Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Allen going to trial for murder

John Allen, 31, of Rosston, made his first appearance in court Thursday, July 8.

Allen was charged with murdering his wife, Julie Ann Allen, 36, of Huron, Tenn., and originally entered a plea of not guilty Monday, Jan. 12.

He will return to court Friday, Aug. 6, when a trial date will be set, according to Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joe Graham.

The incident occurred, according to Nevada County Sheriff Steve Otwell, when the two were returning to Nevada County for the holidays.

Otwell said they each had different homes. She had a house in Huron, Tenn., while he lived with his parents at Rosston.

The incident began as a missing person's report, Otwell said, on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2003. The case was treated as a missing person incident until Friday, Dec. 26, when the semi truck she drove was found with her body in it. The truck was found on an old logging road just across the Ouachita County line.

Information, Otwell said, quickly developed pointing to the husband as the probable killer.

The two were married in February 2003, he said. John Allen had gone to Huron in Julie Ann's pickup and was to go with her to pick up a load in Jackson, Tenn., to be delivered to Pittsburg, Texas on Monday, Dec. 29.

They reportedly arrived in Prescott around 10:30 a.m. and dropped the trailer off at Exit 44 truck stop, heading to his parent's home in Rosston.

However, Otwell said, they had apparently been arguing much of the way from Huron to Prescott. "We believe she was killed in Nevada County," he said.

According to Otwell, Julie Ann had a habit of calling members of her family five to six times a day, and calling friends six or seven times a day. When none of her family had heard from her in two days, they became concerned and called the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.

Her father drove to Prescott from New Jersey, while a brother came from Pennsylvania and her daughter came from Tennessee. Julie Ann's employer said in the two years she has been with the company, this was the first time she failed to deliver a load on time.

"After the initial visit with her family," Otwell said, "it became clear they had legitimate cause for concern."

Julie Ann Allen reportedly died from a head trauma. Her body was sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for an official autopsy. Graham said the preliminary autopsy result showed she apparently died from a gunshot wound to the head.

No other suspects are believed to have been involved, Graham said.

John Allen was charged with first degree murder and is being held at the Nevada County Jail on a $250,000 bond, set by Judge Duncan Culpepper.

He was also charged with theft by receiving over $2,500 in connection with an aluminum flatbed trailer found at his parent's property. Otwell said the trailer was reportedly stolen from Magnolia three years ago, and the NCSO has no idea how it came into Allen's possession. He is being held on a $25,000 bond on the theft charge.

Allen is being represented by Gene Bramlett and Alan Roberts of Camden.

The murder charge, Graham said, is a class Y felony, punishable by a sentence of 10-40 years or life in prison.