Woman Charged In Husband's Murder After Asking For Kids And Ex-Partner To Help With Disposing Of His Body

An Indiana woman is being held without bail on multiple felony counts related to the murder of her husband and alleged failed attempts to cover up the crime.

Thessalonica Allen, 34, is facing a felony murder charge in the death of her husband, Randy Allen, as well as one felony count of abusing a corpse, one felony count of altering a crime scene, two felony counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, two felony counts of neglecting a dependent and a misdemeanor count of interfering with the report of a crime.

Police say that Allen's two teenage kids told them after her arrest that he had been helping them do homework on the family computer on July 27 when they all discovered a website their mother had been visiting, according to court records reviewed by the Northwest Indiana Times. Randy Allen confronted her in their shared bedroom that night during which the teenagers told police they heard a bang and then a thud.

When the teens opened the door of the bedroom, they reportedly saw Randy Allen on the ground; he asked them to call 911, but heir mother told them not to make the call and sent them to their rooms, they said.

The teens told police that their mother later woke them up in the middle of the night and asked them to assist her in placing Allen's corpse in her car — but it was too heavy for the three of them to lift.

The next day, after returning with an ax and cleaning supplies, Allen's children told police that Allen had them help first drag her husband's body into a bedroom and later help her put it in a "tote bag," which is when they noticed his legs were no longer attached.

The teens told police that on Wednesday night the body was still too heavy.

On July 29, police received the first report about the alleged murder from a former partner of Thessalonica Allen's, who is also the father of one of her children. According to what he told police, Allen contacted him and alleged that Randy Allen had been hitting the child she shared with the ex; when he came to their residence, she showed him his body, which was in a closet. At that point, he would have been dead for more than 36 hours, partially dismembered and stuffed in a tote bag.

She asked for his assistance in disposing of it, he said.

He declined and asked that she drive him home, he told police, at which point he reported the murder; he told officers that Allen had disposed of the gun while driving him home.

Police arrested Allen in the parking lot of a Laporte-area Ace Hardware; she confessed to the crime but claimed that her husband had been beating her and her kids, and she'd shot him during one such altercation. Her teenage children deny that there was an altercation on the day in question. His eldest child told the Northwest Indiana Times that Randy Allen was not an abusive person but was "a sweet person."

Police found the body in the daughter's closet, according to Louisville Fox affiliate WDRB. They also reportedly found a to-do list written by Allen enumerating a plan of how to kill her husband. 

The teenagers told police that Allen had mentioned he planned to leave their mother, according to Northwest Indiana Times.

An autopsy performed on Allen's body shows that he bled to death as a result of a gunshot wound, which penetrated his spinal column and likely would have paralyzed him prior to death.

Thessalonica Allen appeared in court on Wednesday and a not guilty plea was entered on her behalf before she was assigned a public defender, according to the Associated Press.