Jones
BROWNSTOWN — The initial hearing for a Missouri woman charged in the poisoning death of a Freetown man in late 2022 was held Thursday afternoon in Jackson Circuit Court.
Ashley Nicole Jones, 29, of Bellflower confessed to ordering ethylene glycol, an odorless and colorless liquid, off the internet during an interview Oct. 17 with investigators with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, police report.
Jones then was arrested Oct. 18 in connection with the death of 52-year-old Harold L. “Peanut” Allen at the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown, where she was being held on a related burglary charge. She now faces charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder in connection with Allen’s death.
Jackson Circuit Court Judge Richard W. Poynter entered a not guilty plea on Jones’ behalf during a brief initial hearing Thursday. He also set her trial for 8:30 a.m. April 9, 2024.
Jones appeared calm and collected during the initial hearing showing little emotion when asked if she understood the charges that she is being faced with. Jones said she will be hiring an attorney for the trial.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jeff Chalfant said that if Jones is found guilty on all charges she could face a max sentence of 105 years in prison. Chalfant also said they are not seeking life in prison or the death penalty sentence at this time.
The probable cause affidavit — signed by Lt. Adam Nicholson with the sheriff’s department — also was released Thursday and adds additional details of the investigation.
According to court records, on Sept. 19, officers with the sheriff’s department responded to the home of Marsha Allen in Freetown, when she reported her home, which she had shared with her husband, Harold Allen, until his death, had recently been burglarized.
Marsha, who was Jones’ mother, was found dead inside that home on Oct. 16. The cause of her death remains under investigation pending toxicology results, but suicide is suspected, and there was no evidence of violence, police report.
Steven White, 29, of Scottsburg and Nathaniel Napier, 28, of Scottsburg, were later arrested for burglary of Marsha Allen’s home.
While being interviewed, White told Nicholson about a conversation he had had with Jones. During that conversation, White said Jones told him Marsha Allen had murdered her husband with poison, police said.
White said Jones also recruited him to burglarize Marsha’s home.
On Sept. 20, Detective Clint Burcham spoke with Marsha, and she denied killing her husband and consented to a download of her cellphone, police said.
In her cellphone, there were many text messages, beginning in November 2022, between Allen and Jones in which the two discussed poisoning Harold, according to the probable cause affidavit.
According to medical records obtained from the Jackson County Coroner’s Office, Harold was hospitalized on Nov. 27, 2022, at Schneck Medical Center in Seymour. In his medical records, it was stated he was complaining of numbness on the left side of his face, also known as paresthesia.
Harold also visited Schneck on Nov. 30, 2022, with complaints of vomiting, diarrhea, fever and chills with the prime complaint listed as gastrointestinal issues.
According to the probable cause, symptoms of foxglove poisoning, a herbaceous perennial plant that is native to Europe, western Asia and northwestern Africa, include stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea.
An officer later reviewed Marsha’s Google account, obtained through a search warrant. On Nov. 27, her account showed searches related to foxglove, including the following: “What happens if you eat foxglove seeds?” “How much foxglove is fatal?” and “How long does it take to kill you?”
Foxglove grows in the wild, and all plants are poisonous and possibly even deadly, according to the National Capital Poison Center’s website at poison.org/articles/foxglove.
Marsha’s Google searches were performed around the same time she sent the text to Jones saying she needs foxglove seeds, according to court documents.
On Dec. 2, 2022, Jones texted Allen, “You can’t touch the plant.” They then texted each other that they will need to wear gloves to handle the plant. Jones also sent a text to Allen and said, “I know I need to wear gloves and have some time alone to prepare the root.”
During that same time frame, Allen and Jones decided to use ethylene glycol to poison and kill Harold. Ethylene glycol is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting compound used in consumer products, including antifreeze. Ingestion of ethylene glycol can result in death in humans.
County Detective J.L. McElfresh found an order for ethylene glycol was made to Chemboys LLC on Dec. 13, 2022. The order had the same billing and shipping address as Marsha’s home and the same phone number listed that Jones used to text Allen. The order also contained a tracking number, which Jones sent Dec. 14, 2022, via text to Allen.
In text messages between Jones and Allen following the date of the order, they discussed when the order would arrive. On Dec. 19, 2022, Jones sent Allen a message saying, “The mail is here :).” Allen “loved” the image, which means she responded to the text with a heart emoji, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Later on Dec. 19, 2022, Allen sent a text to Jones telling her, “He’s all in for root beer float.”
On Dec. 20, 2022, at 7:55 a.m., Allen sent a text message to Jones asking her to come to the home. At 1:59 p.m., the sheriff’s department received a report of an unconscious person.
Based upon Jones’ statements to police, it is believed Harold was dead before the emergency call was placed. At the time of his death, no foul play was suspected.
After reviewing the text messages and the order placed, officers obtained and executed a search warrant on Oct. 16 this year on Allen’s residence while she came to the sheriff’s department in Brownstown with Burcham to be interviewed.
Allen denied killing Harold, and Burcham transported her back to her residence, according to the probable cause.
Later that day, Allen’s parents came to the sheriff’s department due to being unable to make contact with their daughter. Deputies responded to Allen’s residence, where they discovered her deceased.
During an interview with Jones after her mother’s death, she told investigators Allen put the foxglove root into chili and a brownie and advised it was ordered by either her or her mother, but she couldn’t remember which one ordered it. Jones had lived with her mother and Harold before his death.
Jones said the foxglove was ordered through an online company called Etsy, and she said they used a guest login, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Jones also said she ordered the ethylene glycol but claimed it was Allen who put it in the root beer float.
Jones told investigators Harold drank all of the root beer float, and five hours passed before Allen called an ambulance, by which time Harold was deceased.
Officers also obtained a search warrant for White’s phone, and on July 27 this year, White and Jones discussed their plan to burglarize Allen’s home.
Jones mentions in her text messages with White that she claimed to have planned poisoning Harold and that Marsha would not have succeeded without her, according to the probable cause.
Jones also mentioned in her text messages that Marsha was having trouble trying to access Harold’s retirement and savings accounts after he died.
According to court records, during that discussion with White, Jones mentioned helping Marsha steal $4,500 from Harold’s PayPal account, according to the probable cause.
In one message, Jones told White, “She couldn’t get into a dead man’s phone without me to get to all his retirements and savings he had hidden hell, she got 4500 from his PayPal cc cause I showed her how to scam it has him before they find he’s gone she’s fake af”
“She didn’t gimme s**t out of that.”
Probable cause affidavits are public records.