Wife Allegedly Murders Husband, Dismembers Body; Asks Children For Help

A 34-year-old woman in LaPorte County, Indiana, was charged earlier this week after she was accused of fatally shooting her husband, dismembering his body with an ax and asking her two minor children to help dispose of him.

Thessalonica Allen was charged Monday with murder, abuse of a corpse, altering the scene of death and interference with the reporting of a crime over the death of her husband, Randy Allen, ABC 57 reported.

Thessalonica fatally shot Randy inside the couple's LaPorte County home on July 27, a report by the South Bend Tribune said. His dismembered body was found inside a closet in their children's bedroom.

Additionally, she was charged with two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and two counts of neglect of a dependent after allegedly involving her children in the disposal of the body, according to the ABC 57 report.

Thessalonica told detectives that she shot her husband after they got into an argument, which had turned into a physical altercation, reports said.

Prior to the shooting, Thessalonica claimed that after she got home, her kids told her Randy had beaten them. She and Randy then got into an argument, with the latter allegedly grabbing her by the neck, according to reports.

Thessalonica claimed she saw Randy coming at her again after he had let her go and walked away, prompting her to grab her gun and shoot him once, documents showed.

The children, however, told police that they only heard verbal arguing and that they never saw a physical altercation between Thessalonica and Randy. They claimed that Randy was getting his things and leaving during the argument, a probable cause affidavit said.

Police were told by the children that Randy had confronted Thessalonica over an unidentified website she had visited and that the two went to their bedroom to continue the argument, according to reports.

The children told investigators they then heard a "loud bang" and ran to their mother's bedroom, where Randy was lying on the floor asking for the kids to call 911, as per the South Bend Tribune. Thessalonica instructed the children to go back to their room, records said.

The children said their mother later allegedly asked for help in dragging Randy's body out of the house and loading it into his vehicle but added that they were unable to do so because the body was too heavy. Thessalonica later came home the next day with cleaning supplies as well as an ax and asked the children to help place the body into a tote bag, court documents said.

The body, which had already been dismembered, was still too heavy for them to move to the vehicle, the children told police. They alleged that Thessalonica planned to drive the body to South Bend and set it on fire, according to records.

Authorities learned of the incident after Thessalonica's former partner — who was the father of one of her children — called police, the ABC 57 report said.

Thessalonica allegedly called the ex and asked him to come to the house as she claimed Randy had been harming their child. She allegedly then showed the unnamed ex a body inside her closet and said it was her current husband, reports said.

The ex allegedly refused when Thessalonica asked for help in moving the body, and he instead asked her to take him back to Michigan.

Thessalonica — during the drive — allegedly told the ex that she shot Randy because he was beating her and her kids, according to a probable cause affidavit. She then threw a gun out of her vehicle when she dropped off her ex, and he kept it, according to reports.

The ex called police, and authorities were able to locate Thessalonica outside a hardware store, where she began crying when they approached her and identified themselves.

"You guy don't understand, he beats me," Thessalonica was quoted as saying in the probable cause affidavit.

Police executed a search warrant at Thessalonica's apartment, where they located an ax, knife and red substance in her bedroom, reports said. Randy's body had been found in a bag in the children's room, police said.

An autopsy conducted Saturday revealed Randy had a gunshot wound to the right arm that entered his chest/abdomen and the spinal cord. The location of the round had kept Randy from moving after he was shot, according to reports.

Thessalonica is being held at the La Porte County Jail without bond pending her initial appearance before Judge Tom Alevizos this Friday.