The Man Who Loved Christmas

0:00Based on the best-selling novel. I was hired to help Verity write. Verity had a car accident. She'll let her walk or talk again. On October 2nd, discover the truth. This place is insane. Yeah, here you are. About Verity. She was standing right there. She can't walk. I know what I saw. Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartman. I feel like I'm losing my mind. Morning, darkness ahead. Verity, directed by Michael Showalter. Rated R, under 17, nine, a meter without parent. October 2nd. With no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder the Capital One bank guy is so passionate about banking with Capital One.

0:38If he were here, he wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums. He'd also talk about how Capital One cafes are open seven days a week to assist with your banking needs. Yep, even on weekends. That's pretty much all he talks about. In a good way. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com slash Bank Guy. Capital One N.A. member FDIC. Tonight on Dateline. I will never again be able to hug my brother. The three of you. The three brothers against the world. This guy that meant everything to me was worth absolutely nothing to them. He knew that he had been struggling and sick. He was diabetic.

1:22He had some cardiovascular issues. The autopsy report says that he died from natural causes. About nine months after Harold dies, you get a phone call. He said, we're looking into a burglary at your brother's home. We know who that individual is. Starts telling his story. This woman's a psychopath, and I'm telling you guys that right now. We started seeing messages about Harold. They had actually done something to make him sick. Putting something in like a margarita, chili, a brownie. They're upset because he's not dying fast enough. They start talking about making root beer floats. It's just so heartbreaking.

2:01This was almost a perfect murder. How in the world can somebody be that evil? Murder by root beer float. You've never seen a case like this. I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline.

2:22Here's Blaine Alexander with The Man Who Loved Christmas

2:29There's a saying, it's always darkest before the dawn And here in this quiet Indiana town, most people were still fast asleep But inside one home, two men were hard at work, moving through the dark. They had their eye on something and seemed to know exactly where to find it. They're drawn to the safe, and he's opening up the safe. Nothing about this break-in felt random. In fact, it was a clue. A key to a mystery investigators didn't even know they needed to solve. We're like, okay, this is weird, right? We're small-town kids from southern Indiana. You see it in the world, these crazy stories, but, you know, it doesn't happen to us.

3:26This corner of southern Indiana is the kind of place where roots run deep. Surrounded by farmland and country roads, it's where the Allen brothers grew up. Matt is the youngest. I grew up with two of the best older brothers that you probably could ask for. James is the middle brother. You speak about it almost as if it was a magical childhood. It was. It could not be any better of a childhood. And then there was the oldest, Harold. A big guy in personality and stature with a nickname that somehow fit him to a T. Peanut. Right. Yes. Where did Peanut come from? When he was born, he was kind of a preemie.

4:10And his first visit to our grandmother's house, she said he looked just like a peanut. And it stuck. Hannah is married to James. What would your kids call him? Uncle Peanut. Uncle Peanut. Yeah. Harold worked as a computer programmer and had a passion for music. He taught himself to play. But what you notice most, his family says, his endless generosity. He loved through giving. And there wasn't a birthday or a Christmas that he did not make a to-do about. Every year, hey, what do you guys want for Christmas? We're like, Bob, we're 40, okay? We don't need Christmas presents. We're good. But for all his strengths, there was one part of life Harold hadn't quite figured out.

4:59You've said that Harold, for all of his successes, wasn't typically successful in relationships. No. Unfortunately, my brother had a fatal flaw. And that is, he somehow equated having a relationship as being successful, as being happy. Samantha is his other sister-in-law. I think he was just really seeking love. He was just really looking for that connection. And then he found it in perhaps the most unexpected of places, his 30th high school reunion. I thought it was odd that he met somebody because, I mean, his graduating class, yeah, was like probably 70 people. So you're thinking, how did you not already know everybody?

5:46How are you just meeting? Her name was Marsha Buxton. She was divorced and worked as an assistant in a medical practice. She did not fit the typical mold of the previous women. She was kinder, more refined, more of someone that I could see him with. I was happy for my brother. And then the next thing you know, hey, we got married. Was that surprising to you? No, not really. No. He was quick to love, and he was quick to go all in. Marsha's 27-year-old daughter Ashley, a pharmacy tech, was a young widow, raising her little girl alone. Soon, they were all under one roof, living at Harold's home in Freetown, Indiana.

6:34Now there's this child's energy in the house. And I don't know if she called him grandpa, but he very much got to play that role when she was around, and he loved it. And so it went for about three years. Then came Thanksgiving 2022. The family was gathered at the table waiting for dessert. And his face got kind of scared in a sense. He goes, my face just went numb. So I jumped up immediately. I helped him take off his sweatshirt and he was just soaked in sweat. Marsha rushed him to the hospital. What were doctors saying? It had to do some of this blood sugar. He was a type 2 diabetic. He started a new medicine, like maybe it was a reaction.

7:20They sent Harold home, but a few days later, he made another visit to the ER. What I remember is him looking very pale and just not steady. Yeah. Then, just five days before Christmas, he got worse. 911. Much worse.

7:49One of James' cousins is on the volunteer fire department down there, and they heard on the radio, Peanuts address, come on. And so they were like, just so you know, they're headed to Peanuts. We had arrived just shortly after the ambulance. Deputy Aaron Wilkins of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office responded to the Allen home. We made our way inside the home, back into the bedroom. Harold was laying on the floor between the bed and a closet. The paramedics did what they could, but it was too late. And so then they heard over the radio, you know, that the person was deceased. Hannah had to break the news to James.

8:32Having to give him, like, the worst news ever was so hard. Yeah, it was pretty bad. It was bad. And you went to tell Matt. And then Matt came home, and that was a very, very hard thing to watch. We didn't know what had happened. We didn't have any idea. We knew he was gone. A whole family grieving. A wife, now a widow. And then, out of nowhere, something happened. Something that would warp this family tragedy in a way nobody could believe. There's been some developments in your brother's case. Make it look vandalized so I can get the insurance money. These text messages are the worst I've ever seen.

9:24This guy that meant everything to me was worth absolutely nothing to them. If we can keep this discreet as possible, I will cooperate in any means necessary.

9:49After learning about Harold Allen's death in a roundabout way through a police dispatch, his family had so many questions. Without more information, his brother Matt was having a hard time believing it was real. I convinced myself that he wasn't gone.

10:11Optimistic, I guess. I kept trying to get a hold of Marsha. I sent her a message saying, you know, like, what's going on? And when I called, she said that she was crying too hard and she couldn't answer. All Harold's wife, Marcia, could tell them was that she found Harold unresponsive in the bedroom. An autopsy filled in the rest. What did it show? That he had a cardiac issue, that he had a blockage. Heart attack. Yeah. Cardiac arrest, I believe. The news was hard enough, but the timing made it even worse. It was Christmas, but instead of celebrating, they were preparing for Harold's funeral. That's a pain that never goes away.

10:57Yeah. And thinking about the fact that this was your brother's favorite holiday. Exactly. That was his jam. We went to his mom's house with our kids, and Marsha came over. I think it was Christmas Day. We were over there, and she had brought in gifts for our kids that Peanut had already purchased for them. A week after Harold died, his family and friends came together for his funeral. That was the worst moment, you know, like we are literally saying goodbye to one of the most important people in our life. Harold's family was still hungry for details, anything that would help them process the loss.

11:40But they say Marcia and her daughter kept to themselves. They didn't interact with anybody. and then once we were at the gravesite, they left, like, immediately. And we're like, okay, this is weird, right? Strange, yes, but they understood. Grief can make people do strange things. And Marsha was finding her own way through it. She channeled her grief into a self-published book about rebuilding life after losing a spouse. She wrote, He Was My World, Two Peas in a Pod, And she described how she overcame chronic and debilitating sadness with therapy. Marsha stayed at the home she and Harold had shared, and the family gave her space.

12:24But the brothers did reach out to talk with her about getting some family heirlooms Harold had been storing. My dad was an avid gun collector. I had a lot of guns. So those were all at my brother Harold Peanut's house. When we would contact about getting those items, it was, don't you understand, we're grieving over here. I lost my husband. I was very understanding and said, okay, just let me know when you're ready. We'll go through the items. Then, nine months after Harold's death, Marsha was once again calling for help. Marsha Allen had called in, I believe, to our dispatch. Detective Clint Burcham of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department spoke with her.

13:07She was on vacation with her mother and father down in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Marsha said she'd been asleep when she received a security alert on her phone. Someone was inside her house. She had set up some security videos in her home, and she ends up realizing that her house had been burglarized. In fact, while she's coming back from Tennessee, she is emailing me videos of these two individuals in her house. Does it look like they're looking for anything specific? They're drawn to the safe. At one point, you can see an individual that appears to be holding a phone. And he's opening up the safe as if he's looking at the combination to the safe on a cell phone.

13:50And they end up taking 40 to 50 guns. The family heirlooms that were also worth a lot of money, tens of thousands of dollars. What else are they looking for in this house? They take jewelry. A clasper ring is taken from the safe. One of the burglars was wearing a mask, but the other? Well, look at this. One of our suspects' faces exposed, looking directly at the camera at one point. Marsha saw that on the security camera videos. She lets you know that she recognizes one of the guys in this video. Yes. What did she tell you about this person? She tells us that she recognized the individual to be Stephen White.

14:28With a name and video in hand, detectives had no trouble finding Stephen White. I'm a felon. I cannot have guns. But following what he had to say, well, that was a different story. I can smoke another cigarette. I'll explain the whole thing. Whoever says saving money is hard doesn't know that the new customers who bundle and save with Progressive save hundreds. because switching your home and auto insurance is better than cutting down on those iced lattes you love. Switch your home and auto to Progressive and see if you could save and keep sipping away. Get your quote today at Progressive.com.

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16:55.

17:00Less than a year after Harold Allen died, his home was a crime scene, the site of a burglary. This seemed to be an easy solve. Detectives had video and a clear look at one of the perps, recognized by Marsha as Stephen White, a 29-year-old father with a prior criminal record. Want it on? Detectives found him at his parents' home. 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. Just right off the bat, what kind of impression is he making? He, of course, he denies it. Do you know anything about it? No. Okay. My husband and I set up last night until about four o 'clock in the morning watching Nope.

17:42I personally think I have strep or something. I've been running a fever. My tongue is all swollen and sore and my mouth is red and white. So just letting y 'all know that. If he was trying to scare the cops off, it didn't work. The homeowner has the video. We got three detectives out on the house right now that was burglarized. Who? Well, I don't even know anybody in Jackson County aside from my aunt. Then he's confronted with a screenshot. Yes. There's the picture. And we got a video. I mean, I really do not have a hat. I don't even have a hat. Well, hat or no hat, the cops knew they had him dead to rights.

18:20We either get the stuff back, or I think you know probably what's coming. You just go to the f***ing jail and sit and rock. But eventually, he's like, yeah, you know, it was me. I just smoke another cigarette. I'll explain the whole thing. The story began with Stephen admitting he did know Marsha and her daughter. I'm best friends with her daughter. Okay. What's her daughter's name? Ashley Jones. And then came Stephen's plot twist. he said marcia was no victim here she was the one pulling the strings i'll give you three thousand dollars you can go to my house gave me the safe code marcia did or yes marcia did she said you go down there you can get this and and i need it all taken somewhere you need to make it look like you've broken in there and make it look vandalized so i can get the insurance money and i said marcia i'm a felon i cannot have guns my dad is running We got a lot of going on.

19:19I am not about to drive guns across this town. And you don't have any text messages? No, because I deleted the messages. She told me, oh, we'll make sure you delete all this stuff. What are you guys thinking as you listen to this story? I think he was telling us, at best, half-truths. Do you have all the guns and everything here, you said? Yes. Stephen had told police what they came to find out and then some. but still it seemed he just couldn't stop talking sorry mom marcia set me up my mother's pissed she's gonna disown me forever now no she won't yes she will nah you said your dad's running for mayor yeah please this cannot go on no media release if we can keep this discreet as possible i will cooperate in any means necessary well put your hands on your back Police recovered the stolen items and Stephen was arrested.

20:12The next day, Marsha was back from vacation and came to the station to talk with Detective Burcham. Did you get all the videos? I seen you 22. I'm not sure if I got 22, but I got a lot of them. And she's coming in as the burglary victim. Yes. We're talking about like what kind of items could possibly be missing. It's a very friendly conversation. The detective showed Marsha photos of everything they'd recovered. You recognize that ring? Yes, that is his dad's ring. Whose dad's ring? My husband's dad's ring, Harold Allen. My husband died in December. The detective then turned the conversation to Stephen White and his version of events.

20:52Well, what he's saying is basically that you said that you would give him$3 ,000 to go in the house and take the guns, have him take the guns and take them back to his place. He's a liar. I did not do that. I don't have his number. I don't have his cell phone number. He's lying. Marsha did agree with police on one point. It looked like an inside job, and she had a good idea who was behind it. So almost immediately, she's pointing the finger at her daughter. Yes. Marsha was confident that Ashley had had to have given Stephen White the combination to the safe. Because there's only three people in the world that know it.

21:31It's me, my husband, and her. I didn't do it. I didn't get it out. He died, so he can't get it out. This is one person. Process of elimination. Marsha and her daughter had been close, but recently they'd had a falling out. The last I heard, she said she was in Branson, Missouri, but I don't know where she's at right now. Because she was supposed to come stay with me for a while, which I guarantee she won't now. The detective still didn't know what to make of the burglary. But with every new detail, there seemed to be another finger-pointing accusation and another layer to unpack. Because what exactly did Stephen White mean by this?

22:16This woman's a psychopath. And I'm telling you guys that right now.

22:32Marsha Allen walked into the Jackson County Sheriff's Office a burglary victim. Now, officers were pressing her about what Stephen White claimed was her role in a possible insurance scam. Make it look vandalized so I can get the insurance money. But Stephen White had told them a lot of things. My dad is running for mayor. We got a lot of s*** going on. And he'd made some even more dramatic accusations about Marsha. This woman's a psychopath. And I'm telling you guys that right now. But this one? 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.

23:12Was he really accusing Marsha of murder? This woman's murdered her husband, and if you go into her computer file... So what did the deputies think when they heard that? I think we all knew it was something we needed to look into. But at the same time, I think, is he just trying to deflect from what he just got caught doing? So detectives had reason to be skeptical. Still, as Marsha sat before them at the station, you let her know that Stephen is pointing the finger at her for her husband's death. Yes. I'll tell you what else he said. He accused you of murdering your husband. I did not murder my husband.

23:49Something to the effect of some kind of, I don't know, basically poisoning, poisoning his drink. That would show me a toxicology report if that happened. And was there an autopsy done? Yes. There was an autopsy. Autopsy and toxicology. He died because he had periodontics that was undetected. What are you watching for in her response? Well, obviously, we're watching how she reacts to it. You can't bank too much on the fact that she was somewhat defensive because if she didn't have anything to do with it, she's going to deny it. I cannot believe you said I tried to kill my husband. The detective didn't know who to believe, but he did know if you want to find out what a person's really been up to, there's one pretty good place to start.

24:30Would you be willing to consent to download your cell phone? Yeah. Okay. Were you surprised by how willing she was to hand over her phone? I think my initial thought was like, well, maybe there's nothing on there. He left the room and briefed Detective J.L. McElfresh, the department's digital forensic examiner. He, too, was skeptical about accusations from Stephen White, a felon caught red-handed. It's normal for a suspect in a crime to start talking about other crimes that they were not involved in to try to get themselves out of the trouble that they're in now. While the detective was out of the room, it appeared Marsha was deleting something from her phone.

25:09But she didn't try to hide it when the detective came back. She told me basically she didn't want us, when we went into her phone, to see her walking around in her underwear. I should make sure you don't see me in my rear. Oh, the videos of your... Yeah. I went through and deleted some of them while you were out, so... Well, just at me. They let Marsha go home and got to work analyzing her phone. We needed to look and see what things had been deleted and at what time stamp. And that's when we found that she had deleted the entire text conversation with Ashley. I would imagine that that then becomes a pretty good place for you to start.