State v. Allard

• Decision Date: 22 May 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-1060,95-1060
• Citation: 663 N.E.2d 1277,75 Ohio St.3d 482
• Parties: The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. ALLARD, Appellant.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Page 482

75 Ohio St.3d 482

663 N.E.2d 1277

The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. ALLARD, Appellant.

No. 95-1060.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted Feb. 21, 1996.

Decided May 22, 1996.

Jerry Lee Allard, appellant, and Karen Marie Allard were married in September 1986. In August 1991, the marriage was dissolved by decree in the Court of Common Pleas of Knox County. Under the terms of the decree of dissolution, Karen was named the residential parent of the parties' three minor children: Aaron Allard, born April 2, 1987, Jay Allard, born May 1, 1988, and Rachael Allard, born August 2, 1989. The evidence reveals that appellant was never able to cope with the termination of the marriage.

Between June or July 1991 and March 30, 1992, appellant made a number of statements indicating that he intended to kill himself, Karen and/or the three children. In June or July 1991, appellant repeatedly told Wanda Shrimplin, a baby-sitter, that he intended to kill Karen. Appellant told Shrimplin that if he could not have Karen, no one would, and that he intended to kill Karen and anybody she was with. In August 1991, following the decree of dissolution, appellant wrote a letter to a long-time acquaintance, Barbara Parsons. In the letter, appellant stated, "[w]ell my dissolution was made a matter of public record by way of newspaper. Karen and I are very good friends and I am working on getting her back. I see one of three things happening between us in the future, I want the first. One she takes me back and we start over. Second what I don[']t want to see but is more than likely * * * is I commit suicide. Third and least likely to happen is that I kill her cause she won[']t take me back[.] The third one is followed up by a full life in prison oh what a bummer. Barb I love that woman with all my heart, soul, strength and being. I will not rest until she is mine again. This single parent stuff just doesn[']t get it. We went back to the traditional vows * * * for richer for poorer in sickness and in health till death do Appellant made similar statements to a number of other witnesses. Maude Etler was appellant's co-worker from November 1991 through January 1992. According to Etler, appellant routinely "carried on about Karen, about how they were married, and they were divorced, and that he would be remarrying her because they were married 'til death do us part, and that's how it would end, with one of their deaths, and that if he ever caught her with anybody, he would kill her and the person that she was with." Appellant told Etler that he intended to kill Karen by stabbing her to death. On one occasion, while Etler was visiting appellant's apartment, appellant picked up a knife in the kitchen and said, "I could stab her [Karen] with this." On several occasions, appellant told Etler that he could get away with anything because he had a paper that "certified him nuts."

                us part.   I meant it 5 years ago and I mean it [663 N.E.2d 1281] still I don[']t care what some man in a black robe says."  (Emphasis sic.)
                

Cathy Miller worked at an establishment appellant had visited almost every night between November 1991 and March 1992. Appellant frequently spoke to Miller about Karen and the children. Appellant told Miller that Karen's parents were trying to take the children away from him, and that "if he [appellant] couldn't have * * * [the children], no one could, that he would kill them." Additionally, appellant told Miller that he was on medication (lithium) for manic depression. According to Miller, appellant said that he could get away with anything if he were to stop taking his medication.

On March 13, 1992, appellant told a friend, Helen Vance, that he was going to kill Karen. Appellant told Vance that he could quit taking his medication and become "violent enough to kill somebody." On one occasion, appellant told Vance that he would kill Karen if he ever caught her with another man. On March 13, appellant told another witness, Rebecca Garrow, that he wanted to get back together with Karen. According to Garrow, appellant said, "I might as well not have a family. We might as well be dead."

Karen began dating Bruce Bartley in December 1991 or January 1992. On March 21, 1992, Karen and Bartley became engaged to be married. On or after the date of the engagement, appellant told Bartley that the marriage would never take place, that Karen and Bartley would never be together, and that appellant's children would never be Bartley's children. According to Bartley, appellant repeatedly stated that he (appellant) and Karen would remain together " 'Til death do us part."

On March 28, 1992, appellant told an acquaintance, Carol Slayton, that if he could not have Karen, no one would. Appellant told another acquaintance, Dawn Schaade, that he planned to kill Karen and that he could "go off" if he quit taking his medication. On March 28, appellant told a co-worker, Kenneth Overholt, that he was going to "put Mount Vernon on the map." Additionally, on the evening of Pursuant to the decree of dissolution, appellant had been granted unsupervised visitation rights with his children. However, appellant frequently insisted that Karen accompany him during the court-ordered visitations. On March 30, 1992, appellant spent the evening at his apartment with Karen and the children. At approximately 8:00 p.m., Karen called her mother, Mary Ruth Berry. Karen left a message on Berry's telephone answering machine that she (Karen) and the children would definitely be home by 10:00 p.m. At 10:49 p.m., Berry called the police because Karen and the children had not returned home. Berry asked police to check appellant's apartment because she feared that Karen was in danger.

                March 28, appellant approached an acquaintance, Mary Martin, and offered to pay her to "hurt" Karen.  According to Martin, appellant opened his wallet and said, "[t]he more you hurt her, the more I'll pay you."   Martin declined appellant's offer.  On March 29, appellant told a friend, Deborah Van Houten, that he had stopped taking his medication and that he was going to kill Karen.  Van Houten told appellant that no woman was worth going to jail for.  Appellant responded by stating, "Oh, yes, she is."   Van Houten's husband, Glenn Van Houten, also heard appellant's threatening comments
                

On March 30, at approximately 11:00 p.m., Sergeant Fred Gerber of the Mount Vernon Police Department arrived at appellant's apartment. Gerber heard crying and screaming coming from inside the apartment. When Gerber knocked on the door, appellant's outside porch light was immediately turned off. Patrolman Michael Merrilees arrived at the scene at approximately 11:08 p.m. Patrolman Roger Monroe arrived at the scene a few minutes later. The officers continued to knock on the door. Meanwhile, a police dispatcher contacted a representative from Moundbuilders Guidance Center, a local mental health organization that owned and/or operated the apartment complex. The representative gave police permission to break down appellant's door.

At 11:18 p.m., police kicked-in appellant's door and discovered Karen's body in a sitting position on a living room couch. Police found the body of two-year-old Rachael Allard on the living room floor. During a protective sweep of the apartment, police discovered that appellant had barricaded himself in the bathroom with his two sons, four-year-old Aaron and three-year-old Jay Allard. Appellant shouted, "Get back. I have hostages." Appellant told police that he was holding a knife to his favorite son's (Aaron's) throat. Appellant threatened to kill the two boys and stated that he had already "cut" one of them. He asked police to check both Karen and Rachael for a pulse. Police informed appellant that they were unable to detect a pulse from either victim. At that point, appellant stated, "Then you know I mean business." Police heard appellant say Police began negotiations with appellant for the release of the two boys. During negotiations, appellant demanded to speak with his former mother-in-law, Mary Ruth Berry. Appellant threatened to kill one of the boys if Berry was not brought to the apartment. Police complied with appellant's demand by bringing Berry into the apartment after covering the bodies of Berry's daughter and granddaughter. Berry spoke with appellant from outside the bathroom door. Appellant told Berry, among other things, "Mom, I'm sorry it had to come to this."

that Karen had not wanted to get back together with him, and that Rachael would have grown up to be "a slut just like her mother."

Eventually, appellant agreed to surrender to police. Patrolman Monroe demanded that appellant release the injured boy (Aaron) first. Appellant opened the bathroom door and held a knife to Aaron's throat. Appellant then shoved Aaron towards Monroe and retreated back into the bathroom. Appellant released Jay in a similar manner. Thereafter, appellant dropped the knife, sprawled out face down on the floor of the apartment, and stated, "Don't hurt me. Don't hurt me."

Karen had been stabbed or cut at least seventeen times in the area of her chest and neck. She had died as a result of the multiple stab wounds. A broken blade from a small paring knife was found in the fold of Karen's sweater. Police found the handle of the paring knife and the remaining portion of the broken blade on appellant's kitchen counter. Two other bloody kitchen knives (one steak knife and one serrated spatula or butter knife) were recovered from the apartment. A toxicology study of Karen's body fluids revealed that she had taken a potentially lethal overdose of drugs prior to being stabbed to death. Two-year-old Rachael had died as a result of multiple stab wounds to her thorax. Additionally, Rachael's neck had been cut or "slashed" with a knife. Aaron and Jay survived appellant's attack. Aaron was transported to Children's Hospital in Columbus for treatment of wounds to his neck. One of the wounds was a deep...