The Man Who Loved Christmas

0:00Based on the best telling novel. I was hired to help Verdi, right? Verdi had a courage to. She'll ever walk or talk in. On October 2nd, discover the truth. This place is insane. Yeah, here you are. About Verdi. She was standing right there. She can't walk. I know what I saw. Anathaway. Dakota Johnson. Josh Hartnick. I feel like I'm losing my mind. Morning, darkness ahead. Verdi, directed by Michael Schawalter. Media door. 170 nanometer without parent. October 2nd. This message is brought to you by Capital One Venture X Card. Venture X offers the premium benefits you expect like a $300 annual Capital One travel credit for less than you expect. Elevator earned with unlimited double miles on every purchase, bringing you one step closer to your next dream destination. Plus, enjoy access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide. The Capital One Venture X Card. What's in your wallet?

1:00Terms apply. Lounge Access is subject to change. See CapitalOne.com for details. Tonight on Dayd live, I will never again be able to hug my brother. Three of you. The three brothers against the world. This guy that meant everything to me was worth absolutely nothing to them. We knew that he had been struggling and sick. He was diabetic. He had some cardiovascular issues. The autopsy report says that he died from natural causes. About nine months after Harold dies, you get a phone call. He said we were looking into a burglary at your brother's home. We know who that individual is. Starts telling his story. This woman's a psychopath and I'm telling you guys that right now. We started seeing messages about Harold. They'd actually done something to make him sick. Putting something in like a margarita, chilly, a brownie. They're upset because he's not dying fast enough.

2:00They start talking about making root beer floats. That's just so heartbreaking. This was almost a perfect murder. How in the world can somebody be that evil? Murder by root beer float. You've never seen a case like this. I'm Lester Holt and this is Daydeline. How many? Here is Blaine Alexander with the man who loved Christmas. There's a saying it's always darkest before the dawn. And here in this quiet Indiana town, most people were still fast asleep. But inside one home, two men were hard at work moving through the dark. They had their eye on something and seemed to know exactly where to find it. They're drawn to the safe and he's opening up the safe.

3:01Nothing about this break-in felt random. In fact, it was a clue. A key to a mystery investigators didn't even know they needed to solve. We're like, okay, this is weird, right? We're small town kids from Southern Indiana. You see it in the world and it's crazy stories, but you know, it doesn't happen to us. This corner of Southern Indiana is the kind of place where roots run deep. Surrounded by farmland and country roads, it's where the Alan Brothers grew up. Matt is the youngest. I grew up with two of the best older brothers that you probably could ask for. James is the middle brother. You would speak about it almost as if it was a magical childhood. It was, it could not be any better of a childhood. And then there was the oldest, Harold, a big guy in personality and stature

4:03with a nickname that somehow fit him to a tee. Peanut? Right, yes. Where did Peanut come from? When he was born, he was kind of a preemie. And his first visit to our grandmother's house, she said he looked just like a peanut and it stuck. Hannah is married to James. What would your kids call him? Angle peanut. Angle peanut. Harold worked as a computer programmer and had a passion for music. He taught himself to play. But what you notice most, his family says, his endless generosity. He loved through giving and there wasn't a birthday or a Christmas that he did not make to do about. Right? Every year, what you guys want for Christmas or like, Bob, we're 40, okay? We don't need Christmas presents, we're good. But for all his strengths, there was one part of life Harold hadn't quite figured out.

5:04You've said that Harold for all of his successes wasn't typically successful in relationships. No, unfortunately my brother had a fatal flaw and that is he somehow equated having a relationship as being successful, as being happy. Samantha is his other sister-in-law. I think he was just really seeking love. He was just really looking for that connection. And then he found it in perhaps the most unexpected of places, his 30th high school reunion. I thought it was odd that he met somebody because I mean his graduating class. Yeah, it was like, at least 70 people. So you're thinking how did you not already know everybody? How are you just meeting? Her name was Marsha Bucston. She was divorced and worked as an assistant in a medical practice. She did not fit the typical mold of the previous women. She was kinder, more refined, more of someone that I could see him with.

6:08I was happy for my brother. And then the next thing you know, hey, we got married. Was that surprising to you? No, not really. He was quick to love and he was quick to go all in. Marsha's 27-year-old daughter Ashley, a pharmacy tech, was a young widow, raising her little girl alone. Soon, they were all under one roof, living at Harald's home in pre-town Indiana. Now there's this child's energy in the house. Yes. And I don't know if she called him grandpa, but he very much got to play that, you know, role when she was around and he loved it. And so it went for about three years. Then came Thanksgiving 2022. The family was gathered at the table waiting for dessert. And his face got kind of scared in his sense. And his face just went numb. So I jumped up immediately,

7:09or helped him take off of the sweatshirt and he was just soaked in sweat. Marsha rushed him to the hospital. What were doctors saying? I mean, I had to do some of this blood sugar. He was a type 2 diabetic. He started a new medicine like maybe it was a reaction. They sent Harald home, but a few days later, he made another visit to the ER. What I remember is him looking very pale and just not steady. Yeah. Then just five days before Christmas, he got worse. Not one more. Much worse. Marsha and our begging for his non-renewable and anything was at least. Okay. Any breathing? No, we thought. I got held on. One of James' cousins is on the volunteer fire department down there. And they heard on the radio, peanuts address. Come on. And so they were like, just so you know, they're headed to peanuts. We had arrived just shortly after the ambulance.

8:11Deputy Aaron Wilkins of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office responded to the Allen home. We made our way inside the home back into the bedroom. Harald was laying on the floor between the bed and a closet. The paramedics did what they could, but it was too late. And so then they heard over the radio, you know, that the person was deceased. Hannah had to break the news to James. Caffeine to give him like the worst news ever was so hard. Yeah, it was pretty. It was pretty bad. It was bad. And you went to tell him that. And then Matt came home and that was a very, very hard thing to watch. We didn't know what had happened. We didn't have any idea. We knew he was gone. A whole family grieving. A wife, now, a widow. And then out of nowhere, something happened.

9:12Something that would warp this family tragedy in a way nobody could believe. There's been some developments in your brother's case. Make it look vandalized so I can get the insurance money. These text messages are the worst I've ever seen. This guy that meant everything to me was the word absolutely nothing to them. If we can keep this the screen as possible, I will cooperate in any means necessary. After learning about Harold Allen's death in a roundabout way through a police dispatch, his family had so many questions. Without more information, his brother Matt was having a hard time believing it was real. I convinced myself that he wasn't gone.

10:15Optimistic, I guess. I kept trying to get a hold of Marsha. I sent her a message saying, you know, like, what's going on? And when I called, she said that she was crying too hard and she couldn't answer. All Harold's wife, Marsha, could tell them was that she found Harold unresponsive in the bedroom and autopsy filled in the rest. What did it show? That he had cardiac issues, that he had a blockage, hard to talk. The news was hard enough, but the timing made it even worse. It was Christmas, but instead of celebrating, they were preparing for Harold's funeral. That's a pain that never goes away. Yeah. And thinking about the fact that this was your brother's favorite holiday. Exactly. That was his jail. We went to his mom's house with our kids and Marsha came over. I think it was Christmas day.

11:15We were over there and she had brought in gifts for our kids that Pena had already purchased for them. A week after Harold died, his family and friends came together for his funeral. That was the worst moment. You know, like we are literally saying goodbye to one of the most important people in our life. Harold's family was still hungry for details, anything that would help them process the loss. But they say Marsha and her daughter kept to themselves. They didn't interact with anybody and then once we were at the grave side, they left. Like immediately. And we're like, okay, this is weird, right? Strange yes, but they understood. Grief can make people do strange things. And Marsha was finding her own way through it. She channeled her grief into a self-published book about rebuilding life after losing a spouse. She wrote, he was my world, two peas in a pod.

12:18And she described how she overcame chronic and debilitating sadness with therapy. Marsha stayed at the home she and Harold had shared and the family gave her space. But the brothers did reach out to talk with her about getting some family heirlooms Harold had been storing. My dad was an avid gun collector. I had a lot of guns. So those were all at my brother, Harold, Pena's house. Yeah, when we would contact about getting those items, it was, don't you understand? We're grieving over here. I lost my husband. I was very understanding. He said, okay, just let me know when you're ready. We'll go through the items. Then nine months after Harold's death, Marsha was once again calling for help. Marsha Allen had called in, I believe, to our dispatch. Detective Clint Birchum of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department spoke with her. She was on vacation with her mother and father down in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Marsha said she'd been asleep when she received a security alert on her phone.

13:21Someone was inside her house. She had set up some security videos in her home and she ends up realizing that her house had been burglarized. In fact, while she's coming back from Tennessee, she is emailing me videos of these two individuals in her house. Does it look like they're looking for anything specific? They're drawn to the safe. At one point, you can see an individual. The pier should be holding a phone and he's opening up the safe as if he's looking at the combination to the safe on his cell phone. And they end up taking 40 to 50 guns. The family heirlooms that were also worth a lot of money, tens of thousands of dollars. What else are they looking for in this house? They take jewelry, a clustering, is taken from the safe. One of the burglar's was wearing a mask, but the other? Well, look at this. One of our suspects faces exposed and looking directly at the camera at one point. Marsha saw that on the security camera videos.

14:23She lets you know that she recognizes one of the guys in this video. Yes. What does she tell you about this person? She tells us that she recognized individual to be Stephen White. With a name and video in hand, detectives had no trouble finding Stephen White. I almost fell and I cannot have guns. But following what he had to say, well, that was a different story. Based on the best telling novel, I was hired to help Verity, right? Verity had a car accident. She'll ever walk her talk in. On a tuber's second, discover the truth. This place is insane. Yeah, here you are. About Verity. She was standing right there. She can't walk. I know what I saw. And halfway to code Johnson, Josh Hartman. I feel like I'm losing my mind. Morning darkness ahead. Verity directed by Michael Schaulalter. Meet it are under 1790 without parent, October 2nd.

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17:34Less than a year after Harold Allen died, his home was a crime scene. The site of a burglary. This seemed to be an easy solve. Detectives had video and a clear look at one of the perps recognized by Marsha as Stephen White, a 29-year-old father with a prior criminal record. Wanted on. Detectives found him at his parents' home. So you don't have any idea why we're here today? Well, they said that she all got me on camera last night burglarying in place. Just right off the bat, what kind of impression is he making? He of course see he denies him. Do you know anything about it? No. Okay. My husband and I said that last night till about four o'clock in the morning watching no. I personally think I have a strap or something. Been running a fever. My tongue is all swollen and sore and my mouth is red and white. So let me all know that. If he was trying to scare the cops off, it didn't work. The homeowner has the video. We got three detectives out on the house right now

18:36that was burglary. Who? Then he's confronted with a screenshot. Yes. There's the picture. The man we got videoed, I mean, I really do not have. I have. I don't even have a f***ing head. Well, had or no had, the cops knew they had him dead to rights. We either get the stuff back or I think you know probably what's coming. He's going to f***ing jail and setting rot. But eventually he's like, yeah, you know what it was me. I'm just like another cigarette. I was playing a whole thing. I think that's lovely. The story began with Stephen admitting he did no Marcia and her daughter. I'm best friends with a daughter. Okay. What's the daughter's name? Osly Jones. And then came Stephen's plot twist. He said Marcia was no victim here. She was the one pulling the strings. So to say, I'm going to give you $30,000. If you can go to my house, gave me this safe code. Torture it or a... Yeah, it's much of it. She said, you go down there, you can get this.

19:38And I need it all taken somewhere. You need to make it look like you've broken in there and make it look vandalized so I can get the insurance money. That's a much I'm a fellow and I can not have guns. My dad is running for air. We got a lot of f***ing going on. I am not about to drive guns across this town. And you don't have any text messages? No, because I deleted the messages. She told me, oh, we'll make sure you delete all this stuff. What are you guys thinking as you listen to this story? I think he was telling us at best half-truths. Do you have all the guns and everything here you said? Yes. Stephen had told police what they came to find out and then some. But still, it seemed he just couldn't stop talking. Sorry, mom. Marcia set me up. Mom, my sister, she's going to disarm me forever now. She won't? Yes, she will. No. You said your dad's running for mayor? Yeah, please, this is not going to go on the media release. If we can keep this the screen as possible, I will cooperate in any means necessary.

20:40Mom, can I put trains on your back? Police recovered the stolen items and Stephen was arrested. The next day, Marcia was back from vacation and came to the station to talk with Detective Birchham. Three dollar videos, this is me, 22. I'm not sure if I got 22, but I got a lot of them. And she's coming in as the burglary victim? Yes, we're talking about what kind of items could possibly be missing. It's a very friendly conversation. The detective showed Marcia photos of everything they'd recovered. You recognize that ring? Yes, that is his dad's ring. Who's dad's ring? My husband's dad's ring, here at that one. Mom has a bad December. The detective then turned the conversation to Stephen White and his version of events. Well, what he's saying is basically that you said that you would give him $3,000 to go in the house and take the guns, and have him take the guns and take them back to his place. He's a liar. I did not do that.

21:41Okay. I don't have his number. I don't have his self-loan number. He's lying. Marcia did agree with police on one point. It looked like an inside job. And she had a good idea who was behind it. So almost immediately, she's pointing the finger at her daughter. Yes, Marcia was confident that Ashley had had to give him Stephen White the combination to the safe. Because there's only three people in the world and I know it's me, my husband, and her. I didn't do it. I didn't do it out. He died, so he can't do it out. There's one person, process of elimination. Marcia and her daughter had been close, but recently they'd had a falling out. The last I've heard, she said she was in Branson, Missouri. But I don't know where she's at right now. Because she was supposed to come and save me for a while. Which I guarantee she won't. Now. The detective still didn't know what to make of the burglary. But with every new detail, there seemed to be another finger pointing accusation

22:42and another layer to unpack. Because what exactly did Stephen White mean by this? This woman's a psychopath and I'm telling you guys that right now. Marcia Allen walked into the Jackson County Sheriff's office, a burglary victim. Now, officers were pressing her about what Stephen White claimed was her role in a possible insurance scam. But Stephen White had told them a lot of things. And he'd made some even more dramatic accusations about Marcia. But this one? This one is a f***ing murder.

23:45Was he really accusing Marcia of murder? So what did the deputies think when they heard that? I think we all knew it was something we needed to look into. But at the same time, I think is he just trying to deflect from what he just got caught doing? So detectives had reason to be skeptical. Still, as Marcia sat before them at the station, you let her know that Stephen is pointing the finger at her for her husband's death. Yes, I'll tell you what else he said. He accused you of murdering your husband. I did not murder my husband. Something to the effect of some kind of, I don't know, basically poisoning, poisoning as a drink. That would show when the toxicology part of that happened. Was there an autopsy done? Yes. A toxic autopsy told you he died because he had a period of minutes that was undetected. What are you watching for in her response? Um, obviously we're watching how she reacts to it.

24:45You can't bank too much on the fact that she was somewhat defensive because if she didn't have anything to do with it, she's going to deny it. I cannot believe you said I tried to kill my husband. The detective didn't know who to believe, but he did know if you want to find out what a person's really been up to. There's one pretty good place to start. Would you be willing to consent to download to your cell phone? Yeah. Okay. Were you surprised by how willing she was to handle her phone? I think my initial fault was like, well, maybe there's nothing on there. He left the room and briefed Detective J.L. McElfresh, the department's digital forensic examiner. He too was skeptical about accusations from Stephen White, a felon caught red-handed. It's normal for a suspect in a crime to start talking about other crimes that they were not involved in to try to get themselves out of the trouble that they're in now. While the detective was out of the room, it appeared Martia was deleting something from her phone. But she didn't try to hide it when the detective came back.

25:46She told me basically she didn't want us when we went into her phone to see her walking around in her underwear. I should make sure you know something in my underwear. Oh, the videos of your underwear? Yeah. I like to read and delete some of them while you're out. So, well, just at me. They let Martia go home and got to work analyzing her phone. We needed to look and see what things had been deleted and at what time stamp. And that's when we found that she had deleted the entire text conversation with Ashley. I would imagine that that then becomes a pretty good place for you to start. Oh, it does. Because why delete the entire conversation? Of course, deleting something doesn't mean it's gone. It was easy enough for detective McElfresh to restore the messages, but sorting through them would take weeks. There were 24,000 deleted text messages between mother and daughter going back more than a year. What do you see? You know, we see conversations farther back just about things going on in life.

26:49No talk of a burglary or an insurance scam. But you keep looking. We do. What else do you find? We start seeing like really horrible conversations between Ashley and Martia about Harold Allen talking about him being sick, going to the hospital, you know, kind of laughing about it. What was the tone between the two? The tone was lack of respect for human life. The detectives also found messages about what Harold was eating and drinking. There was this picture of a brownie. Martia took the picture. Harold is eating a brownie and he's sitting there and they're talking about the brownie. They're, you know, talking about how much of the brownie's been eaten and that it's almost gone. Maybe their chatty perp wasn't so crazy after all. The messages got more specific. There was something that shifted from. They're talking pretty badly about this guy too. You can tell that they're actually doing something to him.

27:50Yeah, they're talking openly about, you know, putting something in like a sprite or a margarita or chili. You now have a murder investigation on your hands. Correct. Yes. But the autopsy had already pointed to hard issues with no indication of foul play. If Harold was indeed poisoned, detectives needed to find a way to prove it. But as they searched, they stumbled on something else. Could there be yet another crime in play? Her previous has been dyed under strange circumstances. Very gold. His the largest selection of outdoor furniture, lighting and decor and more for luxury homes. Access 2,000 of the best designer brands with beautiful, all-weather pieces in every style from traditional to modern. Plus, enjoy free design services and full service delivery on most items. Shop in store and online at paragold.com.

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29:57This is the story of the one. As a shipping manager, he's running the dock, stocking supplies, and making sure every order goes out on time. And Granger helps him stay prepared. From shipping supplies to PPE to hand tools, he counts on Granger to keep products moving and trucks rolling. So his operation runs smoothly, no matter the shift. Call 1-800-Granger. Click ranger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done. It was taking weeks for detectives to sort through the thousands of text messages on Marsha's phone. All the while, Harold's family knew nothing about the burglary or a possible murder investigation. It had been months since they'd spoken to Marsha about the family's guns. Don't contact me. Don't want to talk about this. Yeah, it was a complete shutdown.

30:58Shut down of the conversation. We're not having this conversation. That had left them with questions about Marsha, things that never sat quite right. She'd written that book about grief, but the family says she didn't appear to be doing much grieving when they saw her at Christmas and the funeral. I'm seeing these of raw emotions with games and I'm not seeing any emotion from her. Now, almost a year after Harold Allen's death, a detective was calling his family. He said we found out some more information and we're opening your brother's death up as a potential homicide. Was there a part of you that had almost always been waiting for this? Yeah, I wasn't really surprised. Are you then thinking back to every interaction you had with Marsha, every conversation you had with her? Yes, absolutely. They remembered Marsha telling them that her daughter Ashley collected life insurance when her husband died. Then you heard a rumor about Ashley and her previous husband.

32:04Yeah, I think it was at a family get together and they were like, well, you know that her previous husband died under strange circumstances and that she took the life insurance and basically ran. Ty Jones was only 33 when he died suddenly of a heart attack. Was there ever an investigation into his death? No, we found out later that his family was always the suspect. Now, detectives were too. Like Ty, Harold had seemingly died of a heart attack. And like Ashley, Marsha collected life insurance money after his death. And there was something else buried in those thousands of texts. Remember the messages about that half-eaten brownie? In that back and forth was a reference to Ashley's dead husband Ty. At one point Ashley writes, it's slow, followed by and previously Ty was only 120 LOL.

33:06What did you take that to mean? Whatever they had tried at that point on Harold Allen was working slower and not as well as something that may have happened with her deceased husband Ty. Three weeks after the burglary, detectives were at Marsha's door. I am Lieutenant Nicholson with the Sheriff's Department. We're here today because we got a search warrant for your house, okay, to go through some stuff. Is there anyone else here? No, just me and my cats. Okay. Was she surprised to see you show up at the house that morning? I believe she was, yes. They went through the house looking for something, anything that might link her to Harold's death. Computers receipts, maybe even the poison itself. I did not kill my husband. And we end up asking her to go to the Sheriff's Department to sit down and do an interview with us. She went with them and at the station, detectives Sat Marsha in front of a computer and asked her to explain that exchange about the half-eaten brownie.

34:08She says, how's it going? LOL, didn't you send that picture? Then she says, oh, let me know what it's going. Probably a save. What are you talking about it going faster though? His sickness, the flu. You said, like, what's taking so long? She said, the wait, it takes 12 hours for a woman at 180 to fill anything. You do the math. Life out loud. It's slow. And previously, TIE was only 120, LOL. Yeah, should be brownies. Marsha said there was no poison in that brownie, just marijuana, to help Harold with pain he was feeling from his illness. She came up with some kind of excuse for everyone.

35:10Maybe she would remember this. They showed her a text from Ashley that read, the male is here, it was sent the day before Harold died. Marsha said that male was a package for Ashley. But this wasn't just in a delivery. Detectives had traced the package back to the shipper and learned it was a $32 order for ethylene glycol. A clear and sweet tasting toxic liquid found in anifries. It looks like you're connected to this ethylene glycol. Yeah, but I'm not. Okay, but I mean, you see what it looks like. It looks like, well, yeah, it's not what you understand. I get it. You know, I'm over it. Because I didn't know what this was going on. The detectives kept coming back to Ashley's late husband TIE. Did Harold die of the exact same thing tied in? No. Harold, what they told me is that he had pericorditis and it stopped his heart.

36:10That's pretty much what this stuff does if you drank it. And that's why I think that you probably know it a little bit. I actually know I don't, and that's the truth. Was it? Because investigators had one more thing to confront Marsha with. A text about a special kind of drink. They start talking about dinner one night and after dinner, making root beer floats. And that matched with one of the more specific things they heard before. From who else? Steven White. I called her daughter who explains to me mom has gone crazy. Marsha went into the kitchen and made a root beer float with whipped cream and sprinkles on top of it. And she poured some out of a bottle into there and she told Ashley that that was his little extra sock because he like spiked through beer floats. What is being claimed is that you guys queens wouldn't have any. Which is not true. It looks good to know. And she just continued to deny and deny and deny.

37:12We both made root beer floats. So I did not put anything in any one's drink. I didn't even know if you had anything like that there. The texts told a different story. Now detectives needed science to prove it. As standard procedure, a vial of Harold's blood was being held for a year after the autopsy. It had been untouched for nine months and now detectives sent it off for testing. For prosecutors that was the missing piece. It was. In the meantime, they let Marsha go. Again, detective Birchim drove her home. Certain he'd be back soon with an arrest warrant for murder. It was a very quiet ride back. Marsha may have said little on the ride home, but detectives were about to hear plenty from her daughter, Ashley.

38:18While detectives waited on Harold Allen's toxicology results, they turned their attention to Ashley. By now, they knew it was Ashley, not Marsha, who had enlisted Stephen White in the burglary. It hands up, telling us like, yeah, and Ashley's the one who planned the burglary. White pleaded guilty to those burglary charges. And Ashley was arrested and extradited back to Indiana on charges related to the break-in. Investigators cut right to the chase. Alright, Ashley, I'm Detective Birchim. We're in the chair of the department here. We're not going to talk to you about the burglary. Okay? We know what happened to Harold. At first, Ashley denied everything. Do you know anything about the Ethylene glycol? No, sir. Okay. What was your relationship like with Harold? He was nice. He said, I never had a chance to be a dad or a grandpa. And we were eating that up. But once confronted with those text messages with her mother,

39:20Ashley knew she had some explaining to do. She took a page from her mother's playbook and pointed the finger away from herself and righted her mom. If you know something else, it's time to tell us. So we can... I know she said she wanted out. She wanted to be free of him completely. She wanted him dead. And I said, you're going to go to hell for that month. No matter what happens, you're going down. She was essentially telling you that she was trying to be the voice of reason. Yes. Kind of the world compass in all of this. It was a few months before Harold died. That's when Ashley says, Marsha started asking for help. I guess because I used to be a pharmacy tech. She wanted to... She was asking me like, what is the adverse effects to insulin? What's the adverse effects to this? Things like that. Ashley said they bought Fox Gloveseeds and Natural Toxin. Is that what put him in the hospital that first time? I think so, yeah. What other foods did she put that Fox Glove in?

40:21I think she tried chili once. Was she concerned that it wasn't working? Yeah. She said, I'm never going to be free. Whose idea was it to use the ethylene thigol? Her. She asked you to help by placing the order for her. She asked me to place order for her, yeah? I really don't ask many questions, which I guess I should. She definitely tried to minimize her role in it. I mean, just doing that to anybody, regardless of any which way or forward, I didn't agree. But loyalty to the mother of the other thing. A loyal and otherwise innocent daughter? Detectives weren't buying it. As Ashley was led off to Wade and Jail, still held on the burglary charges, they did some digging into Marsha's finances. We found that there was ultimately the motive of money. Lindsey Fleetwood is the Jackson County prosecutor. Marsha Allen did receive some of the life insurance money,

41:22and then additionally, you see that Marsha Allen was paying Ashley Jones monthly, some of this payment, and then she stopped. And that's when Ashley got mad. How did they know that? She complained about not getting enough of Harold's money in a text to her good friend, Stephen White, writing, she couldn't get into a dead man's phone without me to get all his retirements and savings he had hidden. She didn't give me out of that. Now, detectives connected the dots. That burglary and Harold Allen's murder weren't separate crimes. They were tied together, bound by one thing. Greed. She mails Stephen White a key to her mother's house, and she knows the code to the safe she wants the valuables. In more messages found on Stephen White's phone, Ashley exposed herself as much more than a misguided loyal daughter. She boasted about the murder. Saying, I planned this all. Basically, my mom couldn't have done this without me. She wanted to do this way. I told her to do this way. She was proud of it.

42:23When Harold's toxicology results came back, they confirmed what detectives had suspected. We were notified that yes, Athletic Lycola wasn't a system. We know without a doubt this is how we died. So you can't plan a case better than what was thrown in our laps, right? Because not only did Stephen White be the one to break this case open, but it's through Ashley Jones' actions of her greed that got us here. Ashley's charges were upped to murder. You are under the arrest for the murder of Harold, okay? But Marcia's story would end differently. It was just hours after she left that interrogation room. After that quiet ride home with Detective Birchum. There's something wrong, though. Marcia's parents called the Sheriff's Office, asking officers to do a welfare check on their daughter. We knocked on the door. Deputy Wilkins, who'd responded to the Allen House the day Harold died, was there again. We went ahead and made entry, and we come to a closed bedroom door,

43:26open the door, and we locate Marcia laying there in her bed. Marcia had died by suicide. She left a note. I did not kill my husband. You win, Ashley. What did you take that to mean? I think it was one last attempt at denial, even though she thought she knew she was caught. Ashley pleaded guilty to attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The burglary charges were dropped. She was sentenced to 50 years in prison. And Detective's questions about Ashley's late husband have not gone away. The information that we obtained during our investigation was turned over to state police. Prosecutor Fleetwood tells Dateline that Ty Jones' death is being investigated as a possible homicide. Ashley maintained in her initial police interview that her late husband died of a heart attack.

44:26It's not even coincidental anymore. It's just heartbreaking that the circumstances I feel like we're very, very similar. Do you hold Marcia and Ashley equally responsible here for your brother's death? Oh, yeah. Definitely. This doesn't happen without Ashley. And just like it doesn't happen without Marcia. So in my mind, they are bold as responsible for what happened. And she says equally responsible for getting caught. It took them being greedy to essentially shine the light. You don't always get to see karma, but sometimes. You did here. I did here. For Harold's family, this story doesn't end with Marcia or Ashley. It ends with Harold, peanut, a man who loved Christmas, loved giving, and above all, loved his family.

45:29This guy that meant everything to me was worth absolutely nothing to them. Like I said, the rest of my life will be missing in peace without him, because I know he's not here. What I refuse to allow happen to him is to be forgotten in this story. He was just a simple guy that goes to work, pays his bills, and wanted to be loved. That's peanut. That's all for this edition of Date Line. And don't forget to check out our Talking Date Line podcast, in which we'll go behind the scenes of tonight's episode, available Wednesday in the Date Line feed, wherever you get your podcasts. We'll see you again next Friday for our 35th season premiere at 9-8-Central. I'm Lester Holt, for all of us at NBC News. Good night.

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