Indiana Man's Death Ruled Murder Months Later After Burglary Reveals Unusual Weapon

A break-in meant to go unnoticed instead unraveled what investigators say was a calculated poisoning plot that had fooled medical examiners for nine months.

Harold "Peanut" Allen Jr., 52, was found unresponsive at his home on North State Road 135 in Freetown on December 20, 2022. Jackson County investigators found no signs of violence. His declining health in the preceding weeks had not raised alarms, and his death was attributed to cardiac causes. No criminal case was opened. His wife, Marsha Allen, survived him.

On September 19, 2023, Marsha Allen called the Jackson County Sheriff's Department to report a burglary at that same address. Firearms and jewelry had been stolen. Reviewing her home security camera footage, Marsha identified one of the intruders as Steven Andrew White, 29, a close friend of her daughter, Ashley Jones. Officers located White within hours. He confessed to the burglary, then told detectives that Marsha Allen was a murderer who had killed her husband by placing poison in a root beer float. He identified Jones as the one who had orchestrated the break-in.

That single disclosure sent investigators in an entirely new direction. Officers accessed Marsha's cellphone and found thousands of text messages between her and Jones documenting a conspiracy that had begun months before Harold's death. According to court documents, Jones started researching "various poisons" as early as November 2022. The two made at least four attempts on Harold's life using a minimum of three different substances, including foxglove root placed into his food. Hospital visits during which Harold complained of stomach pains, vomiting, and diarrhea, symptoms consistent with foxglove poisoning, had gone uninvestigated as potential homicide.

When those attempts failed, the two turned to ethylene glycol, the odorless, slightly sweet compound found in antifreeze. On December 13, 2022, Jones placed an online order for half a gallon of the substance, paying $31.99. The order was linked to a phone number she had used to text her mother. Six days later, on December 19, Marsha served Harold a root beer float laced with the chemical. He drank all of it. He was found unresponsive five hours later and died.

In an interview with investigators on October 17, 2023, Jones confirmed she had ordered the ethylene glycol but told detectives it was her mother who had administered it. Marsha Allen died in October 2023 before charges could be filed against her, with authorities ruling it a suicide. Jones was arrested and charged with murder.

On August 7, 2025, Ashley Jones pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder, both Level 1 felonies, under a plea agreement setting a range of 45 to 50 years. Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Richard Poynter imposed the maximum: 50 years in the Indiana Department of Correction.

The case, worked by Detective Clint Burcham and Lt. Adam Nicholson of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department, underscores a persistent gap in homicide detection. Ethylene glycol is colorless and odorless, metabolizes in ways that can mimic organ failure, and leaves no obvious signs of violence. Harold Allen's death only became a murder case because a burglar, facing his own charges, volunteered information no forensic examination had surfaced. Without that confession, the case would have remained closed.