LA PORTE, INDIANA: An Indiana mother in her mid-30s who murdered and butchered her husband up into pieces is going to spend the rest of her life behind bars.
Thessalonica Allen, 36, also made her two young children help her put his dismembered body parts into bags and load them into the victim’s car.
On Friday, September 30, LaPorte County Circuit Court Judge Thomas J Alevizos ordered Allen to serve a sentence of 63 years in a state correctional facility for the slaying of Randy Allen, Law and Crime reports.
What charges does Allen face?
A jury in July deliberated for less than 30 minutes before finding Allen guilty on one count each of murder, abuse of a corpse, and altering the scene of a death, as well as two counts each of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and neglect of a dependent.
The judge explained that the evidence presented in court showed that Allen deserved a particularly severe sentence for her crimes, adding that the aggravating factors in the case far outweighed the mitigating factors for sentencing.
The aggravating factors were listed as “evidence that this matter was premeditated, both prior and post event,” and that Allen showed “a lack of remorse,” as per court records.
Judge Alevizos also pointed out the “tremendous psychological effect on the children” Allen’s actions and the fact that she “placed blame on her youngest child.”
When did Thessalonica Allen kill her husband?
On July 27, 2021, Allen fatally shot her husband inside their family home while their children, both under 16, were present at the residence.
Investigators who spoke to the children said both reported hearing a “loud bang” and running into their mother’s bedroom, where they found their father lying on the floor urging them to dial the emergency services.
However, Allen prevented them from doing so and sent them back to their rooms. The evil mother then woke the children later that night and told them to help her drag their father’s corpse outside the house and into his car.
But the three were finding it difficult to move the corpse as it was too heavy. Prosecutors said this led Allen to resort to even more horrific and desperate measures to get rid of the body.
How did Thessalonica Allen try to dispose her husband's body?
The detectives said that the children told them that their mother went out the next day and brought back an assortment of cleaning supplies and an ax, which she reportedly used to dismember Randy Allen’s corpse.
Allen then had the children help her place the body parts in a tote bag, but it was still too heavy for them to move.
The children told investigators that their mother said she planned to load Randy Allen’s body into his car and drive it to a location in South Bend where she would set it on fire, but the body remained too heavy for the three to move.
When did the authorities get to know about the crime?
Police were informed about the situation by a man who had previously been in a relationship with Thessalonica Allen and was the father of one of the children.
The man allegedly told the authorities that Thessalonica Allen called and told him to go to the apartment because Randy Allen was beating their child.
The man found the father's body upon his arrival and Thessalonica Allen confessed to killing him, saying it was because he was beating their child.
When Allen asked him to help move the body, he declined and asked to be driven back home. The man further claimed that during the drive back to his home, Thessalonica Allen threw a gun out of the car window.
Where did the authorities find Allen?
Police officers later found Thessalonica Allen in LaPorte, Indiana, in the parking lot of an Ace Hardware. According to the arrest report, when officers made contact, she started to cry and said, “You guys don’t understand, he beats me.” She then confessed to killing Randy Allen, saying she shot him after tried to strangle her.
“She then admitted she had to cut Randy’s legs off because she wasn’t able to fit him inside the tote,” police wrote in the affidavit. “She stated she panicked and did not know what to do after she had shot him. She stated she used an ax to cut his legs off.”
