By Rebecca Laflam
Updated April 5, 2026 / CBS News
When Marsha Allen reported a burglary at her Freetown, Indiana, home on Sept. 19, 2023, deputies soon discovered the case would reveal far more than stolen property — it would expose an alleged murder and a list of potential targets.
Jackson County Detective Clint Burcham and Lt. Adam Nicholson discussed the case with “48 Hours” correspondent Peter Van Sant in the new episode “The Root Beer Float Murder,” now streaming on Paramount+. The investigation began after Marsha identified one of the burglars captured on her security cameras as Steven White, a friend of her daughter, Ashley Jones.
White, who had been close to Jones, was located hours after the burglary. He confessed to the break-in and then told investigators Marsha was a “murderer.” White said Marsha had killed her husband, Harold Allen, by putting poison in a root beer float and implicated Jones, who had lived with the couple, as being involved and having orchestrated the burglary.
At the time of Harold’s death, the family attributed his months of sudden health decline to cardiac issues. White told police that text messages between Marsha and Ashley would show a broader plot. Investigators say those messages revealed multiple attempts to poison Harold with various exotic substances before the mother and daughter resorted to ethylene glycol, an antifreeze ingredient. Police allege Marsha served the lethal, poisoned root beer float on Dec. 19, 2022.
A month after the burglary, detectives questioned Marsha about Harold’s death. She denied involvement, returned home, and took her own life hours later.
Ashley Jones was charged with Harold Allen’s murder and booked into the Jackson County Jail. While awaiting trial, investigators say Jones gave her jail cellmate a “kill list” — names of people she allegedly wanted eliminated because they knew details about Harold’s death. Nicholson said Jones told her cellmate the list contained witnesses’ names and that she was attempting to “get rid of them.” The first name on that list, investigators say, was Steven White, who had been charged in the burglary.
Nicholson told Van Sant he was certain Jones would have tried to have those people killed if she had the means. Jackson County Prosecutor Lynsey Fleetwood said Jones was not charged in connection with the list, though a handwriting analysis was deemed “favorable,” indicating the list was likely written by Jones.
In August 2025, Jones accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty to attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She was sentenced to 50 years in prison. White received a three-and-a-half-year sentence for his role in the burglary.