Howard Arthur Allen (February 10, 1949 – June 5, 2020) was an American

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

from

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Indiana. He murdered three elderly people and also committed

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal offence. Usually ...

, and

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

Early life

Allen was one of eight children who were raised by an impoverished single mother. He sometimes stole food for the family. Allen was enrolled in special education classes for mentally disabled children, and was still reading at a second grade level when he left elementary school. A special education director said Allen "had difficulty processing language" as a child, that his "thinking and decision-making would be very concrete," and that he "could have difficulty understanding the consequences of his conduct and could be easily led." There were disputes over whether Allen was mentally disabled, since he scored 104 on an IQ test and his mother called him an "average" student. None of Allen's family members described him as anything other than of normal intelligence, nor did any of eighteen people who submitted letters on his behalf before sentencing.

Crimes

In August 1974, Allen beat 85-year-old Opal Cooper to death during a burglary. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison for

voluntary manslaughter Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human in which the offender acted in the heat of passion, a state that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed to the point that they cannot reasonably control thei ...

, winning parole in 1985. On May 18, 1987, Laverne Hale, 87, was attacked in her Indianapolis home by Allen and beaten to death. On July 14, 1987, he murdered 74-year-old Ernestine Griffin in her Indianapolis home. After the police found a piece of paper with Allen's name and phone number on her counter, a neighbor told them that Allen had talked with Griffin about a car that the neighbor had for sale. After the police discovered Griffin's camera at the carwash where Allen worked, he was taken in for questioning. Allen admitted that he had struck Griffin, but denied killing her. On June 11, 1988, Allen was sentenced to death for the murder of Griffin. He received a concurrent 50-year sentence for robbery with serious bodily injury, and a consecutive 38-year sentence for theft. On August 30, 1988, he was placed on

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...

where he spent the next 25 years awaiting a ruling by a

U.S. district court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

on a petition for a writ of

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

. After years of unsuccessful attempts to prove that he was mentally disabled and thus ineligible for execution, one of Allen's appeals was successful. He was resentenced to 60 years in prison for the murder in 2012. The

Indiana Department of Correction The Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) operates state prisons in Indiana. It has its headquarters in Indianapolis. Population Summary Per thOffender Population Statistical Report provided by the Indiana Department of Correction Division ...

had listed his release date as April 23, 2035. Allen was imprisoned at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. Allen died on June 5, 2020, at the age of 71. His death was confirmed by the Indiana Department of Correction.

References

External links

Indiana Department of Corrections Website / Offender Search
DOC Number: 881978 {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Howard Arthur 1949 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American criminals American male criminals American people convicted of murder American people convicted of manslaughter American people convicted of robbery American people convicted of theft American prisoners sentenced to death People convicted of murder by Indiana People from Indianapolis Prisoners sentenced to death by Indiana Prisoners who died in Indiana detention Serial killers from Indiana Serial killers who died in prison custody

Early life

Crimes

See also

References

External links