Defender: Man bludgeoned wife in ‘fit of rage’

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Wednesday, June 29, 2005 | 9:42 a.m.

A public defender claimed Tuesday a 59-year-old man stabbed and bludgeoned his wife to death at their Henderson home in a "fit of rage" because he believed she was having an affair.

Robert Eugene Allen is accused of using an antique clothes iron and knife to brutally murder his 38-year-old wife, Laurel M. Allen, at the Victory Village apartment, at 501 E. Lake Mead Drive the couple shared.

In her opening statement Tuesday, Deputy Public Defender Elizabeth Quillin told the jury Robert Allen believed a series of "one ring phone calls" -- he said his wife answered the calls, hung up quickly, and made excuses to leave the house -- led him to believe she was "fooling around on him."

Quillin said on the day of the killing Robert Allen recognized one of the phone numbers on the caller ID as being the number he suspected belonged to the other man and "in a fit of rage he grabbed the iron and bludgeoned her and got hold of knives and stabbed her."

The public defender said her client would later take a drive and end up at a friend's house covered in blood saying "I think I killed Laurel (Allen)." She said Robert Allen would also tell his friend that he wanted to commit suicide.

Quillin said Robert Allen would later say the killing was like a "mind out of body experience and he was looking down at himself as it happened."

Deputy District Attorney Steve Waters, however, said Robert Allen knew exactly what he was doing on the night of the killing and rejected any heat of passion claim by telling the jury that roughly two months earlier he was arrested on charges of domestic violence against Laurel Allen.

The prosecutor said after Laurel Allen answered a phone call and told her husband it was "some woman from Chase Manhattan Bank" Robert Allen checked the caller ID and determined "it's that guy that just keeps calling around here all the time."

Waters said Robert Allen then began applying oil to Laurel Allen's body to treat her psoriasis and told detectives "I put the lotion on an I got to thinking she's lying through her teeth and I snapped, I just snapped."

The prosecutor said some 19 wounds later Laurel Allen would die and Robert Allen would soon turn himself over to authorities. He said Robert Allen talked to police voluntarily.

Waters said although the jury would not be asked to render a verdict on the issue, the events of June 27, 2003, roughly two months before the killing, would play a role in their verdict in the murder case.

Waters said the jury will hear that on that day Laurel Allen's then 17 year-old son was working on his computer listening to music on headphones when he began hearing "banging and thumping" coming from Laurel and Robert Allen's bedroom.

He said when the son, from Laurel Allen's previous marriage, took the headphones off he heard his mother scream "help me, help me, call 911."

Waters said the son called 911 and then used a knife to open the locked bedroom door. When he finally opened the door the son will said Robert Allen buttoned up his shirt, walked past him and said "he just wants to die" before going outside to wait for the police.

Laurel Allen told police she wanted to "end the relationship" due to alleged constant verbal abuse by Robert Allen. Waters said when Laurel Allen tried to get up from the bed, her husband pushed her back down and continued lashing out at her verbally.

Prosecutors are expected to begin their case this afternoon. The trial is expected to last three or four days.