Middletown Murder Suspect and Wife Were Over $600,000 in Debt, Prosecutors Reveal

Monmouth County prosecutors have revealed that the Middletown man accused of murdering his wife in 2011 were over $600,000 in debt and only days away from facing foreclosure on their home when their fatal argument occurred, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Monmouth County assistant prosecutors Maria Franceschini and Mary Juliano allege that Patrick Allen became enraged during an argument with his wife, Kimberly, after she discovered their financial state, and fatally struck her with a frying pan before strangling her to death on November 18, 2011.

Kimberly was found on the floor of their West Front Street home, appearing to be attempting an escape from a violent struggle, according to crime scene investigator John Garkowski, who testified before jurors on Thursday.

Patrick Allen, now 47, claims that the couple were planning on going to a Wells Fargo Bank to save their home, according to his attorney. This was disputed during the testimony Wednesday of a financial analyst for the prosecutor’s office, who told jurors that no meetings had been scheduled with Wells Fargo.

Allen’s attorney maintains that his client, a securities salesman, came home that day to find his wife of 20 years had been the victim of a violent attack. On Wednesday, jurors were played a recording of the 911 call Allen made, in which he said, “My wife has been attacked or something. I don’t think she’s breathing,” while sobbing and asking for an ambulance to be sent to their home.

Police arrived on the scene to find the victim, a mother of two boys, dead from apparant blunt impact injuries to her head. A medical examiner later determined that the cause of death was homicidal violence, and besides the blunt impacts from what was later found to be a frying pan, the victim had also died of asphyxiation.

As a result of the investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Middletown Township Police Department, Allen was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife on the same day she was found.

A grand jury indicted Allen, 45, of Middletown, in January 2013 with first-degree murder, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, third-degree hindering the apprehension of another, and fourth-degree tampering with physical evidence.

His trial is currently underway at Monmouth County Superior Court in Freehold.