The Root Beer Float Murder

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2:58Marsha Allen called 911. Do you want to start CPR if I help you?

3:06She appears to be crying on the call. She appears to start getting a little panicked.

3:21First responders get there. What did they find? They found Harold Allen unresponsive. He was dead. Yes.

3:35Harold and Marsha Allen had only been married for a year, year and a half. When this happened, Harold had had some health problems, so it wasn't initially a huge surprise that he would have died. And what was the cause of death determined to be at that time? It was heart problems. About six months after Harold's death, Marsha wrote a self-help book about grief and losing someone that you loved. About Harold, she says, he was my world. The grief I was experiencing after my husband passed away was unbearable and still is. Well, this is just a grieving woman missing her husband.

4:31A burglary call come over the radio. Our detectives were going to Marsha's house. We start investigating the burglary, and in the process, we're told there's a murder involved here. This one is a murder, okay? I know that. I have not gone to nobody and started anything because I don't have no proof on it. Stephen White told me that Marsha Allen had killed her husband Harold by poisoning a root beer float.

5:04Marsha went into the kitchen and made a root beer float with whipped cream and sprinkles on top of it. And just poured something out of a bottle into the air. Poison is unique. I think you see it in movies because it makes a good show, but it's not normally how homicide or death is carried out. The toxicology report came back. Ethylene glycol was in Harold's system. It's the main component in antifreeze. If you're consuming ethylene glycol, you're not going to know. You're not going to smell it. You're not going to taste it. If you put it in a root beer float with ice cream and root beer, you're not going to know until it's too late.

5:44I think if the burglary wouldn't have happened, there would be no way that we would know about it at all.

5:57Peter Van Sant reports the Root Beer Float Murder.

6:06Right now we're probably about a half mile north of where Marsha Allen and Harold Allen lived. When Harold Allen died suddenly in his home in Freetown, Indiana, just a few days before Christmas 2022. The driveway going up to the Allen residence would have been right there. Lieutenant Adam Nicholson, an investigator with the Jackson County Sheriff's Department, says no one suspected anything out of the ordinary. 20 years on the job, I never thought I would see a case like this. Harold's younger brother Matthew and his wife Samantha knew he had been dealing with some serious health issues. He was bigger.

6:47He was diabetic. Including painful gastrointestinal problems which had sent him to the emergency room on multiple occasions late that year. I think one time they thought it was, what was it like? Diverticulitis, they said. Yeah, diverticulitis. On Thanksgiving 2022, as the family was enjoying their holiday feast, Matthew noticed that Harold all of a sudden looked distressed. We were eating dessert, and he looked up at me. His eyes got wide, like he was kind of scared. And I was like, what's wrong? He goes, the left side of my face just went numb. I said, I'm either calling an ambulance or I'm taking you to the hospital right now.

7:34And he's like, well, just give me a second. Despite the family's urging to get medical help, Harold refused. Marsha was just like standing there and I was like, well, he needs to go to the hospital. And she was like, I've been telling him that he needs to get there. Harold's mystifying health condition worsened in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Doctors struggled to diagnose exactly what was ailing him. Then came December 20, 2022, when Marsha made a disturbing discovery and placed that 911 call. I worked from home. I went back there to check on him because he's been sick. He was just laying the floor like he was trying to get up in the bathroom or something.

8:16He's not breathing.

8:2152-year-old Harold, the oldest of three brothers, had spent his life in this quiet, rural part of southern Indiana, where everyone knew this imposing man as Peanut. I thought his name was Peanut until I was about six or seven years old. That's a true story. My brother was born premature, and my grandma said he's no bigger than a peanut. I had a close family, but it was nothing like the Allens. When they were together, all the pieces of the puzzle were there. He self-taught himself, like, the guitar and manned him, and he played harmonicas. You really looked up to your brother, right? Oh, yeah.

9:09Like, he became a controls engineer. Super smart. I wish I was as smart as him. Jackson County Sheriff's Department Detective Clint Burcham says Harold worked for a global automotive supply company. A local factory in Seymour, Indiana, Eisen Manufacturing. He liked riding his motorcycles. He had a Harley motorcycle that he rode for years. He went deer hunting and fishing. We did fish a lot. Enjoying a full life, Harold became nostalgic about his high school days. In 2019, he decided to attend his 30th reunion. The Austin, Indiana High School reunion. It was there that the twice-divorced Harold spotted former classmate Marsha Buxton.

9:57They didn't even really speak in high school, but at this reunion is when they started a conversation and just blossomed from there. Divorced herself with an adult daughter, Marsha and Harold began dating. About two years later, the couple married in July of 2021. What kind of life did they lead together as a married couple? They liked to travel. They liked the Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Pigeon Forge area, Branson, Missouri. The following year, Marsha's daughter, Ashley Jones, and her five-year-old daughter moved in with Harold and Marsha. Samantha says Harold, who had no children of his own, welcomed them with open arms.

10:44Peanut always wanted children. He always wanted a family. And he enjoyed being called Grandpa. Ashley was a young widow. Her 33-year-old husband, Ty Jones, had died suddenly three years earlier. What were the circumstances of his death? Ty Jones died of some heart complications is what the autopsy said. Describe the relationship between Ashley and her mother, Marsha. Were they close? They were very close. Every day, Marsha Allen would send Ashley Jones a message saying, good morning, baby girl, every single morning. The house was now full with three generations, and Harold seemed to enjoy his instant extended family.

11:29He cared about what everybody else was feeling and just wanted everyone to be happy. At the time, Harold's autopsy concluded his death was caused by multiple serious cardiac issues, including pericarditis and inflammation of the sac around the heart. Practically still a newlywed, Marsha was now a widow. Heartbroken, she turned to writing about her grief. After Harold Allen died, his wife, Marsha Allen, publishes a book. Self-published, it was intended to be a guide for others going through what she was. She says that this is an intimate glimpse of what I went through when my husband died. She writes about survivor's guilt, that she was suffering with that.

12:24She says that her book is a beacon of hope, finding the strength and courage to move forward and learning a new way to live. How to grieve a loss of a significant other. Marsha would soon face another challenge. Nine months after Harold's death, Lieutenant Nicholson was monitoring a call where investigators were dispatched to that break-in at Marsha's. The case, to me, started like any other case. A burglary call come over the radio. Our detectives were going to Marsha's house. Security cameras had captured two men breaking into her home. We start investigating the burglary. In the process, we're told, you know, well, there's a murder involved here.

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16:06In September of 2023, Marsha Allen was vacationing in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, known for its beautiful fall colors and hiking trails. Little did she know that about 350 miles away, two burglars were exploring the inside of her home. The burglary happened, I want to say, at 4.30 in the morning. She had recently put a home security system in her house. The app for the system notified Marsha that there'd been movement on her home's cameras while she slept. When she reviewed the video, she could see two men opening her home's safe and rifling through her bedroom and jewelry. She could watch them go through the house.

16:54There was a lot of stuff taken, pretty major burglary. One of the burglars caught Marsha's eye. Incredibly, he was someone she recognized. His name was Stephen White.

17:09Marsha immediately called local police in Indiana to report the break-in. Marsha Allen described Stephen White as her daughter Ashley Jones' best friend, really close friend. Why would her own daughter's best friend burglarize Marsha's home? Ashley had moved to Missouri in the months following Harold's death, so Marsha had been living alone. Reviewing the images, investigators noticed the burglars had come prepared. It seemed like they knew right where to go, and the other thing was that they knew the code to the safe. Within hours, police found Stephen White living at his mother's home nearby.

17:51Investigators quickly made a house call. If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, one will be provided for you free of cost if you desire one. So do you understand your rights? Yes, sir. Okay, so you have any idea why we're here today? Well, they said that y 'all got me on camera last night burglarizing the place. Did you know anything about it? No. But the wonders of technology did not allow White to lie for long. I got a picture here. Can I see it? Nicholson had a security camera screenshot of White committing the burglary on his phone. And that's just one of the five that they sent us. And they got video, too.

18:29And we got video. That's just a still shot from a video. Hold on, let me see here. I mean, I really do not have a hat. I don't even have a hat. Unable to deny it, Nicholson says White admitted to burglarizing Marsh's home. This woman has hated me for years, but I'm best friends with her daughter. Okay. What's the daughter's name? Ashley Jones. Then, stunningly, White said something else. Based on information he claimed, Ashley had told him that Marsha was responsible for her husband's death. This woman is a f***ing murderer, okay? I know that. I have not gone to nobody and said anything because I don't have no f***ing proof on it.

19:12This woman's a psychopath. And I'm telling you guys that right now. Harold Allen was her husband. She set a life insurance policy for him, went and married him. White then revealed how Marsha allegedly cashed in on the policy. Stephen White told me that Marsha Allen had killed her husband, Harold, by poisoning a root beer float. White even knew the details of how the float was made. Marsha went into the kitchen and made a root beer float with whipped cream and sprinkles on top of it. And just poured something out of a bottle into there. Police placed White under arrest. But as they did, he had one more surprise about the burglary.

19:57He claimed Marsha's daughter was the mastermind. White told police Ashley had mailed him a key to Marsha's house and given him the combination to the safe, unaware her mother had installed those home security cameras. He also told investigators where they could recover everything stolen the night before. including guns and jewelry. We found the guns where he told us they were. He told me who the other suspect was and found that suspect wearing Harold Allen's jewelry. And I told Detective Bertram, I said, you know, everything that Stevens told us up to this point has been true. I said, I feel like we at least have to ask her about Harold and Harold's death.

20:42After notifying police, Marcia had driven home from her vacation. The next morning, she arrived at the sheriff's department to discuss the burglary. So that's your husband's ring or your husband's? That's my husband's ring. They got his mandolin. They got a bunch of his collectible Star Wars stuff. Investigators at first made no mention of Stephen White's murder allegation, instead treating the interview as part of the burglary investigation, asking Marsha what was missing. I have a picture of me wearing the sapphire earrings and necklace at our wedding. Yeah, if you think it'll help identify anything and we start going through stuff.

21:20They also discussed Ashley's potential involvement. You said you talked to your daughter. What is she saying? She's denying it. She goes, he's trying to drag me down. I'm like, Ashley, I said I have proof. Marcia said the proof was that White knew her safe's combination. She's only other than me would do the combination. I would never give it out to anybody, ever. Did you already have a plan to ask her about this murder allegation? Yes. Then after talking about the burglary, basically I end up telling her, you know, this has been brought to our attention. I can tell you we... Detective Burcham told Marsha what Stephen had claimed.

21:59He accused you of murdering your husband. I did not murder my husband. Poisoning in his drink. Marsha was defiant and seemed to have an answer for everything. That would show me a toxicology report if that happened. Was there an autopsy done? Yes. There was an autopsy. Autopsy and toxicology. He died because he had periodontics that was unattractive. I'm just telling you what he said. He's lying. Okay. No emotion, no anything. Didn't even catch her off guard. Marsha denied any involvement, but Stephen White had given other details to police, things he said he'd heard from Ashley, telling investigators that Marsha's text messages would contain incriminating evidence.

22:43We wanted to see if she would have any text messages that possibly said anything about a murder of her husband. Would you be willing to consent to download your cell phone? Yeah. Burcham left Marsha alone to get the paperwork for the download. And while I'm gone from the interview room, Marsha ends up deleting items off of her phone. Marsha didn't realize that what she deleted could easily be recovered. and those texts revealed a sinister plot. There are numerous text messages between her and Ashley, and it starts to become evident that there's something going on, that they were indeed trying to poison Harold Allen.

23:31I'm seeing the same thing he's seeing. He's calling me, I'm calling him, like, did you read page 10 ,578? And he's like, no, I haven't got that far yet. For mother and daughter, it seemed Harold's death couldn't come soon enough. With Marsha texting Ashley, he just needs to let go. Ultimately, we all agreed that, yes, we've got a murderer here. She gave him a root beer flow with poison.

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