The tragic story of Harold Allen Jr.
A loving husband and stepfather, Harold Allen Jr., trusted his family with his life—but what he didn’t know was that his wife and stepdaughter were plotting his death. In this chilling episode of Shall We Brew?, we uncover the twisted story of a mother-daughter duo who used poison in the most unthinkable ways, including serving a root beer float laced with deadly toxins. What drove them to commit such a horrifying betrayal? How did their sinister plan unravel? Pour yourself a cup and dive into this shocking tale of greed, manipulation, and a family torn apart by murder.
It’s important to understand that just because certain sources are referenced, it doesn’t imply that their information was utilized. We strive to rely on the most credible and trustworthy sources available.
https://www.in.gov/apps/indcorrection/ofs/ofs?previous_page=1&detail=169675
https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/docs-mother-daughter-poisoned-man-4-times-before-causing-death
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/saYTUMmWvtT89tzw
https://www.buchananfuneralhome.net/obituaries/Marsha-Allen-3/#!/TributeWall
https://www.doxpop.com/prod/in
https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/ashley-jones-arrested-for-murder-after-plot-with-mom-discovered
Harold Allen Jr. loved his wife and stepdaughter, but what he didn’t know was that every meal, every drink, was part of a slow, calculated plan to kill him—a plan so cold and deliberate it involved deadly poisons, chilling text messages, and a web of lies that would unravel only after his death. This is the story of Harold Allen jr, and how his perpetrators almost got away with murder.
Welcome to Shall We Brew? I’m your host Hayley. Here we talk about true crime, bizarre stories, and shocking scandals all while honoring the voices of victims.
Also just a quick heads-up—this episode involves some heavy topics, including self-exiting. If that’s something you’d rather skip, no worries—I’ll see you in the next one. And remember, this case is still awaiting trial, so all details discussed are alleged, and everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
This case is currently awaiting trial – you are innocent until proven guilty in the court of law so everything stated in this episode is alleged. Now with that being said Pour yourself a cup and settle in, because once we start brewing…the truth can’t be unsipped.
Harold Allen Jr, also known as “Peanut” I imagine came as a nickname since he’s the 2nd born. His family member writes – In 1989, he went on to study electrical engineering at ITT Technical Institute and Ivy Tech. His love for technology and programming was shown daily in his career, at Aisin USA, and his countless hours playing video games. Throughout his life, Harold enjoyed playing music on his mandolin, riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle, and enjoying time with his family and friends. Peanut was usually over the line, unapologetic, always made sure you got his jokes, couldn’t cook without his garlic powder, was a beautiful musician, a talented singer, and LOVED….and I mean LOOOVED with his entire being.
Harold was married to Marsha Allen, and it’s said that he loved her very dearly – he thought he was marrying the woman he would spend forever with. Harold was the provider for Marsha and his step-daughter Ashley Jones. It’s reported that Ashley lived with Harold and Marsha for a period of time before his death.
Harold was now facing a sudden decline with his health. On November 27, 2022, Harold found himself in the ER, complaining of symptoms — with numbness on the left side of his face. Despite his concerns, Harold was sent home without any answers…..
Just three days later, on November 30th, Harold would return to the ER….. This time, he experienced not only facial numbness but also fever, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Doctors end up diagnosing him with an inflammatory intestine-related condition and send him home once more.
But what Harold didn’t know was that his condition wasn’t just a cruel twist of fate. Before the hospital visits, he had enjoyed a brownie prepared by his wife, Marsha. Those brownies contained something far more sinister than just chocolate—pong-pong seeds, a deadly toxin, had been mixed into the batter.
It all starts with Ashley ordering pong pong seeds on September 14th, of 2022. The seeds are delivered to the Allen’s home in October. Then Marsha grinds them up in a coffee grinder, bakes a batch of brownies, and is like “Harold do you want some brownies” “yeah sure I’d love one”
Marsha sends a photo to Ashley with what appears to be a half eaten brownie on a paper plate sitting on Harold’s stomach.
The very next day, on November 27th, is when Harold ended up in the ER with numbness on the left side of his face—symptoms that could be linked to pong-pong seed poisoning.
Let’s talk about the symptoms of Pong pong seed poisoning, they are severely toxic and ingesting them can cause severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and potentially fatal heart and respiratory complications. The seeds interfere with the body’s ability to pump blood, leading to organ failure.
On November 28th, Marsha would text Ashley “I am irritated and cant sleep”…. “ I need this to be over… I wish it would reach it’s climax and be done… lol”
Ashley responds “agreed”…..
On December 1st Ashley proceeds to order water hemlock. Water Hemlock is THE most violently toxic plant that is grown in North America. Only a small amount is needed to be lethal – which is very terrifying to think about. … The toxin cicutoxin, acts directly on the central nervous system and it is a violent convulsant. Cicutoxin is a highly poisonous unsaturated alcohol that has a strong carrot-like odor. It is found mainly in the tubers, but is also present in the leaves and stems during early growth. Leaves and stems lose most of their toxicity as they mature; however, green seed heads are poisonous.The signs of poisoning occur when a threshold dose is reached after which grand mal seizures and death occur. One article reads – This poisoning can cause your breathing muscles to fail. Then when those muscles fail, you can go into respiratory failure and die.
The water hemlock is delivered to their residence just 7 days later.. Just two days later on December 9th Marsha places it in Harold’s Chili, the next day into a soda, then the next day into a margarita. She is so determined to make this happen it’s incredibly sad for Harold and his family. I can’t imagine – he just gets home from work after a long day thinking his wife is making dinner, and drinks not knowing that each time he’s most likely slowly dying.
The water hemlock isn’t working, so now they need to come up with another plan..
Marsha starts googling “what happens if you ingest foxglove seed?, how much foxglove is fatal, ….how long does foxglove take to kill you” then says to Ashley I need foxglove seeds, and Ashley is telling her mother “they’re traceable” “you need gloves” and Marsha is just like “I know, I just need time alone to prepare it”… then they scratch that idea…… Just to give you an idea, all parts of the foxglove plant are poisonous. Even inhaling the pollen can cause adverse reactions. The leaves have fine hairs that can cause a rash that can last between 2 to 3 weeks. Within hours of ingestion, toxicity begins – with vomiting, cardiac arrhythmias and hyperkalemia.
On December 13th – Ashley orders ethylene glycol…. Just six days later Ashley would text her mother “The mail is here :)” Marsha responds with a heart emoji.
And later on ….. “He’s all in for root beer floats”
Ethylene glycol ingestion exposure happens in stages, there are mild stages and severe stages.
- Stage 1: Decreased reflex responses, seizures, loss of consciousness, and coma.
- Stage 2: More severe build-up of toxic breakdown products in the blood stream, resulting in increased rate and depth of breathing; heart damage, including congestive heart failure, resulting in buildup of fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema); lung damage, including adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), resulting in a decreased oxygen supply to the body; multi-system organ failure; and death.
- Stage 3: Reduced and/or absence of urine excretion; acute kidney failure, causing a build-up of toxic chemicals and chemical imbalances in the blood stream… ultimately leading to death.
It’s unclear when exactly, but sometime between December 19th and 20th, Harold drank the root beer float laced with ethylene glycol. Ashley texted Marsha, confirming that Harold had consumed the entire float. The morning of December 20th Marsha texted Ashley at 7:55am, “Come here.” When questioned later on, Ashley claimed Marsha was referring to Harold acting drunk and loopy. Five hours later, Marsha called an ambulance, but by then, Harold was already dead.
At the time, authorities had no suspicion of foul play.
But everything changed nine months later. On September 19, 2023, Marsha called the police, reporting a burglary at her home. Two men were identified as suspects, and one of them, Steven White. Steven revealed to authorities that Ashley had recruited him and that she and Marsha had murdered Harold by poisoning him.
The next day, Marsha spoke with detectives, denying any involvement in Harold’s death but she consents to a download of her phone. Which I’m sure during questions she was trying to appear forthcoming, as if she didn’t have anything to hide. She delete everything off her phone thinking the police won’t have access to it… but the police can tell when you’ve unlocked your phone – the digital footprint is insane, you really cannot hide anything. Anyways, what the police end up finding were incriminating messages between Marsha and Ashley, detailing their plan to carry out the murder.
Then on October 16th 2023 – a call is made around 7:52pm by Marsha’s family stating they’re unable to make any contact with Marsha. Once police arrived, it was determined Marsha was found deceased by self-exiting. No further details have been mentioned regarding her death.
So, how did Ashley find two men willing to help burglarize her mother’s home? It turns out that Steven White is the nephew of Ashley’s late husband, Tyrson Jones. Back in 2019, Tyrson was found dead in his home just days after receiving an inheritance. Ashley told his family that he died of alcohol poisoning, allegedly no autopsy was performed, and he was quickly cremated. Ashley’s involvement in both her husband’s and stepfather’s deaths become suspicious..
Detectives uncovered more incriminating messages from Ashley to Steven, bragging about how she had planned everything and how Marsha couldn’t have pulled it off without her.
Ashley was questioned by detectives and they were able to gather even more incriminating messages from Ashley to Steven: The messages read – also bare with me here, these messages are word for word from Ashley and the grammar is not great…
- Ahahah yeah she ain’t gonna be able to do shit she wouldn’t even have succeeded with this last thing without me I planned it all.
- She was gonna use insulin like 1983 oh it’s not traced
- Yeah not usually and not years ago but 2022 yeah it is and he was diabetic like come on
- So something else was hatched and we both know that bitch wasn’t the one planning ect she just f—ing f—ed it all up made it less lucrative wouldn’t even make it go get a will
- She couldn’t get into a dead man’s phone without me to get all his retirements and savings he had hidden….. hell she got 4500 from his PayPal cc cause I showed her how to scam it as him, before they find he’s gone. she’s fake af
- She didn’t gimme s— out of that
Ashley was later arrested in October and charged with: BURGLARY, MURDER, CONSUMER PRODUCT TAMPERING, MURDER- ATTEMPTED, CONSPIRACY
I actually worked on this case a few months ago, and Ashley’s trial was set to start January 7th 2025. But as I was looking for updates it now says cancelled and will now start in August of 2025.
This is pure speculation but there are some people who think Ashley could have something to do with Marsha’s death – on one hand I could see Marsha self-exiting because it seems like she did not want to deal with the repercussions of murdering her husband. BUT also… maybe Ashley could have a part in it because her mother didn’t give her any of the funds from Harold’s death. I don’t think it’s too far-fetched.. Given the fact Ashley and her mother were so callous about Harold’s death and you know.. Money seems to be a big factor and a lot of crimes. But like I said this is just PURE speculation and nothing has been proven yet. What do you guys think?
This case is nothing short of heartbreaking. Harold Allen Jr. was a man who loved deeply and trusted fully, only to be betrayed in the most horrific way by the people he cared about. I don’t have a ton of information about him, but from what I can find he seemed like a very genuine and down to earth man.
Thank you all for joining me on today’s episode – If you like this story be sure to subscribe, like, comment, leave a review and share with your friends. Let me know what case would you like to see next. I’ll see you next week, as always stay safe.
Leave a Reply