged. Shortly after, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department received a call that Marsha’s family could not reach her.
When they arrived at her home, “officers found Marsha deceased with no signs of violence,” in what is suspected to have been a suicide.
Jackson County’s prosecuting attorney, Jeffrey Chalfant, stated they are seeking a life sentence without parole for Jones. Her trial is scheduled for January 7, 2025.
