A Louisiana, Missouri man is going to prison for the 2019 murder of a Pleasant Hill man. 44 year old Charles Allen was sentenced to 44 years in prison by Judge Frank McCartney for the first-degree murder of Allen’s former father-in-law 65 year old Donald Collard of Pleasant Hill.
McCartney called the crime “senseless” in court yesterday, according to the Quincy Herald-Whig. Allen, 45, was found guilty of murdering Collard in a January jury trial. According to trial testimony, Collard died March 26th last year of four puncture wounds to the chest, including one that severed an artery in his heart. Collard also had wounds to his hands and elbow.
According to further testimony, the men began fighting after Allen and Allen’s daughter arrived uninvited to Collard’s Pleasant Hill home to pick up another of Allen’s daughters who had become upset and locked herself in the bathroom. The daughter had sent text messages asking for her sister to come. Allen testified that Collard had reached through an open window of his truck and had his hands on Allen’s throat and had begun striking him in the face.
Pike County State’s Attorney Zachary Boren disagreed and argued in court that Collard’s wounds were not signs that Allen had feared for his life, but that Allen was the aggressor, and Collard, who was unarmed, was the victim.
Allen will received credit for 358 days already served in the Pike County Jail. He will not be eligible for early release.