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Background

Howard Arthur Allen was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on February 10th, 1949. He had eight siblings, and they grew up in a poor area where a single mother supported them.

Allen started stealing food for the family as a child. By the time he was 25, he was stealing from old ladies and didn’t mind killing them if he had to.

Crimes

In August 1974, he entered the home of 85-year-old Opal Cooper. He intended to burglarize her, but he got violent and ended up beating her to death. Oddly, he wasn’t convicted of murder; he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to 2 to 21 years in prison.

He was released on parole in 1985 after serving 11 years. Prison didn’t rehabilitate him, and on May 18th, 1987, he broke into a 73-year-old woman’s home and beat her up. Luckily, she survived the attack.

Two days later, he assaulted 87-year-old Laverne Hale during another burglary. She spent 9 days in the hospital before succumbing to her injuries.

Less than two weeks later, on June 2nd, 1987, Allen burglarized an elderly man’s residence and then burned the place down. The man survived.

On July 14th, 1987, he committed his final murder. He met 73-year-old Ernestine Griffin the day before. He was interested in a vehicle that her neighbor, Dr. Seamon, was selling.

Griffin wrote down Allen’s name and phone number and left a message with the info on Dr. Seaman’s answering machine.

The next day, Allen returned to Griffin’s home. She called Dr. Seaman, and Allen and Seaman spoke to each other. Allen mentioned he worked at Bluko Car Wash.

After the call ended, Griffin called Dr. Seaman back because Allen refused to leave her home. Seaman was worried, and when he got a free moment, he checked on her.

He found the door ajar, and when he walked in, he saw Griffin with a knife in her chest.

Allen had stabbed her and beat her with a toaster. He got away with a camera and three five-dollar bills.

Detectives found the note with Allen’s name and phone number, and Dr. Seaman told them where Allen worked. Investigators went to Bluko Car Wash later that day and picked up Allen.

He was interrogated for hours, but the closest he came to confessing was when he said, “I didn’t stab the lady, but if I did, I need help.”

Later, authorities learned that Allen had given a camera to one of his coworkers on the day of the murder and asked them to put it in a locker. The serial number and the undeveloped film in the camera indicated it was a Griffin’s.

On August 4th, 1987, the maniac was indicted for two of the burglaries and one of the murders. Soon, he was linked to all the cases above and eleven other attacks on elderly people.

Legal Proceedings

In the spring of 1988, he was sentenced to 50 years for robbery with serious bodily injury and 38 years for theft in relation to the May 18th incident in which the 73-year-old victim survived.

On June 11th, 1988, he was convicted of the murder of his final victim, Ernestine Griffin. He was later sentenced to death.

He spent decades trying to prove he was mentally challenged. For decades, he failed; as reports indicate, he had an IQ of 104 and was considered an average student in school.

Eventually, the justice system fell for his BS and commuted his death sentence for the murder to 60 years.

Death

After serving 33 years, he died in prison on June 5th, 2020, at the age of 71.