When Marsha Allen reported a burglary at her Freetown, Indiana, home on Sept. 19, 2023, investigators quickly found the break-in was just the start of a much larger, deadlier investigation. Jackson County detectives later told the story in a “48 Hours” episode called The Root Beer Float Murder, saying evidence and witness accounts pointed to an alleged poisoning and a subsequent conspiracy to silence witnesses.
Security footage from the burglary identified one of the intruders as Steven White, a friend of Marsha’s daughter, Ashley Jones. Police located White hours after the break-in; he admitted to participating in the burglary and then told detectives that Marsha had killed her husband, Harold Allen, by putting poison in a root beer float on Dec. 19, 2022. White also said Jones, who had lived with the couple, was involved and had helped arrange the burglary to obtain incriminating messages.
Investigators say review of text messages between Marsha and Ashley revealed multiple alleged attempts to poison Harold with various substances before they turned to ethylene glycol, an antifreeze component. Police allege the fatal drink was served on Dec. 19, 2022, after Harold experienced months of sudden health decline that the family attributed at the time to cardiac issues.
A month after the burglary, detectives questioned Marsha about Harold’s death. She denied involvement, returned home, and took her own life hours later.
Authorities charged Ashley Jones with Harold Allen’s murder and booked her into the Jackson County Jail. While awaiting trial, investigators say Jones gave her jail cellmate a list of names of people she wanted killed because they knew details about Harold’s death. Detectives say the list included witnesses and that the first name was Steven White, who had been charged in the burglary. Jackson County Lt. Adam Nicholson told “48 Hours” he believed Jones would have tried to have those people killed if she had the means.
Jackson County Prosecutor Lynsey Fleetwood said Jones was not charged specifically in connection with the list, though a handwriting analysis was deemed favorable to the conclusion that Jones wrote it.
In August 2025, Jones accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder; she was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Steven White received a three-and-a-half-year sentence for his role in the burglary.
Detectives Clint Burcham and Adam Nicholson discussed the investigation and its evidence on the television program, outlining how an apparent break-in uncovered allegations of a calculated poisoning and a later effort to eliminate people who might have exposed it.