The Root Beer Float Murder | Full Episode + Post Mortem | Forensic Files

[music] >> 911 Yeah, uh This is you know State Road 135. My husband's in the our bedroom floor. He's
non-responsive and I need an ambulance early. Marsha Allen called 911. Do you want to start CPR if I help you?
Uh yeah, I could I could do that. >> [laughter] >> Okay. She appears to be crying on the call.
She appears to start getting a little panicked. He's laying here with his mouth open.
Okay. And he's white. Is he cold to the touch? First responders get there, what do they
find? They found Harold Allen unresponsive. He was dead. Yes. Harold [music] and Marsha Allen had only
been married for a year, a year and a half when this happened. Harold had had some health problems, so
it wasn't initially [music] a huge surprise that he would have died. And what was the cause of death determined
to be at that time? It was [music] uh heart problems. About 6 months after Harold's death,
Marsha wrote a self-help book about grief and losing someone that you loved. About Harold, she says, "He was my
world. [music] The grief I was experiencing after my husband passed away was unbearable and [music] still
is. Well, this is just a grieving woman missing her husband. A burglary call come over the radio.
Our detectives were going to Marsha's house. We started investigating the burglary
and in the process we're told there's a murder involved here. This woman is murder.
Okay. I know that. I have not gone to nobody and said anything cuz I don't have no
proof on it. Steven White told me that Marsha Allen had killed her husband Harold by poisoning a root beer float.
Marsha went to the kitchen and made a root beer float with whipped cream and sprinkles on top
of it. And she poured something out of the bottle into there. Poison is unique. I
think you see it in movies because it makes a good show, but it's not normally how homicide or death is carried out.
The toxicology report came back ethylene glycol was in Harold's system. It's the main component in antifreeze.
If you're consuming ethylene glycol, you're not going to know. You're not going to smell it. You're not going to
taste it. If you put it in a root beer float with ice cream and root beer, you're not going to know until it's too
late. [music] I think if the burglary wouldn't have happened, there would be no way that we would know
about it at all. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Right now we're probably about a half
mile north of where Marsha Allen and Harold Allen lived. When Harold Allen died suddenly in his home in Freetown,
Indiana, just a few days before Christmas 2022, the driveway going up to the Allen
residence would have been right there. Lieutenant Adam Nicholson, an investigator with the Jackson County
Sheriff's Department, says no one suspected anything out of the ordinary. >> [music]
>> 20 years on the job, I never thought I would see a case like this. Harold's younger brother Matthew and his
wife Samantha knew he had been dealing with some serious health issues. He was bigger. He was diabetic. Including
painful gastrointestinal problems, which had sent [music] him to the emergency room on multiple occasions late that
year. I think one time [music] they thought it was What was it like? >> Diverticulitis, they said. Yeah.
Diverticulitis. On Thanksgiving [music] 2022, as the family was enjoying their holiday feast,
Matthew noticed that Harold all of a sudden looked distressed. We were eating dessert
and uh he looked up at me like his his eyes got wide like he was kind of scared and I
was like, "What's wrong?" He goes, "The left side of my face just went numb." I said, "I'm either calling an ambulance
or I'm taking you to the hospital right now." And he's like, "Well, just give me
a second." Despite the family's urging to get medical help, Harold refused. Marsha was just like standing there, and
I was like, "Well, he needs to go to the hospital." And she was like, "Oh, I've been telling him that he needs to get
there." Harold's mystifying health condition worsened in the weeks leading up to
Christmas. Doctors struggled to diagnose exactly [music] what was ailing him. Then came December 20th, 2022, when
Marsha made a disturbing discovery and placed that 911 call. I work from home. I went back there to check on him
because he's been sick. He was just laying on the floor. It was like he was trying to get up and go to the bathroom
or something. And he's not breathing. >> [gasps] >> 52-year-old Harold, the oldest of three
brothers, had spent his life in this quiet, rural part of southern Indiana, where everyone knew this imposing man as
Peanut. I thought his name was Peanut until I was about 6 or 7 years old. That's
That's a true story. My brother was born premature, and my grandma said he's no bigger than a
peanut. I had a close family, but it was nothing like the Allens. When they were together,
all the pieces of the puzzle were there. >> [music] [singing] >> He self-taught himself like the guitar
and mandolin, and he played harmonicas. You really looked up to your brother, right? Oh, yeah. Like, he became a
controls engineer. Um, super smart. I wish I was as smart as him. Jackson County Sheriff's Department
Detective Clint Birchum says Harold worked for a global automotive supply company. A local factory in Seymour,
Indiana, Aisin Manufacturing. He liked riding his motorcycles. He had a Harley motorcycle that he rode for years. He
went deer hunting and fishing. We did fish a lot. Enjoying a full life, Harold became
nostalgic about his high school days. In 2019, he decided to attend his 30th reunion. The Austin, Indiana High School
reunion. It was there that the twice-divorced [music] Harold spotted former classmate Marsha
Buckston. They didn't even really speak in high school, but at this reunion is when they
started a conversation and just blossomed from there. Divorced herself with an adult daughter,
Marsha and Harold began dating. About 2 years later, the couple married in July of 2021.
What kind of life did they lead together as a married couple? They liked to travel. They liked
uh the Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Pigeon Forge area, Branson, Missouri. The following year, Marsha's daughter,
Ashley Jones, and her 5-year-old daughter moved in with Harold and Marsha. Samantha says Harold, who had no
children of his own, welcomed them with open arms. Peanut always wanted children. [music]
He always wanted a family and he enjoyed being called Grandpa. Ashley was a young widow. Her
33-year-old husband, Ty Jones, had died suddenly 3 years earlier. What were the circumstances of his death? Ty Jones
died of some heart complications is what the autopsy said. Describe the relationship between Ashley and her
mother, Marsha. Were they close? They were very close. Every day, Marsha Allen would send
Ashley Jones a message saying, "Good morning, baby girl." Every single morning. The house was now full with
three generations, and Harold seemed to enjoy his [music] instant extended family. He cared about what everybody
else was feeling >> [music] >> um and and just wanted everyone to be happy. At the time, Harold's autopsy concluded
his death was caused by multiple serious cardiac issues, including pericarditis and inflammation of the sac around the
heart. Practically still a newlywed, Marsha was now a widow. Heartbroken, she turned to
writing [music] about her grief. After Harold Allen died, his wife Marsha Allen publishes a book.
Self-published, it was intended to be a guide for others going through what she was.
She says that this is an intimate glimpse of what I went through when my husband died.
She writes about survivor's guilt that she was suffering with that. She says that her book is a beacon of hope,
finding the strength and courage to move forward and learning a new way to live.
How to grieve a loss of a significant other. Marsha would soon face another challenge. Nine months after Harold's
death, Lieutenant Nicholson was monitoring a call where investigators were dispatched to that break-in at
Marsha's. The case to me started like any other case. A burglary call come over the radio. Our detectives were
going to Marsha's house. Security cameras had captured two men breaking into her home. We started
investigating the burglary. In the process, we're told, you know, well, there's a murder involved here.
>> In September of 2023, Marsha Allen was vacationing in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, known for its beautiful fall colors and
[music] hiking trails. Little did she know that about 350 miles away, two burglars were exploring the
inside of her home. The burglary happened, I want to say like like 4:30 in the morning.
She had recently put a home security system in her house. The app for this system notified Marsha
that there'd been movement on her home's cameras while she slept. When she reviewed the video, she could see two
men opening her home's safe and rifling through her bedroom and jewelry. First thing you got to do is get your
She could watch them go through the house. There was a lot of stuff taken. Pretty major burglary.
One of the burglars caught Marsha's eye. Incredibly, he was someone she recognized. His name was Steven White.
Yo. Marsha immediately called local police in Indiana to report the break-in. Marsha Allen described
Steven White as her daughter Ashley Jones' best friend, really close friend. Why would her own daughter's best friend
burglarize Marsha's home? Ashley had moved to Missouri in the months following Harold's death.
>> [music] >> So, Marsha had been living alone. Reviewing the images, investigators
noticed the burglars had come prepared. It seemed like they knew right where to go, and the other thing was is that they
knew the code to the safe. Within hours, police found [music] Steven White living at his mother's home
nearby. Investigators [music] quickly made a house call. If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, one will be provided
for you free of cost if you desire one. So, do you understand your rights? Yes, sir. Okay. So, do you have any idea why
we're here today? Well, they said that y'all got me on camera last night burglarizing the place. Do
you know anything about it? No. But the wonders of technology did not allow White to lie for long. I got a
picture here. Can I see it? Nicholson had a security camera screenshot of White committing the burglary on his
phone. That's just one of the five that they sent us. And they got video, too. And we got
video. That's just a still shot from a video. >> Hold on, let me see here. I mean, I really do not have
a hat. I don't even have a Unable to deny it, Nicholson says White admitted to burglarizing Marsha's home.
This woman has hated me for years, but I'm best friends with her daughter. Okay. What's her daughter's
name? Ashley Jones. Then, stunningly, White said something else based on information he claimed
Ashley had told him that Marsha was responsible for her husband's death. This woman is
murderer. Okay. I know that. I have not gone to nobody and said anything cuz I don't have no
proof on it. This woman's a psychopath. And I'm telling you guys that right now.
Harold Allen was her husband. She set a life insurance policy for him, went and married him.
White then revealed how Marsha allegedly cashed in on the policy. Steven White told me that Marsha Allen had killed her
husband Harold by poisoning a root beer float. White even knew the details of how the float was made. Marsha went into
the kitchen and made a root beer float with whipped cream and sprinkles on top of it.
And she poured something out of a bottle into there. Police placed White under arrest.
>> All right, going to put chains on your back. But as they did, he had one more
surprise about the burglary. He claimed Marsha's daughter was the mastermind. Ashley is the one who set this up. Okay.
White told police Ashley had mailed him a key to Marsha's house and given him the combination to the safe, unaware her
mother had installed those home security cameras. He also told investigators where they
could recover everything stolen the night before, including guns and jewelry. We found the guns where he told
us they were. He told me who the other suspect was and found that suspect wearing Harold Allen's jewelry. And I
told Detective Bergeron, I said, "You know, everything that Steven's told us up to
this point has been true." I said, "I feel like we at least have to ask her about Harold and Harold's death."
After notifying [music] police, Marsha had driven home from her vacation. The next [music] morning, she arrived at the
Sheriff's Department to discuss the burglary. So, that's your husband's ring or your husband's
>> Yes, my husband's ring. They got his mandolin, they got a bunch of his collectible Star Wars stuff.
Investigators at first made no mention of Steven White's murder allegation, instead treating the interview as part
of the burglary investigation, asking Marsha what was missing. I have a picture of me wearing the uh sapphire
earrings and necklace on our wedding. Yeah, if you think it'll help identify anything when we start going through
stuff. They also discussed Ashley's potential involvement. You said you talked to your daughter, what what is
she saying? She's denying She goes, "He's trying to drag me down." I'm like, "Ashley." I said, "I have proof."
Marsha said the proof was that White knew her safe's combination. She's the only other than me who knew the knew the
combination and I would never give it out to anybody. Mhm. Ever. Did you already have a plan to ask her about
this murder allegation? >> Yes, then after talking about the burglary, basically I end up telling
her, you know, "This has been brought to our attention." I can tell you we Detective
Burcham told Marsha what Steven had claimed. He He accused you of murdering your husband.
I did not murder my husband. Who was putting it in his drink? Marsha was defiant and seemed to have an answer for
everything. They would show me a toxicology report if that happened. Was there an autopsy done?
>> Yes. There was an autopsy. Autopsy and toxicology. He died because he had pericarditis that was undetected.
>> I'm just telling you what he said. He's lying. Okay. No emotion. No anything. Didn't even
catch her off guard. Marsha denied any involvement, but Steven White had given other details to police. Things he said
he'd heard from Ashley. Telling investigators that Marsha's text messages would contain incriminating
evidence. But we wanted to see if she would have any text messages that possibly said
anything about a murder of her husband. Would you be willing to consent to a download of your cell phone? Yeah.
Burcham left Marsha alone to get the paperwork for the download. And while I'm gone from the interview room, Marsha
ends up deleting items off of her phone. Marsha didn't realize that what she deleted could easily be recovered. And
those texts revealed a sinister plot. There are numerous text messages between her and
Ashley. And it starts to become evident that there's something going on that they
were indeed trying to poison Harold Allen. I mean, I'm seeing the same thing he's
saying. You know, he's calling me, I'm calling him. Like, "Did you read page 10,578?"
And he's like, "No, I haven't got that far yet." For mother and daughter, it seemed
Harold's death couldn't come soon enough. With Marsha texting Ashley, "He just needs to let go." Ultimately,
we all agreed that yes, we've got a murder here. She gave him a root beer float with poison.
contradicted by This woman is a murderer. With Steven White's accusation that Marsha Allen poisoned her husband
with a root beer float, This woman's a psychopath. and her devious [music] behavior
deleting texts with her daughter Ashley, investigators zeroed in on those messages.
Some disparaged Harold. Ashley complained, "He's a waste of space." Others celebrated the delivery of
poisons. Ashley wrote, smiley face, "I'm ready for that to arrive." Marsha replied,
"Me, too." They texted about everything. Jackson County Prosecutor Lindsay Fleetwood. There were thousands upon
thousands >> Did you just say thousands of messages? >> There were thousands of messages.
Investigators would spend weeks building their case, combing through nearly 7,000
texts exchanged over the 3 months before Harold died. Yeah, this is going to be very helpful. The more they read, the
more they learned of a diabolical plot to kill Harold. Why would they want him dead?
Greed. It was all for financial gain. Police learned Harold had a $120,000 life insurance policy through his job.
He also had those guns and several guitars. I think money was a very big motive in
this case. Investigators say those thousands of texts revealed Marsha and Ashley tried
to kill Harold over and over again with a variety of exotic poisons. Police found an order Ashley made on
eBay for pong pong seeds, a powerful toxin. Pong pong is a seed from a tree that grows in Southeast Asia. They
actually refer to this tree is called the suicide tree. It's not a native plant to the United States, so it had to
be ordered online somewhere. As Thanksgiving approached, [music] police believe mother and daughter put a
new dessert on the menu. Poison brownies. They texted about grinding up the pong
pong seeds, adding walnuts to hide the poison's bitter taste. What wasn't hidden was their apparent
glee. Ashley writes, "How's it going? Laugh out loud." And Marsha sends back a picture of a
half-eaten brownie. Ashley, "Ooh, let me know when it's gone. Laugh out loud." They're basically making a joke out of
the fact that they're going to [music] try to murder him. The smiley faces, the LOLs, when someone's in in excruciating
[music] pain. I mean, this shows you how evil >> [music] >> that these people actually are.
As Harold made repeated trips to the ER, suffering all those GI symptoms, police
say a new level of depravity emerged in a text from Marsha to Ashley. "I am irritated and can't [music] sleep
peacefully. I need this to be over." He's not dying fast enough. In another instance, after Marsha texted
Ashley that Harold was attending a family funeral, Ashley Jones messages Marsha and says,
"He just needs to go and drop in the hole, too." After the pong pong seeds failed to kill
Harold, police learned they ordered another lethal plant, water hemlock. Investigators say on several days in
December, they served him tainted chili, Sprite, and a margarita. He surrounded himself with people he thought loved
him. And to be poisoned on a nightly basis, basically, infuriates me. They poisoned him and they waited for a
him to die. But somehow Harold survived all those attempts. Police believe Marsha and Ashley then
shifted from plants to a chemical called ethylene glycol, which is used in antifreeze. They ordered it online.
If you're consuming ethylene glycol, you're not going to know. You're not going to smell it. It doesn't have any
color to it. It's described as maybe a slight sweet taste. Investigators believe because of its sweet taste,
Marsha and Ashley came up with the plan of a poisoned root beer float. If you put it in a root beer float with ice
cream and root beer, you're not going to know until it's too late. Marsha texted
Ashley, "He's all in for root beer floats." Ashley replied, "Okie dokie. I'll tell the kids that's what we are
doing tonight for dessert. Smiley face. Root beer floats." They probably had this so well planned
out that they knew exactly what he would eat and what he wouldn't. Marsha purchased the ingredients for
this poisonous beverage at a local store. She texted Ashley this photo of small soda cans.
Ashley encouraged her to buy large bottles. Investigators believe Marsha served Harold the fatal potion on the night of
December 19th, [music] 2022. I think they knew that this was 100% going to be successful. This
ethylene glycol, when it gets into your body, what does it attack? It starts attacking like some of the
organs, you know, like the heart, liver, kidneys, stomach, you know, you're sick, nauseated.
I believe it even starts to affect the brain some. They not only wanted to kill him, but it seems like they wanted to
profoundly make him suffer. What's the source of that kind of hatred? I don't know where a hatred that deep can even
stem from. The next afternoon, just 5 days before Christmas 2022, an ambulance rushed to
the Allen home. Harold could not be saved. Ready? After reading the blow-by-blow account
spelled out in those texts, on October 16th, 2023, investigators took action. Hi, Marsha. How are you? Can you step
out here for us real quick? Sure. We're here today cuz we got a search warrant for your house, okay? Officers
served a pre-dawn warrant at Marsha's home. Who are they accusing me of murder? There was text messages about ordering
ethylene glycol. Huh? I did not kill my husband. The ethylene glycol shows up at your
house on December 19th. And Harold passed away on December 20th. Yeah. So, and we're also being told that
the way he was poisoned, that it was through a root beer float. No. After serving the warrant to search her
house, Marsha was asked if she'd voluntarily come to the Jackson County Sheriff's Department for questioning. We
can show you some of these messages and you can explain to them. I don't have a choice. I mean, you you have a choice.
You don't have to go. What followed was a 4 and 1/2 hour interview in which Marsha said largely
nothing. [music] The rumor folks is confirmed in your text messages. And then there's a ethylene glycol that
was ordered and sent to your house. And you say you don't know anything about that. No.
Marsha was moved to a different room to show her some of those recovered text messages on a computer screen.
Undeterred, she [music] continued her claims of ignorance. Is there any reason that there would be any ethylene glycol
found in Harold's body? No. >> Anywhere. When Harold died, his autopsy cited cardiac issues. But the coroner did not
screen Harold's blood for poisons at the time because his death was not suspicious.
Luckily for us, they keep that blood for a year. Mhm. So we we you know have put a hold on that
blood and it's going to be retested for all kinds of other stuff. Right now, the way this is going, I have
a bad feeling that when we get these results back, that it's going to show ethylene glycol in his system. [music]
If it does, it's going to shock me. When the interview ended, Marsha wasn't arrested. She was allowed to return home
as the wait began for Harold's blood test results. That same day, her daughter Ashley,
who'd been living in Missouri, was extradited to Indiana under arrest for the burglary of her mother's house.
The next morning at the station, Ashley was about to be surprised. We're not going to talk to you about
Harold, okay? That's not what we're here to talk about. Investigators got right to the
point. >> We have some text messages from your mom's phone. Do you know anything
about the ethylene glycol? No, sir. The information we got was Harold did not die of natural causes,
basically that he was poisoned. Really? They told Ashley they'd already talked to her mother.
If you know something, if you know something now is the time to tell us so we can
I know she said she wanted out. And that's all. But that wasn't all. Just 10 minutes
later, Ashley, in a complete change of direction, named her own mother as Harold's killer.
She didn't want a divorce, and I said divorce. She wanted to be free of him completely.
She wanted him dead. And I said, "You're going to go to hell for that, Mom." No matter what happens, you're going to
hell. Ashley continued giving her mother hell, admitting she helped Marsha purchase
ethylene glycol and other poisons online, but claimed she was just being an obedient daughter.
I really didn't know ask many questions, which I guess I should. Mhm. I for that woman, I just
do what she asks and always have since I was a child. Remember, Ashley was in the house as
Harold was in agony during his final hours of life. She was asked why she didn't do more for Harold when he still
might have been saved. Did you ever mention anything to her that maybe you should call an ambulance? I did. I said,
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Yeah. You asked her if she was sure she wanted to do this.
>> Because this is awful. Okay. I mean, just doing that to anybody regardless of any which way or forward,
I didn't agree. But, loyalty to mothers is a hell of a thing. Unexpected news about her mother would
punctuate the end of Ashley's police interview when another officer entered the room. My name's Jessie,
and I'm a sergeant here at the detective's office. Okay? So, I'm here to talk to you about
something completely different. Okay. The night before, hours after Marsha's own interview ended and she'd returned
home, Marsha's parents had been unable to reach her on the phone. They had also been to the house knocking on the door,
and her car was home, but she wasn't answering the door. They notified police. That's the new key?
Then it was dispatched for our officers to go for a welfare check. It's not going to be an easy
conversation. Okay? Um after your mom was here yesterday and spoke with us, we got a call to go check on her welfare
um at her home. And she's passed away. What? She's She passed away. What happened?
Without going into a lot of detail, it appeared that there was something ingested possibly
um and passed away on her bed. Marsha Allen was discovered deceased and it was ruled a suicide. She killed
herself? That is what we That's what we believe happened, yes. Why do you think she took her life at that moment? I
think she didn't want to have to spend the rest of her life in prison. You know, I told her
that we were going to send the blood off. I think she She didn't want to stick around and wait
and find out what those results were. 48 Hours obtained this photograph of the note Marsha left behind. And she wrote,
"I did not kill my husband. You win, Ashley." With an exclamation point. How do you interpret that?
I interpret that I don't really give it much weight. I think it's her way of trying to leave some message
and trying to get out of the fact that she killed her husband. Now, investigators would start building
their case against the last survivor in this [music] peculiar crime, Ashley, for
her role in Harold's death. I'm going to read you your rights. You're in custody. Okay. Make sure you
understand that. Just one day after her police interview and learning her mother had taken her
own life, And she's gone. Correct. Ashley Jones received more startling news. You are under the arrest for the murder
of Harold, okay? And conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder. Ashley responded
with just five words. I need a lawyer. Still on the table was that burglary charge against Ashley.
Police were certain they knew exactly how it was connected to Harold's death. Marsha Allen paid Ashley about a
thousand dollars a month from the time of Harold's death in December of 2022 till like July of 2023.
The burglary occurred just two months after the payment stopped. She was going after money that she
thought belonged to her from the murder of Harold Allen. >> [music] >> Ashley Jones didn't feel like she
received her compensation for that. The prosecution said it had a strong case against Ashley, especially when
toxicology results confirmed exactly what police suspected. Harold had been given a root beer float poisoned with
ethylene glycol purchased by Ashley as those damning text messages showed. What Ashley said in those texts hurt
her. I mean, there's just no way around it. Ashley's attorney, public defender Joseph Robertson, knew it was going to
be a difficult case. There was a legal freight train headed toward your client. I mean, this was an impossible case.
Yes, by the time that all this evidence came out, we just told her, said, you know, we're in the tunnel and the white
light at the other end is the legal system coming after you. But Ashley would never have to defend
her texts or murderous actions in [music] court. In August 2025, she took a plea deal, pleading guilty [music] to
attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. I don't think I can ever say that I saw
remorse on Ashley Jones's face. Harold's brother Matthew and his wife Samantha were in the courtroom for the
sentencing. The judge said there's no other word but evil. There's no [music] forgiveness from this
court. And I have no choice but to give you the full time. Ashley was sentenced to 50 years in
prison. It was just the sigh of relief. We finally felt like we got a little bit of justice that my
brother deserved. In the end, these two women who would chuckle over their plans with
one another, they didn't get away with this. One took her own life when confronted
with her deeds. And the other one is gone for decades. Absolutely. I truly think they thought they were smarter
than the system. But Ashley's legal woes may not be over. There is another death in her past, her
late husband Ty Jones, who died when he was just 33. His autopsy said the cause of death was
heart issues. But two of his family members suspected foul play from the beginning. You believe that Ty Jones,
your nephew, was murdered? Yes, I do. [music] William Jones and Aretha Steivers are
Ty's uncle and cousin. What do you believe happened to him? I believe that he was poisoned.
Ty's body was not tested for poison [music] in 2019, and he was cremated at Ashley's request.
But his family says Ty was perfectly [music] healthy before suddenly dying. And after
his death, they say Ashley's strange behavior raised red flags. During Ty's funeral service, Ashley
Jones did not shed any tears. The next day, she showed up at Ty's place of employment to inquire about his
insurance policy. She expected a check that very next day. All of it to me said there is something going on here that
needs to be investigated. After William and Aretha heard how Harold died on the news, they contacted
police, sharing their suspicions that Ashley murdered Ty, her eye on an inheritance he had just received from
his great-grandfather. [music] I do believe that there was a large enough sum of money and a property that
Ashley [music] likely thought she would inherit, and that that could have been a motivator
for her. And in Ashley and Marcia's texts about murdering Harold, there was a reference
to Ty. After Marsha complained that deadly pong pong seeds were failing to kill Harold,
Ashley, out of the blue, >> [music] >> said Ty had weighed much less than Harold, writing,
"And previously, Ty was only 120, lol." >> [music] >> During their 48 Hours interview, William
and Aretta heard about that text for the first time. They reference Ashley's late
husband, Ty. There it is. There it is, right there. It's painful to hear. >> Yeah, it is. Because it's one thing to
suspect and to feel like you know, but to have that kind of evidence presented verbally for the first time
is gut-wrenching. It means what you have suspected all along is true. All the time.
All the time. Ashley maintains [music] that Ty died of a heart attack, but Indiana State Police
opened an investigation into his death. Nicholson says he's struck by the similarities between Harold and Ty's
deaths. I believe it's way more than a coincidence. Personally, I think that she probably
killed him. But that's my opinion. There's very few probably as evil as Marsha Allen and Ashley Jones.
They're the same person. I mean, just carbon copy evil. Looking back, Harold's family doesn't
think Marsha ever really loved him. I think she chose the person that she can manipulate.
Their memories are all that remain to fill the void left by the man they called Peanut, who had a big personality
and an even greater heart. I'll see something and I'll be like, "Oh man, that's something
Peanut would love to know about." And then I like I go to like actually call him. I and I'm like, "Oh, I can't." So
it is something that I would give anything to get back, honestly. My goodness, how much you miss him, huh?
Yeah, yes. It's crazy. >> Every day. Every day. Welcome to Post Mortem. I'm 48 Hours
correspondent Anne-Marie Green, and today we're discussing the murder of Harold Allen in Freetown, Indiana.
Now, in December of 2022, Harold was poisoned with a root beer float made by his wife, Marsha Allen, and Marsha's
adult daughter, Ashley Jones. His death was originally determined to be from natural causes, but then after a
burglary at Marsha's home 9 months later, police discovered a string of damning text messages between Marsha and
Ashley that prompted them to investigate Harold's death as a possible murder. So,
Peter Van Sant is joining us. He was the correspondent on that hour. Peter, thanks again for joining us. Hey, great
to be here, Anne Marie. And folks, you heard it right, murder by root beer float.
>> Mhm. And the maliciousness of this case really struck me. Marsha and Ashley attempted to kill Harold multiple times
during a 3-month period leading up to his death with a variety of exotic poisons.
And something we didn't share in the hour, investigators said that there was evidence that Ashley was plotting other
murders. Okay, so we definitely are going to get into that. Um but first, a quick reminder for everyone. If you
haven't watched or listened to this episode, the root beer float murder, go check it out right now and then come
back for this conversation. All right, Peter, getting into it, there are a lot of really strange elements in this case
and one that really stands out right away is Harold Allen's original autopsy. It concludes that that his death was
caused by cardiac issues. The coroner did not screen for poisons in his blood. Why wasn't his blood screened? Well,
Harold had a history of genuine health issues. And also, remember he'd been to the emergency room a couple of times
when these attempted poisonings didn't work out. So, his death was not considered suspicious. And routine
autopsies, they don't screen for poison because there's simply not enough hours in the day to to screen for every poison
out there unless there's a specific reason to do so and they didn't have one in this case. Routine autopsies do
involve a toxicology screen that looks for things like alcohol and medication overdoses. And Harold had been on
prescription meds and they were found at therapeutic levels. Now, every state has
different laws about keeping blood and tissue samples postmortem. In Indiana, they hold on to samples for a year. So,
when suspicion was finally raised in Harold's case, they could still send that out for testing. Yeah, that was
really fortuitous. I did not know that they held on to samples that long, especially when initially there doesn't
seem to be a suspicious death. Um the case really reminded me though of another poisoning case that's getting a
lot of attention, the Kouri Richins case. Uh she was a Utah author and mother who in 2026 uh was found guilty
of murdering her husband with a fentanyl-laced Moscow mule, also a pretty sweet drink, I think. Um like
Richins, Marsha wrote a book about grief after Harold's death. Did you read the book? I did. Uh
it's not going to make a best-seller list, but the name of the book was from surviving to thriving, rebuilding your
life after the loss of a spouse. And she self-published this book about 6 months
after Harold died. It has just 29 pages. Some of it reads like Hallmark card stuff. And yet as we as we know it it it
ends up being a bunch of hooey. Investigators believe that she wanted people to feel sorry for her and or she
wanted to convince others that she was mourning for Harold when she knew she had inflicted all this pain and torment
on this man and yet was trying to cover that horrible deed with this book. So then over 9 months after Harold's death,
Marsha's home security system alerted her to a burglary while she was away on vacation.
When she reviewed the video, she could see two men opening her home safe and then rifling through her bedroom and
looking for jewelry. Marsha immediately identifies one of the burglars captured on this camera. It's her daughter
Ashley's best friend. His name is Steven White. She reports this burglary to police.
But I got to wonder, why would she do that? She knows that she's involved in this other crime. You would think the
last thing she would want to do is bring authorities to her house. Absolutely. Especially since she she knows she had
committed a murder. Were it not for Marsha's vindictive nature of reporting a burglary that she
knew her own daughter was responsible for, both she and Ashley would likely be free
today. And Ashley was the only other person who knew the combination to the safe. So, Marsha knew Ashley was behind
this burglary. And Harold, he had a life insurance policy of $120,000. Marsha had been paying Ashley about
$1,000 each month since Harold died, but it stopped making those payments 2 months before the burglary. So, she
Ashley was upset with her mother because she felt she wasn't getting enough money. When police spoke to Steven
White, he's one of the guys one of the burglars seen on that tape, he told them that Marsha killed her husband by
poisoning a root beer float. And that's when investigators decided they needed at least to ask Marsha about Harold's
death. So, Marsha returns from vacation. She goes to the sheriff's office to discuss, she thinks she's going to be
discussing this burglary, but then investigators also raise the accusation that Steven made about her
killing her husband Harold. And they ask to download the contents of her cell phone, and she agrees. But then
when the detective leaves, she starts frantically deleting text messages, right? It's like people don't watch 48
Hours, Peter, because they would know. You I mean, you can never delete a message. Yeah, I know. Everyone watching
and listening to this who watches 48, they all know there is digital evidence out there and you can't just erase it.
So, nearly 7,000 texts were exchanged between Marsha and Ashley in the months leading up to Harold's death and they
were easily recovered, right? She thought she deleted them but she hadn't. Marsha even told investigators that all
she deleted from her phone were some photos and this is what she said, "Just want to make sure you don't see me in my
underwear." Mhm. So, she she was suggesting there were some risque photos on there that she didn't want
>> Of course, that's what she was deleting when in fact what she was deleting were
these incriminating text messages and investigators say those texts revealed Marsha and Ashley had tried to kill
Harold over and over again with a variety of exotic poisons including a lot of this I hadn't heard of before but
pong pong seeds which can cause cardiac arrest, water hemlock which attacks the nervous system and can cause grand mal
seizures and ethylene glycol which affects the the nervous system. That's that chemical that goes into antifreeze.
We didn't include this in the hour but there is one exchange where Marsha texts Ashley, this is what Marsha said to
Ashley, his exact words, "I am feeling a lot better since drinking Gatorade." Now, this is bad news right to the two
women because they're trying to kill him. Ashley replies to her mother, "Well, we need to reorder." Mhm. And
Marsha texts WTF, what the you know what. Mhm. They were so determined to finish this job. They weren't going to
be stopped and they carried on until they killed him. So, when I heard pong pong seeds, I
immediately thought of the TV show The White Lotus on HBO. In the third season, there's a character that nearly dies
after accidentally drinking pong pong seeds in a protein shake. But, my question that I kept on asking
myself, how on earth was it possible that Marsha and Ashley could buy these exotic poisons online? You would I there
would be some sort of restriction on that. The poisons they purchased are not illegal. They have legitimate uses. Pong
pong seeds and water hemlock are used in gardens, and ethylene glycol is a component in antifreeze and can be used
as a solvent. What's interesting, too, a quick aside, is that each of these have
a unique taste or a smell to them. Some are sweet, and that's why if you mix it with
something like a root beer float, you have no idea that you're drinking this antifreeze chemical. So, investigators
believe that the motive here for Marsha and Ashley was money. And I'm always surprised at the amount of money that
motivates people to murder. A $120,000 life insurance policy? It's not a little bit of money, but to kill someone? Come
on. Everyone you spoke to said that he was a great guy. He had a big heart. He welcomes like Marsha and Ashley and
their entire like the family into his family. To me, they had it good. Yeah, I mean, his nickname is Peanut. I mean, a
guy nicknamed Peanut, you know is a good guy. It's It's really It's just so tragic.
So, was it really about money? Well, look, investigators believe that these two uh
were evil personified. And um there was a conversation going on in those texts about that money, but
Lieutenant Nicholson and investigator with the Jackson County Sheriff's Department told us that Marsha and
Ashley believed something else, something that could have been another motive for murder, that there was a
demon living inside Harold. And they needed to kill him so this demon could be released. They thought that the demon
inside of Harold was going to escape and attach to other people living in the house.
No one we spoke with could tell us whether Marsha and Ashley genuinely believed that Harold was a demon or if
it was just a way of amusing themselves as they plotted a real murder. Mhm. And the prosecutor, Lindsey Fleetwood,
believes that money, not evil spirits, was driving their motivation. I'm with the prosecutor, Peter. I call BS on
that. In fact, when when you were talking about it, I thought, this seems like another attempt to distract and
cover their bases. So, as the investigation unfolds, it's October 16th, 2023. Investigators serve Marsha
with a search warrant for her home, and she voluntarily returns to the sheriff's
department and she's questioned. But then, even after investigators confronted her about the text messages,
she continues to go to, you know, say that she had nothing to do with Harold's death. And then, she's allowed to return
home. I was kind of surprised. Why did they let her go? You know, I've had the exact same reaction you just had. I'm
I'm going, what? You let them go? But, it was a strategic choice. And as you know, Ann Marie, authorities need to
reach a certain threshold of evidence in order to make an arrest, and they wanted
to build out a strong case [music] first. So, Marsha was warned by detectives that they were sending the
blood out for testing and expected the results to show that Harold was poisoned.
Welcome back. So, the same day that Marsha returned home from questioning at the police
station, Ashley, who'd been living in Missouri, was extradited back to Indiana on that burglary charge. We see footage
of her interview with investigators, and as soon as they confront her about Harold's murder,
she seems to turn on her mother. As she tells them the whole thing was Marsha's idea, that she was just being an
obedient daughter. I have to say, you know, Marsha and Ashley seemed really close when they were plotting
Harold's murder. I mean, thousands of text messages between them. I was really surprised that Ashley was so quick to
point the finger at her mother. It and it's chilling in a way, too. It is that that flatline emotion.
No matter what they're she's told, she just doesn't react as you would expect uh
a normal person would react like any of us would react. >> just very casual. Yeah, and um it just goes back to the
heartless nature of these two people. Right, which brings me to this, something you brought up earlier in this
podcast. Police discovered that there's evidence that Ashley had actually been plotting more murders
after Harold died. What do What do we know about that? We didn't have time to include this in the hour. The police
discovered that Ashley was plotting to kill several other people while she was in custody.
She stayed at the local jail in Indiana for several months, and she had a bunky,
as they call it, a cellmate friend who was going to be released soon. They became close, and as they approached
bunky's release date, Ashley gave her what police called a kill list with names of people she wanted assassinated.
Now, there were several names on the list, all people she had some relationship with while she and Marsha
were plotting this murder. It included her best friend Steven White, one of the burglars. Right, no surprise that
started this whole investigation. But also Steven White's mother was on the list. The cellmate went to authorities
and agreed to wear a concealed recording device in her cell. She drew Ashley out
in conversation about this kill list, and the detectives interviewed the cellmate right after, and let's listen
to a portion of that interview where the cellmate is talking about her reaction to Ashley approaching her with this kill
list. She said we're going to win this game of chess. And she said, you know, >> [snorts]
>> since she was seven, her mom has trained her, you know, this [ __ ] up. What did What was she
talking about? >> I mean, you hear me saying your shark eyes, pupils, man, they go big when she starts
talking about killing people. And then they go pinned up, and then they go big, and she just I mean, it's [ __ ] up.
She basically is saying that they're going to win this game of chess. And apparently this game, this poisonous
game, uh still had some moves to to to be made. And among them was this desire to to create even more victims. I mean,
was Ashley ever charged for that? I know she wasn't. I asked the prosecutor about
it, and she said Ashley is not currently being charged for anything to do with that kill list for certain legal
reasons. But that investigators did take it seriously, and they followed through
with their investigation on it. Let's go back to Harold's case now. Um there is a
shocking turn of events. Uh hours after Marsha returns home from questioning on October 16th, 2023,
police were dispatched to the house for a welfare check, and they discover that she has died by suicide. I asked
Lieutenant Nicholson about um Marsha's suicide, and he said, "I think she didn't want to have to spend the
rest of her life in prison. Um you know, I told her that we were going to send the blood off. I think she
she just didn't want to stick around and wait and find out what those results were when she knew what the results
were." She leaves a note, and it reads, "I did not kill my husband. You win, Ashley."
So, the prosecutor said in the hour that she believed that the message was Marsha's way of trying to get out of the
fact that she killed her husband. I get for I guess even in death she didn't want people to think that she was a
murderer, but what do you make of it? We talked about this a lot as a team and based on all of our interviews and
research, we believe there there is another layer that the note reads like a mother trying to implicate the daughter
she supposedly loved. So indeed when the toxicology report on Harold's blood comes back, it is confirmed that
ethylene glycol was in his system. And there were text messages from before Harold died that actually discussed
preparing this these root beer floats which would mask the sweet taste of the ethylene.
Now, here's the question. Who is the mastermind behind this plot? Both women benefited. Both women are
pointing the finger at each other. Who do prosecutors believe was really behind this? I asked the lead prosecutor
about this and she said she doesn't believe we'll ever know who pushed harder to murder
Harold. They were both so enthusiastic, both will so willing to discuss strategy
of what kind of foods and beverages we can put this into. Um the prosecutor points out that that
Marsha was married to him. She was the one that laid beside him at night and she was the one who ultimately put the
poison in the root beer that killed him, but she also said that Ashley was uh on
her side, constantly in her ear, helping her every step of the way, encouraging her mother every step of the way, being
a facilitator for her mother. Um at the end of the day after we sorted through all of it, this was really a
team effort and I think they both shared uh equal responsibility for this this brutal murder. So Way August of 2025,
Ashley took a plea deal, pleading guilty to attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. I was sort of surprised.
She was sentenced to 50 years in prison. That's I not the best deal on her end. But, we
have to talk about Ashley's late husband, Ty Jones. He died in 2019. He was just 33 years old. The autopsy
listed his death as related to heart issues, which is kind of surprising for a 33-year-old. Ty's family went to the
police as soon as they saw Harold's case on the local news. They raised their suspicions that Ashley really may have
had something to do with Ty's death, as well. Do police believe that they have evidence tying Ashley to Ty's possible
murder? Well, it is an ongoing investigation, and we're not told all the evidence that
authorities have. Ashley maintains that Ty died of a heart attack and has not been charged.
According to Ty's family, Ashley didn't shed any tears during Ty's funeral service, and the next day,
she shows up at Ty's place of employment asking about his life insurance policy.
Uh no one reported his death as suspicious at at that time, and heart attacks can happen to otherwise healthy
people. Um and then he was cremated shortly after his death uh at Ashley's Ashley's urging to have him cremated.
Suspicion also came into play well after his tissue and blood samples would have
been disposed of. So, there was nothing to go back, no no tissue, no blood to be
able to examine to see if there were poisons in there. Mhm. We do know there's one text exchange between Ashley
and Marsha after Marsha complained that the pong pong seeds were failing to kill
Harold. Ashley texted that Ty had weighed much less than Harold writing and previously Ty was only 120
lol. During our interview, Ty's uncle William Jones and cousin Aretha Styvers heard
about that text for the very first time and we want to play a clip from the moment that they learned this
information. There it is. There it is right there. It's painful to hear. >> Yeah, it is. Because it's one thing to
suspect and to feel like you know, but to have that kind of evidence presented verbally for the first time
is gut-wrenching. It means what you have suspected all along is true. All the time.
All the time. And that suspicion is is that Ty was poisoned. Both of them cried. There was a sense of relief to
get this news. It was really profound for them and for me sitting across from them. It closed a circle of pain and
injustice. When you heard that sound, you know, it was like, yes, we got it. We've got it. We've got it.
We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it.
We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it.
We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it. We've got it.
We've got it. >> It must have meant so much for them to understand that indeed they might be on
the right track and you know, push push more. Absolutely and we'll see where this goes. I mean it is still under
investigation. >> We will reiterate that Ashley says that her husband Ty died of natural causes.
Um, Peter, another great hour. Thank you so much for joining us today. Hey, thank
you Anne Marie. So, if you like this episode, please rate and review on Apple podcast or
Spotify.

Watch "The Root Beer Float Murder" and then join "48 Hours" correspondents Anne-Marie Green and Peter Van Sant as they discuss the murder of Harold Allen on "Post Mortem." Allen was poisoned with a root beer float by his wife, Marsha Allen, and her daughter, Ashley Jones.

00:00 The Root Beer Float Murder 41:29 Watch the "Post Mortem" podcast

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Marsha Allen and her daughter Ashley plotted to murder Harold Allen, ultimately succeeding with poison in a root beer float.

Key points

A Sudden Death. Harold Allen dies unexpectedly, prompting a 911 call from his wife Marsha.
The Shocking Accusation. Steven White claims Marsha poisoned Harold with a root beer float.
A Sinister Plot Unfolds. Investigators uncover a series of texts revealing a plan to poison Harold.
Ashley Names Her Mother. Ashley Jones named her mother as Harold's killer during police questioning.
Marsha's Suicide. Marsha Allen took her own life after being questioned about her husband's murder.
Ashley Sentenced. Ashley Jones was sentenced to 50 years in prison for her role in Harold's death.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He was my world. The grief was unbearable and still is.

Marsha Allen reflecting on her husband's death.

1:52WatchApr 26, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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