Mother-daughter duo faces murder charges after poisoning man to death

A mother and daughter from Indiana are facing murder charges after they allegedly poisoned the mother's husband four times before his death in a reported plot to get his life savings.

Marsha Allen and her 30-year-old daughter, Ashley Jones, allegedly spiked 52-year-old Harold Allen's food and drink with different substances they purchased online, including an ingredient in antifreeze, a toxic plant from Etsy, and poisonous seeds from eBay.

Harold Allen was found dead in Freetown, Indiana in December 2022 after drinking a root beer float that was spiked with the lethal ethylene glycol. At the time of his death, no foul play was suspected.

On Friday, both the mother and daughter were charged with two counts of murder, one count of conspiracy to commit murder, one count of consumer product tampering, and two counts of attempted murder, according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Department.

In October 2023, Marsha Allen was found dead in her Freetown home of suspected suicide, Fox59 News reported.

Mother: Marsha Allen 

Daughter: Ashey Jones, 20

Victim: Harold Allen, 52

The next day her daughter, who was being held in custody after a burglary, told officials that her mother had put the toxic ethylene glycol in her stepfather's root beer float.

Text messages Jones allegedly sent suggested a financial motive for the crime. In them, she discusses "get[tting] all his retirements and saving.

Once investigators sifted through documents, they discovered that there had been additional attempts to poison Harold Allen.

Late last month, investigators found two email accounts linked to Jones, with one using a 'Hide My Email' feature, incriminating her in the crime.

The emails exposed more damning evidence about attempts to poison Harold,  including one in November 2022 when the pair allegedly spiked his chili and brownies and sent him to the emergency room.

During the investigation, detectives discovered after looking through emails that two months prior, in September 2022, the pair had purchased seeds that are poisonous if ingested, from a seller on eBay.

Evidence revealed they baked a batch of brownies containing the seeds and waited for Harold Allen to react, court documents revealed.

In one of the chilling messages dated November 28, 2022, Marsha reportedly told her daughter:  'I am irritated and can't sleep peacefully. I need this to be over… I wish it would reach its climax and be done lol.'

Jones reportedly responded: 'Same.'

Harold Allen went to the emergency room on November 28 and returned to the hospital two days later. A doctor told him his intestines were inflamed.

On December 1, 2022, the pair purchased a water hemlock plant on Etsy - reportedly  North American's most toxic plant.

Over the course of three days in 2022, the mother and daughter placed the plant's leaves in Harold Allen's chili, soda and a margarita. He survived.

Then, on December 13, the pair purchased ethylene glycol, the poison that would eventually kill him. 

Harold and Marsha pictured together 

Jeffrey Chalfant, Jackson County's prosecuting attorney, said they were requesting Jones get a life sentence without parole.

A jury trial is scheduled for January 7, 2025, as per court documents.