Belinda Magana and her then boyfriend Naresh Narine should have never been allowed anywhere near children. According to court documents the pair would not get their two year old medical care when he was scalded with hot water. For days after the scalding the couple would beat the small child for crying and eventually the child would die from his injuries. An investigation into the pair would lead to charges of child abuse, torture and murder. Belinda Magana and Naresh Narine would stand trial but in the end it did not really matter as both would be convicted on all charges and sentenced to death in California. Magana remains on California Death Row
Belinda Magana 2021 Information
Inmate Name
MAGANA, BELINDA
CDCR Number
WF2152
Age
34
Admission Date
05/08/2015
Current Location
Central California Women’s Facility
Location Link
Directions
Parole Eligible Date (Month/Year)
CONDEMNED
Belinda Magana Other News
The mother of a Corona toddler, who was scalded, denied medical care and beaten when he cried in pain for days until he died, continued to deny she was responsible for his death in a hearing Friday, May 1, where she was sentenced to death for the 2009 horrific crime.
Belinda Magana, 29, sniffled and spoke briefly about her son Malachi Magana’s death as one of her defense attorneys, Darryl Exum, put his hand on her shoulder.
In a separate sentencing that followed, Naresh Narine, who turned 43 a day earlier, chose not to speak. Narine was Belinda Magana’s boyfriend at the time of the crime and was a father figure to the toddler.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Bernard Schwartz read the results of his independent review that supported the recommendation of separate juries for each defendant that they be sentenced to death, and ordered that they be transported to state prison
Schwartz called the conduct of Belinda Magana and Narine “repulsive and disgusting” in the suffering of the child.
If the incident had not occurred, the judge said Malachi would be about 7 or 8. “He would have been in school, playing with friends getting ready for summer vacation, Schwartz said.
Sentencing hearings allow time for victims, their families and friends to give victim impact statements. No one appeared to speak for Malachi.
When asked outside court after the sentencing who would speak for the young victim, Senior Deputy District Attorney Daima Calhoun, who was the lead prosecutor in the trial, said, “Me and the jury. The jury speaks for him” by their verdicts.
Belinda Magana and Narine were found guilty in January of first-degree murder, torture, mayhem and child abuse in the boy’s death.
Before the judge imposed the sentence, Belinda said, “I just wanted to say to my family and everybody else that I’m truly sorry for the part that I did….Regardless of what anybody said, I didn’t kill my son.”
According to testimony, Malachi was scalded in a shower and other than his mother applying an ointment, the defendants did not seek medical help because they feared getting in trouble. Belinda Magana said the injury occurred while she and Malachi’s brother, who was then age 4, were at the grocery store. Narine blamed the brother for turning on the hot water.
For the next five days, both admitted hitting and beating the boy when his cries disturbed them. Experts concluded blunt force trauma to his head and complications of the scalding burn injuries contributed to his death.
That day during a Mother’s Day picnic at a Corona park, they reported him missing. Under Corona police questioning, Belinda Magana finally admitted what happened and led them to her son’s shallow grave.
Belinda and Narine drove to a party in Apple Valley and the next day buried the body near Lytle Creek in San Bernardino County.
As of April 6, the California Department of Corrections listed 84 inmates from Riverside County sentenced to death.
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Belinda Magana, WF-2152
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Belinda Magana 2021
Belinda Magana is currently incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility home of California Death Row for Women
Why Is Belinda Magana On Death Row
Belinda Magana was convicted of the child abuse murder of a two year old
Rosie Alfaro would be sentenced to death in California for a robbery turned murder. According to court documents Rosie went to the home of an acquaintance in order to rob it however was surprised when the homeowner daughter was home. Instead of walking away and trying her luck another day Rosie would stab the victim repeatedly causing her death. Rosie who is believed to be an illegal alien was also pregnant and believed to be high at the time of the murder. Rosie Alfaro would eventually be arrested and charged with robbery and murder both of which she was convicted and would be sentenced to death. Alfaro remains on California Death Row
Rosie Alfaro 2021 Information
ALFARO, MARIA DELROSIO
CDCR Number
W45403
Age
48
Admission Date
07/20/1992
Current Location
Central California Women’s Facility
Location Link
Directions
Parole Eligible Date (Month/Year)
CONDEMNED
Rosie Alfaro Other News
Linda Wallace was sitting in the cavernous courtroom of the California Supreme Court recently when she started to cry.
“You would think after all this time, you would get over it, but you don’t,” said the Lake Havasu City, Ariz., woman.
It’s been 17 years since her little girl was killed; 15 years since the killer was sentenced to death.
Still, she cries. The tears come at her at odd hours in the day and the night.
“The hurt is still there,” she said. “It’s always there, no matter how much time passes by.”
Wallace has attended every minute of every court proceeding in the case since June 15, 1990, when 9-year-old Autumn Wallace was stabbed to death in her own home.
She has endured one trial, two penalty hearings, and more than 15 years awaiting an appellate review. The testimony, she said, has frequently been gruesome and hard to take, but Wallace persevered because “I was doing it for Autumn.”
Wallace will continue to travel from her home in Arizona, accompanied by her two surviving daughters when possible, no matter when and no matter how far, to represent Autumn.
“It’s the only thing I can do for her,” the mom said, “I need to be there to represent her, because she can’t do it. I go to be with my daughter.
“The hardest thing for me is to see people now who are Autumn’s age,” she said. “Not being able to see her grow up, that’s what bothers me the most. She would be 26 years old now. She could be married. She could have kids. That’s what I think about.”
• • •
Maria del Rosio “Rosie” Alfaro, grew up in the Anaheim barrio near Disneyland. She became a drug addict at 13, a prostitute at 14 and a single mom at 15. Eventually, she became a murderer at 18 and the first woman in Orange County to get the death penalty at 20.
On June 15, 1990, Alfaro was high on cocaine and heroin, and she desperately need money for another fix.
An easy target for stuff to steal, Rosie Alfaro thought, would be the Wallace residence in Anaheim Hills, a warm and comforting home she had visited many times before as a sometimes friend of one of Autumn’s older sisters.
Autumn, a pixie with blond hair and brown eyes, was home alone cutting out paper dolls when she heard the knock on the door. The teenager on the front porch was not a stranger to Autumn. It was Rosie Alfaro, her sister’s friend.
The killer was inside now, and Autumn was a perfect victim: She was a child. She was trusting. She was vulnerable.
She was also a witness. Years later, in a jailhouse interview, Rosie Alfaro said she had to kill Autumn because the little girl knew who she was. She remembered how Autumn looked up at her with a trusting smile, a smile that turned to fear when the stabbing began.
Linda Wallace found the body of her cherubic little girl hours later, in a pool of blood in the bathroom. She had been stabbed 57 times.
The Wallace home had been ransacked, and property was missing – including a portable television, a VCR, a typewriter, a telephone and a Nintendo set. Rosie Alfaro later sold all of it for $300.
Rosie Alfaro confessed to the slaying, but later changed her story and claimed that an unidentified male accomplice forced her to start stabbing the girl, and then he finished the slaying. Rosie Alfaro has adamantly refused to identify the mystery man, and continues to do so. The police say he never existed.
Jurors did not buy her version of the facts.
Rosie Alfaro was convicted of first-degree murder, plus special circumstances. The same jury deadlocked at 10-2 for death penalty, and a mistrial was declared. A second jury voted unanimously that Rosie Alfaro should die for taking Autumn’s life. Linda Wallace sat through both.
Superior Court Judge Theodore Millard, in confirming the death recommendation, said the slaying was “senseless, brutal, vicious and callous.”
That was 15 years ago this month. Wallace and her two surviving daughters are still waiting for Millard’s sentence to be meted out.
• • •
Linda Wallace knew from the beginning that it would take a long time for her courtroom treks to be over.
Chuck Middleton, the deputy district attorney assigned to her case, warned her before the first trial that it can take as long as 20 years for a death penalty case to wind its way to a conclusion – sometimes longer.
Wallace says that while she waits for justice, she does not spend her time or energy fretting about Rosie Alfaro.
“I know she is in a bad place,” Wallace says. “I know she will never see the light of day. I am fine with it.”
Rosie Alfaro, Wallace added, hasn’t had much of a life since she was arrested in 1990.
“She just exists,” the mother said. “It wouldn’t be any life I would want.”
Amber Wallace Zabo, who is one of Autumn’s older sisters, traveled with her mother to San Francisco last month when attorneys argued whether Rosie Alfaro’s death sentence had been fair. Zabo’s sister April made the trip to San Francisco for the arguments, but she couldn’t get to the courthouse in time.
They have waited nearly two decades for the case to come to a conclusion. They will have to wait awhile longer. The California Supreme Court has until the end of summer to issue a ruling.
And if justices affirm Rosie Alfaro’s sentence, it’s on to the federal court system for another round of appeals.
Linda Wallace says she is ready for that too.
Zabo gets mad every time she thinks about the woman who killed her younger sister.
For her, Rosie Alfaro gets one advantage after another: court-appointed lawyers, two penalty hearings, numerous appeals.
“We get nothing,” Zabo said. “And she gets all of these things. It makes me mad. … I just want to see her be put to death, and I want to see it faster than it is taking.”
Would she travel to San Quentin Prison to watch Rosie Alfaro be executed?
“Oh yes, I would go to watch her die, without a doubt,” Zabo said. “I would do it myself, if they’d let me.”
But what about Linda Wallace, now 58, a woman who lost her husband to cancer in 1987 and her youngest daughter to a murderer’s knife in 1990, a woman who has attended every single hearing in the case for 17 years.
Cathy Lynn Sarinana and her husband Raul Sarinana are evil people who should have never been let around children. According to police documents Cathy Lynn Sarinana and her husband are responsible for two deaths, both young boys. The pair were suppose to be looking after a pair of nephews but one of the nephews would be murdered and a few months later his brother was beaten to death. The pair would be arrested and both would be sentenced to death.
Cathy Lynn Sarinana 2019 Information
Inmate Name
SARINANA, CATHY LYNN
CDCR Number
X37697
Age
43
Admission Date
07/09/2009
Current Location
Central California Women’s Facility
Location Link
Directions
Parole Eligible Date (Month/Year)
CONDEMNED
Cathy Lynn Sarinana Other News
RIVERSIDE, Cal. – In front of a tearful courtroom, two juries recommended the death penalty for Raul Ricardo Sarinana and his wife Cathy Lynn Sarinana for the brutal murder of their 11-year-old nephew Ricky Morales.
It’s believed they also killed his 13-year-old brother Conrad.
“I’m very happy with the verdict, very happy, they deserve it,” said the boys’ mother, Rosa Sarinana outside the courtroom.
The couple lived with the boys for about a year in Randle, Washington, which is where authorities believe Conrad was killed.
“We have evidence the 13-year-old may have been tragically killed here in Lewis County,†said Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield.
On October 8, 2005, the couple reported 13-year-old Conrad missing, possibly a runaway. The next day, the couple moved with the younger brother to Corona, California. On December 26, the 11-year-old was found in the home tortured to death. The next day, 13-year-old Conrad’s body was found murdered as well. He was found encased in concrete in a carport.
Both boys were abused and tortured. Blood was found all over the Corona home.
The boys’ mother says her brother asked if the boys could stay with them.
“My boys didn’t deserve that. They were good boys. They were very good boys,” Rosa Sarinana said.
Defense attorneys argued Raul had anger problems and that Cathy was also a victim of Raul’s abuse, but they did not convince the jurors.
Lewis County authorities say they were awaiting the outcome of the trial in Riverside County before deciding whether to prosecute the couple for the older boy’s murder.
Cathy Lynn Sarinana More News
The two young boys found dead at a Corona home this week may have been brothers, and authorities believe that at least one of the boys was beaten to death by his uncle, police said Wednesday.
Charges were filed against Raul Ricardo Sarinana and Cathy Lynn Sarinana on Wednesday in connection with the death of their 11-year-old nephew, Ricky Morales.
Detectives suspect that a second body found in the carport of their duplex was the boy’s missing 13-year-old brother, officials said. Relatives Wednesday identified the brother as Conrad Morales.
On Oct. 8, Cathy Sarinana had reported a 13-year-old runaway child to the Lewis County, Wash., Sheriff’s Department, officials said. She was living in a Winlock, Wash., trailer park at the time.
Police have requested dental records for the older boy, whom officials did not identify, and two Corona police investigators flew to Washington on Wednesday afternoon to continue their investigation.
Raul Sarinana had been taking care of the two boys for his older sister, Rosa Morales, after she was sent to prison, according to a relative from El Monte and police officials.
“They were good little boys who just wanted attention,” said the relative, who asked not to be identified because she said she feared retaliation from other family members. “We’re in shock. We’re trying to put it all together.”
The relative, who took care of the boys for almost a year, said they had been bouncing from relative to relative for at least five years. Morales also has two older daughters, who are being cared for by other relatives, she said.
The sisters were among about a dozen weeping relatives and friends of the boys who gathered at the La Puente home of another of the boys’ aunts late Wednesday, but were too emotional to speak. The family had set up a memorial to the boys consisting of candles and photographs depicting Conrad and Ricky as babies, and as young children in Halloween costumes.
The boys had grown up in La Puente and West Covina, relatives said.
Rosa’s sister Bertha Cevallos, 43, said Conrad had gone to live with the Sarinanas about a year and a half ago, and Ricky joined him about six months later. Their mother, Cevallos said, was concerned about them living in Southern California through their rebellious teenage years and thought they would be less likely to get into trouble in Washington state.
Raul Sarinana and his wife sent back reports saying the boys were doing well in school and were involved in numerous activities, the family said.
Some family members worried that Conrad and Ricky seemed unhappy, and that their phone calls had a rote, practiced tone as if they were reading from a script. But they chalked this up to shyness, and did not suspect they were in danger, said Martin Cevallos, 22, of Downey, cousin to Conrad and Ricky.
He said he knew Raul Sarinana from childhood, and called him a favorite uncle. “The thought never crossed my mind that he would hurt them.”
Once, a sister had requested that police make a welfare check on the boys in Washington, but never heard back, he said. The last time any of the relatives talked to Ricky was on Christmas, they said, when he told them that he missed his mother and wanted to come home.
Charges of murder and a special circumstance of inflicting torture have been filed against Raul Sarinana, 38, which could make him subject to the death penalty.
The prosecutor, John Aki, did not say whether the Riverside County district attorney’s office would seek the death penalty.
Charges of murder and felony child endangerment have been filed against Cathy Sarinana, 28. She could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
On Wednesday, the couple’s arraignment was postponed to Jan. 5 at a hearing in Riverside County Superior Court that lasted less than a minute. The pair are being held without bail at Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.
Charges have not been filed in connection with the second body; officials said the death may have occurred in Washington. The child protection agency in Lewis County confirmed that it had been asked to assist the investigation.
The cause of Ricky Morales’ death might be determined by an autopsy to be performed today; the second boy’s autopsy is scheduled Friday.
State birth records show that in addition to her two sons, Rosa Morales had two older daughters. All the children were born in Los Angeles County.
Relatives said Rosa Morales was devastated. “She is taking it bad,” said Martin Cevallos. “She is feeling really guilty.”
Police found Ricky’s battered body Monday at the Sarinanas’ Corona duplex in the 1100 block of Belle Avenue after Raul Sarinana called police and said he had hurt his nephew and that he might be dead. Ricky had suffered blunt trauma injuries, though officials declined to say what caused them.
The Sarinanas’ children, a 2-year-old girl and a 13-month-old boy, were taken into protective custody.
A relative tipped off police later that day that there had been another boy living with the Sarinanas, said Corona police Sgt. Jerry Rodriguez. Police contacted the Lewis County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday and returned to the residential neighborhood to search again.
Using X-ray equipment, they discovered the second boy’s remains in the carport. Neighbors said they saw teams break concrete with jackhammers and roll out several green metal barrels.
The Sarinanas have ived in the rented front unit of a duplex since mid-October, police said. Raul Sarinana said he was a self-employed handyman, and Cathy Sarinana said she was unemployed, Rodriguez said.
Rosa Morales had recently completed parole, Rodriguez said. Police have not reached Ricky’s father, who is thought to be in Mexico, police said.
Neighbors said the Sarinanas kept to themselves except for the occasional yard sale, though several children said they had noticed bruises on Ricky’s face and arms.
Corona police had been called to the duplex once, but did not disclose the circumstances.
The family has set up a memorial fund in care of Bank of America in Alhambra, the Fund for Conrad and Ricky Morales.
Manling Tsang Williams in one night managed to kill her entire family and for it she will now sit on California death row for decades to come. According to court documents Manling Tsang Williams would fatally stab her husband with a samurai sword before smothering her two small children. Manling Tsang Williams apparently murdered her family to be with her lover was sentenced to death
Manling Tsang Williams 2021 Information
Inmate Name
WILLIAMS, MANLING TSANG
CDCR Number
WE3786
Age
40
Admission Date
01/26/2012
Current Location
Central California Women’s Facility
Location Link
Directions
Parole Eligible Date (Month/Year)
CONDEMNED
Manling Tsang Williams Other News
A 32-year-old Rowland Heights woman has been sentenced to death for the brutal 2007 murders of her husband and two young sons. Manling Tsang Williams was convicted in 2010 on three counts of first-degree murder for taking the lives of her family members while they slept so that she could be free to be with her lover, according to City News Service.
The details of the killings are grim: Manling Tsang Williams, 29 at the time, “put on a pair of gloves, took a pillow and held it over her 3-year-old son’s mouth and nose until he lost consciousness,” described prosecutors. She “then climbed the bunk bed stairs to her oldest son’s bed and put the pillow over his nose and mouth” and ended the 7-year-old’s life.
Before killing her husband, however, Manling Tsang Williams took the time to pause to sign on to MySpace to check her boyfriend’s profile page, then went out with friends, and returned home and “chose the heaviest, sharpest sword in the house to attack her sleeping husband.” During Manling Tsang Williams’ trial, testimony from the medical examiner indicated her husband, Neal, “had been slashed and stabbed more than 90 times with a Samurai sword.”
The next morning, she called police to tell them she’d come home from grocery shopping to find her family dead. Manling Tsang Williams was taken into custody the next day.
Manling Tsang Williams’ lover had told her he would end their relationship because she was burdened with a husband and kids. The woman had reportedly been “infatuated with” her boyfriend since their high school days.
Today, Pomona Superior Court Judge Robert Martinez rejected a motion for a new trial before handing down Manling Tsang Williams’ death sentence.
Manling Tsang Williams More News
A judge sentenced Manling Tsang Williams to death Thursday for smothering her two young children with a pillow and slashing her husband to death with a sword in the family’s Rowland Heights home in 2007.
The 32-year-old woman sobbed and shook as Pomona Superior Court Judge Robert Martinez handed down the sentence for the Aug. 7, 2007 murders of her husband, Neal Williams, 27, and their sons Devon, 7, and Ian, 3, at the family’s condominium in the 18200 block of Camino Bello.
A jury convicted Manling Williams of three counts of first-degree murder in 2010, along with the special allegations of using weapons and lying in wait. After one jury was unable to agree on whether to sentence her to death or life imprisonment, a second penalty phase jury recommended last year that she be put to death.
Judge Martinez followed that recommendation.
“It is the order of this court that you should suffer the penalty of death,” he told Williams.
Williams, who was dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit and glasses and had her hands shackled at the waist during the proceeding, kept her eyes fixed on the table in front of her throughout.
Jan Williams of Whittier, mother of Neal Williams and grandmother to Devon and Ian Williams, said she was glad to see the trial, now in its fourth year, draw to a close at last.
“I’m relieved that this chapter is over,” she said. “I couldn’t take another trial.”
She added, “This has had a terrible impact, not just on me and my family, on the Tsang family, but everyone involved.”
The judge reflected on the crime at the sentencing hearing.
“The evidence is compelling that the defendant, for selfish reasons, murdered her own two children,” Martinez said.
Her motivation, Martinez said, was a “narcissistic, selfish and adolescent” desire to start a new life with another man, free from the hindrances of family life.
In the months before the murders, Manling Williams had reconnected through the Internet with an old friend and began a relationship with him.
The judge pointed out that Manling Williams had numerous family members who would have taken in the children, should she have decided to abandon them.
After smothering Devon and Ian in their bunk bed, “The defendant savagely, brutally and viciously attacked her husband with a katana sword,” Martinez said.
Neal Williams was stabbed and slashed more than 97 times in the attack, investigators said.
“In the final moments of life, Neal begged the defendant for help,” the judge said.
The case was prosecuted by Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorneys Stacy Okun-Wiese and Pak Kouch.
Defense attorneys Tom Althaus and Haydeh Takasugi argued for their client’s life to be spared.
Althaus told the court that the killings were not calculated executions, but a “sudden mistake.”
“There’s no basis for the prosecution’s contention that these murders were planned,” Althaus said, adding that Manling Williams was in a state of “extreme mental and emotional disturbance” when she killed her husband and sons.
Mitigating factors also included a difficult upbringing and no previous history of violence, he said.
Althaus acknowledged that his client had had an extra-marital affair, but disputed the prosecution’s assertion that the affair formed a motive for the crime.
“There’s no good explanation why it happened,” Althaus said.
Prior to the killings, Manling Williams was “a kind, generous, troubled woman who loved her husband and children,” he said.
Manling Williams’ sister, Shun Ling Tsang, also urged the judge to spare her sister’s life and sentence her instead to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“Both families involved in this case have asked the prosecution not to pursue a second penalty phase,” Tsang said.
Following the announcement that the first jury had hung in the penalty phase of the trial, both Williams and Tsang family members said they would rather see the prosecution accept a defense plea deal for a life sentence without the possibility of parole that included waiving rights to future appeals.
The prosecution elected to re-try the penalty phase, resulting in a jury recommendation of the death penalty in August of last year.
The ongoing court proceedings entailed in a death penalty case are only serving to cause more pain for family members already devastated by tragedy, Tsang said, adding that she believed the prosecution’s pursuit of the death penalty was “ego-driven” and “politically motivated.”
“Today will not bring about closure or healing,” Tsang said.
Jan Williams said she had mixed feelings about the sentence.
“I have some reservations, because it can be hard on the families. It can take decades to resolve,” she said.
She said she hoped the appeals process, which begins automatically when a convict is sentenced to death in California, will not require her to continue attending court hearings regularly.
The judge said he himself had concerns over the way the death penalty is administered in California.
“This penalty is precariously close to becoming a hypothetical,” Martinez said.
The judge expressed sympathy to both the Williams and Tsang families and spoke of his own concerns of the inefficient way in which the death penalty is carried out in California, but ruled that the death penalty was appropriate, considering the law and the facts of the case.
Out of more than 700 California death row inmates, fewer than two dozen of them are women, and none has been among the 13 prisoners executed since the death penalty was restored in 1976.
“Ms. Williams, I will probably never see you again,” the judge added. “I will be long gone when this case and judgement is finalized.”
Each of the three killings, Martinez said, were “deliberate, premeditated and committed by lying in wait.”
Martinez said that the evidence showed that Manling Williams had planned the killings two months in advance, and immediately began trying to conceal her guilt afterward.
She wore latex gloves as she attacked her husband, he said.
Testimony indicated it takes five to 10 minutes for a person to die by suffocation, meaning that Manling Williams had at least five minutes to contemplate her actions while killing one of her children before killing her other son in the same manner, Martinez said.
“She clearly had time to reflect on what she was doing,” he said.
Following the killings, the judge said, Manling Williams typed up a note indicating that Neal Williams had killed the children and himself, she disposed of bloody clothing and returned home before screaming to neighbors that someone had killed her family.
While being interviewed by detectives after the discovery of the bodies, “For hours, she feigned grief, sadness and bewilderment,” Martinez said.
It was only after being confronted by investigators with a bloody cigarette box that was found in her car that Manling Williams broke down and admitted the murders, Martinez said.
“It is not for me to forgive, because the ones in the position to forgive are not with us,” Martinez told Manling Williams. “I hope your families find peace.”
After years of hearings in which the judge remained intentionally stoic, “It was rather chilling to have the judge pronounce his opinion so frankly,” Jan Williams said.
Manling Williams sentenced to death for murder of husband, sons in Rowland Heights
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Manling Tsang Williams 2021
Manling Tsang Williams is currently incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility the home of California Death Row For Women
Why Is Manling Tsang Williams On Death Row
Manling Tsang Williams was convicted of three murders, her husband and two children
Margaret Allen is currently on Florida death row for the murder of her housekeeper. According to court documents Margaret Allen suspected the woman of stealing from her and instead of firing the woman she proceeded to murder her after torturing the woman for hours. Margaret Allen was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death in Florida
Margaret Allen 2021 Information
ID Photo
DC Number:
699575
Name:
ALLEN, MARGARET A
Race:
BLACK
Sex:
FEMALE
Birth Date:
01/23/1966
Initial Receipt Date:
05/19/2011
Current Facility:
LOWELL ANNEX
Current Custody:
MAXIMUM
Current Release Date:
DEATH SENTENCE
Margaret Allen Other News
Housekeeper Wanda Wright died a horrible death. She was beaten, had bleach poured down her throat and her mouth duct-taped before she was strangled with a belt.
The 39-year-old Titusville woman was killed, police said Friday, because Margaret Allen, whose house she cleaned, was convinced that Wright had stolen a purse containing $2,000.
As Margaret Allen, her 18-year-old son, Quintin, and her boyfriend, James Terry Martin of Titusville, went to court Friday to face charges in the case, investigators collected evidence from Wright’s shallow grave west of Mims.
“I cannot imagine what she went through, having to ingest cleaning fluids and having a belt tied around her throat,” said Cmdr. John Lau of the Titusville Police Department. “This is just pure torture.”
According to police, Wright was cleaning the house Tuesday when Margaret Allen, who has a long criminal history, accused her of stealing the purse.
After failing to elicit a confession by beating her, Margaret Allen, 39, poured bleach and other household chemicals down Wright’s throat as Quintin Allen held her down, police spokesman Warren Van Vuren said.
After the mother and son covered Wright’s mouth with duct tape, Margaret Allen wrapped a belt around her neck and strangled her, Van Vuren said.
The two then enlisted Martin, 54, to help dispose of the heavyset woman’s body on the following night, he said.
“They hauled her out on plywood and drove on State Road 46 to the middle of the woods,” Van Vuren said. There, the three dug a shallow hole and buried her, he said.
On Thursday, Wright’s husband, Johnny Dublin, reported her missing.
But it wasn’t until later that same day when a tipster walked into the police station that investigators realized she might have been killed.
“This [investigation] all started with somebody coming in the lobby and saying, ‘I think there may have been a murder,’ ” Lau said.
The informant, whose name was withheld, learned about the crime from one of the three suspects, Van Vuren said.
After arresting Quintin Allen late Thursday on an unrelated warrant, the teen led investigators to Wright’s grave, police said. Margaret Allen and Martin were arrested a short time later.
Both mother and son were arrested on charges of first-degree murder and false imprisonment, and Martin has been charged with accessory after the fact. All three were being held late Friday at the Brevard County Jail in Sharpes.
It was not Margaret Allen’s first brush with the law. Police and court records indicate she has been arrested at least 28 times since 1988. Charges have included everything from shoplifting to aggravated battery, drug possession and child abuse.
Her son pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession, according to court files.
Dublin could not be reached for comment Friday.
Despite Margaret Allen’s extensive criminal history, relatives said they were surprised by her arrest.
“Oh, Lord, was I shocked,” said Floyd Strozier, 84, who lives three houses away from Allen, his stepgranddaughter. “All I knew was that she was fooling around with some dope and stuff.
“Margaret always treated me with respect,” he added. “That’s all I can say for her.”
Margaret Allen More News
A jury trial commenced on September 13, 2010. Johnny Dublin testified for the State. Dublin testified that on the day Wright went missing, Allen came to Dublin and Wright’s house and whispered something into Wright’s ear. In response, Wright and Allen left the house together. A little while later, Allen returned to Dublin’s house and told Dublin that Wright stole about $2000 of Allen’s money and Allen asked Dublin if she could search his house. Dublin obliged and Allen searched Dublin’s house. Dublin testified that he noticed that Allen had scratches on her when she came back to his house. Dublin asked Allen where Wright was, and Allen responded that she was still at Allen’s house. Dublin testified that the next day, Allen came back to his house and asked him where Wright was. Dublin testified that Quintin was with Allen.
Quintin Allen testified for the State. He acknowledged that he was serving a fifteen-year sentence of incarceration followed by five years’ probation for his guilty plea for second-degree murder based on his involvement in Wright’s murder. Quintin testified that he was at Allen’s house on the day of the murder when Margaret Allen noticed that her purse was missing. Allen left her house and told Quintin to stay with her children. Allen returned to her house with Wright and asked Quintin to come inside. Allen told Quintin that Wright must have stolen Allen’s purse because Wright was the only person at Allen’s house before the purse went missing. Allen and Quintin searched for the purse. Allen left the house again and told Quintin not to let Wright leave if she tried. At one point while Allen was gone, Wright tried to leave; Quintin told Wright that Allen wanted her to stay, and Wright obliged.
Upon Allen’s return, Quintin plaited Allen’s hair. Quintin testified that at one point Wright started crying and begged Allen to let her go home. Wright attempted to leave Allen’s house and Allen hit Wright on the head; Wright fell to the ground. Quintin testified that Allen had a gun and told him that if he did not help her with Wright, she would shoot him, so Quintin held Wright down on the floor. While he held Wright down, Allen found chemicals including bleach, fingernail polish remover, rubbing alcohol and hair spritz and poured them all onto Wright’s face. At one point, one of Allen’s children walked into the room in which this was taking place, and Allen told the child to rip off a piece of duct tape for Allen. Allen attempted to put the duct tape over Wright’s mouth, but because Wright’s face was wet from the chemicals that were poured on her face, the duct tape would not stick to her skin. Allen retrieved belts from her closet and beat Wright with them. Quintin then tied Wright’s feet together with one of the belts. Quintin testified that at that point Wright was not struggling. Allen then put one of the belts around Wright’s neck and pulled. At one point, Wright said, “Please, stop. Please stop. I am going to piss myself.” Wright’s body started shaking and after about three minutes, Wright did not move. Allen then told Quintin to get some sheets to tie Wright’s hands together in case Wright woke up.
Quintin left soon after the incident. Allen called Quintin throughout the night, but he did not answer her calls. The next day, Allen found Quintin at the barbershop. Quintin testified that Allen still had the gun. Quintin got into the truck that Allen was driving; James Martin was also in the truck. Allen told Quintin that Wright was dead. Allen then told Quintin that he had to help her get rid of the body.
Allen, Quintin, and Martin drove to Lowe’s to buy plywood to help move Wright’s body from inside the house into the truck. They also borrowed a dolly hand truck from a local shop to help move the body. Quintin testified that upon returning to Allen’s house, Wright’s body had been moved from where he had last seen her and had been wrapped in Allen’s carpet. They were eventually able to get Wright’s body into the truck. Then, all three took shovels from Allen’s mother’s tool shed and drove to an area off of the highway to dump Wright’s body. Quintin and Martin dug a hole while Allen stood as a lookout. They placed Wright’s body in the hole, covered the hole with debris, and took the carpet with them. They threw the carpet into a dumpster outside of a truck stop and picked up Allen’s daughter from school. Quintin went to the police and turned himself in. Quintin also took the police to the place where Wright’s body had been buried.
James Martin testified that he was sentenced to sixty months’ incarceration for his participation in hiding Wright’s body. Martin testified that on the day of the murder, he was at Allen’s house helping her repair a car. Allen asked Martin to help her search for her purse, and Martin did. He testified that he left Allen’s house around 10 p.m. to get a starter belt for the car. Martin finished repairing the car and asked Allen if she had any cocaine. She did not, so Martin left Allen’s house, found cocaine, came back to Allen’s house, and smoked it. Martin testified that when he got back from finding the cocaine, Wright was the only one at Allen’s house. Martin testified that the timing of the events of the day was unclear because he had been high. Martin testified that he slept at Allen’s house until the morning and got a ride from Allen when she took her children to school. At that point, Allen told Martin that she needed help. Allen and Martin went back to Allen’s house, and Martin saw Wright’s body. Martin testified that Allen told him, “He must have hit her too hard.” Martin testified that he noticed a bandana tied around Wright’s hands.
Allen told Martin that they had to bury Wright’s body. Allen sent Martin to Allen’s brother’s house to borrow a truck. Martin testified that the truck was never found by police. Martin testified that the entire plan, including getting the plywood at Lowe’s was Allen’s idea. Martin testified that he was the only smoker of the group, and he dumped all of the ashtrays out of the car after they buried the body. When they got back to Allen’s house, Quintin left, and Martin cleaned the nylon strap that had been used to secure the carpet around Wright’s body. Martin also washed the truck but testified that he did not know what became of the vehicle. Martin was at Allen’s house when the police came to Allen’s house with a search warrant.
On cross-examination, Martin testified that it was Quintin who first told Wright that she could not leave. Martin also testified that Quintin gave directions to bury the body. The defense elicited that Martin told Allen’s sister that Quintin “did this.” On redirect, the State elicited from Martin that he was asleep and did not see who killed Wright.
Denise Fitzgerald, a crime scene technician, testified that she exhumed Wright’s body and located a cigarette butt in the vicinity. The State and defense stipulated that the DNA found on the cigarette butt was consistent with Martin’s DNA.
Dr. Sajid Qaiser, a forensic pathologist and chief medical examiner for Brevard County, testified that while he did not perform the autopsy on Wright, he had reviewed the autopsy report. He testified that Dr. Robert Whitmore,1 the medical examiner who had performed the autopsy on Wright was no longer the chief medical examiner. Dr. Qaiser testified that a body cannot bruise once dead and that Wright had bruising in the following places: upper and lower eye lid, front and back of her ear, left torso, all over the left side, trunk, right hand, thigh, knee, left eyebrow, forehead, upper arm and shoulder area. Additionally, Wright’s chest, hands, torso, face, and lower lip had contusions. Wright’s wrist showed signs of ligation, meaning her hands were tied. Wright’s neck showed signs of ligation, meaning that she was either hung or something was tied tightly around her neck. Dr. Qaiser testified that his medical conclusion was that Wright’s death was the result of homicidal violence, and strangulation and ligature were an important cause of death. Dr. Qaiser testified that Wright was morbidly obese, with an enlarged heart, which contributed to her death. He testified that it would take from four to six minutes of strangulation to die. He could not tell whether she was rendered unconscious during the beating.
The State rested, and the defense filed a motion for judgment of acquittal asserting that the State had not proven the underlying charge of kidnapping for felony murder. The trial court denied the motion, and the defense rested without calling any witnesses. The jury found Margaret Allen guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping.
Margaret Allen is currently incarcerated at the Lowell Annex the home of Florida Death Row for Women
Why Is Margaret Allen On Death Row
Margaret Allen was convicted of the murder of her housekeeper
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