Howard Allen
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
| Howard Allen | |
|---|---|
| 150px
Mugshot
|
|
| Born | February 10, 1949 Indianapolis, Indiana, United States |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Killings | |
| Victims | 3 |
|
Span of killings
|
1974–1987 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Indiana |
|
Date apprehended
|
August 4, 1987 |
Howard Arthur Allen (born February 10, 1949) is a serial killer from Indianapolis, Indiana. He was found to be responsible for the deaths of three elderly people, as well as assault, burglary, and arson.
Murders
In August 1974, Allen beat Opal Cooper, age 85, to death in her home during a robbery. He was sentenced to 2–21 years for manslaughter and paroled in January 1985.
On May 18, 1987, he choked and beat a 73-year-old woman in her home, who survived. Two days later, he assaulted Laverne Hale, age 87, resulting in her death nine days later.
On June 2, 1987, he burglarized the house of an elderly man just five blocks from the scene of Laverne Hale's murder. This time the tenant was absent; Allen vented his anger by setting the house on fire.
On July 14, 1987, he killed Ernestine Griffin, age 73, with a ten-inch butcher knife, and repeatedly struck her on the head with a kitchen toaster. He stole a camera and $15. He was arrested later that day.
Arrest and trial
Allen was arrested on August 4 on multiple charges. Witnesses linked him with the May 18 attack, leading to Allen's indictment on charges of battery, burglary, and unlawful confinement. He was also charged with arson and burglary (from the June 2 incident), as well as the murder of Ernestine Griffin. As it happened, Lavern Hale had been a neighbor of Allen's, living directly behind his house, and he remains a suspect in her murder, based upon the killer's modus operandi. He was also a suspect in 11 other cases, each involving robbery or assault of elderly victims in their homes around Indianapolis.[1]
He was found guilty of burglary and felony battery of the May 18 assault, and sentenced to 88 years in prison. On June 11, 1988, he was sentenced to death by lethal injection for the murder of Ernestine Griffin. On August 30, 1988, he was placed on death row, where, as of 2010[update], he remains awaiting ruling by a U.S. District Court on a petition for writ of habeas corpus.[2][3]
