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Background

Clarence Ray Allen was born in Blair, Oklahoma, on January 16th, 1930. Not much is known about his youth, but he was reportedly of Choctaw heritage.

By 1974, Allen had two kids, spent time as a church deacon, and ran a security company with 60 employees and two planes.

But on the side, he ran a violent burglary gang.

Fran’s Market Robbery

Allen had known Ray and Fran Schletewitz, the owners of Fran’s Market in Fresno, California, for years, but he was willing to betray their trust for easy money.

Allen roped his son, Roger, into a burglary plot along with three other men.

In the plan’s first phase, Allen let the Schletewitz’s son, Bryon, swim in their pool. With Bryon distracted, one of the men involved in the plot stole his keys to the market.

Phase two of the plan involved Roger’s girlfriend, 17-year-old Mary Sue Kitts, hanging out with Bryon to distract him.

Allen and his team of criminals accessed the market and stole $500 in cash and $10,000 in a money order.

Murder of Mary Sue Kitts

Things started falling apart when Mary Sue Kitts told Bryon that Allen was behind the theft.

When Allen heard she was running her mouth, he wanted her dead. He had a meeting with three of his employees and held a vote to determine if Kitts should be killed. All the men voted yes.

Reports indicate the men feared Allen because he previously talked of killing snitches and having connections that could reach people, even if they were in witness protection.

The first attempt to murder Kitts involved cyanide capsules, but the plan failed. Kitts went missing in July 1974. She is believed to have been strangled by Eugene Furrow and thrown in the Friant-Kern Canal, although her body has never been found.

Furrow was arrested years after the crime and pointed the finger at Allen. Furrow was convicted of second-degree murder, and by 1983, he was back on the streets.

Allen was convicted of first-degree murder in 1978 and sentenced to life in prison.

1980 Fran’s Market Murders

As Allen was rotting in prison, he wanted revenge on the people who had testified against him.

He offered his cellmate, Billy Ray Hamilton, $25,000 to kill eight people.

Hamilton agreed to the deal, and when he got out on parole, he got right to work.

On September 5th, 1980, Hamilton and his girlfriend Connie Barbo went to Fran’s Market. They killed 27-year-old Bryon Schletewitz, who testified against Allen. They also killed two other workers, 17-year-old Josephine Rocha, and 18-year-old Douglas White, and they wounded two others.

Hamilton was shot when one of the wounded men fired back at him.

Five days after the triple murder, Hamilton was busted after robbing a liquor store. In his possession was a hit list of people who testified against Allen.

Hamilton took the case to trial and was convicted of three counts of murder and several other charges. He was sentenced to death on March 2nd, 1981. He died of cancer in 2007 before he could be executed.

Hamilton’s girlfriend, Barbo, received a life sentence.

Legal Proceedings

Allen was charged with three counts of murder and eight counts of conspiracy to commit murder. He was convicted in 1982.

Due to special circumstances, Allen was eligible for the death penalty. With his history of violent burglary and going after witnesses, he was handed a death sentence and was sent to San Quentin State Prison’s death row on December 2nd, 1982.

In 2005, the US Ninth Circuit of Appeals found that Allen’s lawyers were inadequate, but the court still declined to hear his case, and he remained on death row.

Because of his old age, his lawyers said he was “incapacitated” and no longer a threat, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to grant clemency.

Execution

Allen’s death date was scheduled for January 17th, 2006, a day after he turned 76.

His last meal was buffalo steak, frybred, and some white meat chicken from KFC.

For dessert, he had pecan pie and walnut ice cream, both sugar-free, and a glass of whole milk to wash everything down.

The old man was marched to the death chamber later that night. He wore Native American garb as he was injected with chemicals that stopped his heart.

He was pronounced dead at 12:38 am.

After his death, the Warden read his final statement.

“My last words will be ‘Hoka Hey, it’s a good day to die.’ Thank you very much. I love you all. Goodbye.”