How retired teacher, 74, is set to solve her own murder from beyond the grave

A retired teacher helped investigators solve her murder from beyond the grave after her text messages were used to track down her alleged killer. 

Carol Webber, 74, was shot dead on in her senior living apartment in Houston, Texas on April 13, hours after she warned friends about her boyfriend in chilling final messages. 

'Cliff was drunk and came into my apartment and threatened to kill me and was forceful and mean,' she said in one of the texts, hours before her death.  

The suspect, Clifton John Allen 66, was charged with her murder this week, as detectives claim he killed Webber after becoming her power of attorney in hope of stealing her savings. 

Carol Webber, 74, was shot dead on in her senior living apartment in Houston, Texas on April 13, hours after she warned friends about her boyfriend in chilling final messages

Clifton John Allen 66, was charged with her murder this week, as detectives claim he killed Webber after becoming her power of attorney in hope of stealing her savings

In text messages just hours before she was murdered, Webber warned friends that her boyfriend 'threatened to kill me' 

Webber had been living alone at the Treemont Senior Living center, and was said to have been left without many friends or family in her final years. 

Two women, who remained anonymous, told ABC13 that they were supporting Webber by ministering with her and praying with her, and were the ones to receive her chilling final text messages. 

'Carol was a very vulnerable person. She suffered a lot of tragedies and hard things in her life,' one of the women said. 

'She was older, in her 70s, living alone and didn't have anybody, and when she came to the Treemont, I believe this person targeted her. She started handing things to him because he was her only support.' 

It is unclear when she began a relationship with Allen, who also lived at Treemont and reportedly worked at a nearby bookstore. 

According to reported court documents, he convinced Webber to transfer over her power of attorney and will to him, before becoming increasingly controlling and aggressive with her. 

Webber's cries for help were seen in her final text messages, where she told of her struggle at breaking up the allegedly abusive relationship. 

The 74-year-old retired teacher was said to be 'vulnerable', and friends said they believed Allen 'targeted' her because of it 

Allen, seen in court this week, owns a lengthy rap sheet including a previous conviction for manslaughter, and records found he was out on parole in Louisiana

'I am trying to end my relationship with Cliff and he will not bring me my power of attorney (or) my will, and my insurance' she wrote in one text. 'I need prayer for this. Thanks.' 

In another text, she said: 'Cliff was drunk and came in my apartment and threatened to kill me and was forceful and mean'. 

'(He) took my money and credit cards and because I went to church. He told the man downstairs that he had power of attorney and had the right to tell me what church I could go to'.

'I asked for a room to sleep in cause he had a key to my room.'  

Court documents added that Webber had been personally confiding in people that she was growing fearful of Allen in the lead up to her death. 

'It had been building up over the week, her anxiety over Cliff,' one of her friends who received the texts said. 

'She was complaining over his controlling nature. He wouldn't let her go to church. We encouraged her to revoke the power of attorney, and so she actually confronted him sometime the week before she was killed and asked for her papers back.' 

Allen is currently being held on a $350,000 bond and is charged with murder. 

Webber warned friends that after she transferred her power of attorney, Allen became controlling and threatening, including instructing her over what church to attend 

Both had been living at the Treemont Senior Living Center (pictured) in Houston, Texas 

The suspect also owns a lengthy rap sheet including a previous conviction for manslaughter, and records found he was out on parole in Louisiana. 

His presence at the senior living center has raised eyebrows, as one of the women questioned: 'Why on earth would they allow him to lease an apartment next to some of the most vulnerable residents of our community?' 

'My primary concern is how the elderly get swept away, and people don't provide or pay attention to them.' 

Treemont Senior Living was also accused of failing to notify other residents about the murder. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.