Indiana authorities arrested a 34-year-old LaPorte woman who is now charged with shooting and killing her husband, mutilating his dead body, hiding it in her daughter's closet, and asking her children to help dispose of the evidence.
A newly filed charging document noted that the 34-year-old mother involved her two teenage kids in her failed attempt to dispose of her dead husband's body to South Bend, where she planned to burn his body. Authorities charged Thessalonica Allen with the July 27 murder of her husband, Randy Allen.
Brutal Murder
The suspect is also facing two counts of contributing the delinquency of a minor, abuse of a corpse, alteration of a death scene, and two counts of neglect of a dependent, court documents wrote. Officials also charged Allen with misdemeanor interference with the reporting of a crime.
Police said that they received a tip on Thursday about a murder that occurred inside an apartment in the 1400 block of West 18th Street in LaPorte. The man who reported the crime was previously in a relationship with Allen and has one child with her. He told police that his ex called him, claiming that the victim was beating their child, Pantagraph reported.
The man said that when he arrived at Allen's apartment, she immediately showed him Randy's lifeless body stored inside a closet in her daughter's bedroom. The suspect reportedly asked her ex to help her dispose of her husband's dead body. He refused and demanded it to be taken back to his home
As the two were driving back, the suspect allegedly told her ex that she shot her husband because he was beating her and her children. Thessalonica later threw away a gun out the window of the vehicle, the informant said, who then kept the firearm.
Authorities were able to locate the suspect in the parking lot of a LaPorte Ace Hardware store where she began to cry after realizing she was being arrested. She said that the officers didn't understand her husband was beating her.
When questioned, Thessalonica confessed to shooting and killing her husband after they got into an argument and later on a physical altercation. The suspect said she came home to her kids telling her their father was beating them. When she confronted him, however, he quickly grabbed her by the neck.
Asking Children's Help
When Randy let go, Thessalonica thought it was over; but when she saw him coming back, she immediately grabbed her gun and shot her husband. She also told police that she hid her husband's body inside her daughter's closet, ABC57 reported.
Thessalonica said in a second interview that she cut off her husband's legs so his body would fit inside the closet. When investigators asked the children, they said they first heard a loud bang and went to check on their parents.
The kids found Randy on the floor, bleeding and asking them to call 911. However, Thessanica reportedly told them not to and told them to go back to their rooms. They said that their mother later woke them up in the middle of the night and asked them to help her dispose of Randy's body, which they failed to do.
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