48 Hours · CBS News

Post Mortem | The Root Beer Float Murder

April 7, 2026·25 min·2 clips

Harold Allen was poisoned by a root beer float made by his wife and daughter, with the murder only discovered after a burglary revealed incriminating texts.

Anne-Marie Green lays out the case. Harold Allen's death in Freetown, Indiana, was first treated as natural. Then, nine months later, a burglary at Marsha Allen's home led police to texts between Marsha Allen and Ashley Jones, and the whole thing changed. Peter Van Sant says the cruelty of the case stuck with him, especially the repeated attempts over three months to poison Harold. The setup sounds almost ridiculous. The details do not. Investigators looked at a root beer float, a protein shake with pong pong seeds, water hemlock, and ethylene glycol. The poisons could be bought online, and Peter explains that some had ordinary uses in gardens or as a solvent, even though they came with tastes and smells that could give them away. A float could cover an antifreeze chemical. Motive is where the conversation gets less tidy. Investigators saw money, including a $120,000 life insurance policy, but Anne-Marie presses on why that answer may not be enough. People described Harold as a great guy with a big heart who brought Marsha and Ashley into his family. His nickname was Peanut. Peter adds the stranger detail: investigators heard that Marsha and Ashley believed a demon lived inside Harold and might attach to other people in the house. Whether that belief was real or something they used while planning, it sits beside the money as another possible motive, though the prosecutor believed money was driving them. The recap stays careful, following what police found and what investigators believed. Near the end, another death is still under investigation: Ashley says her husband, Ty, died naturally, while Peter describes telling family members they might be on the right track.

As heard by us

A strange poisoning case that stays close to the evidence.

This episode follows Harold Allen's death in Freetown, Indiana, as a case where poison, money, and family access all matter. Marsha Allen and Ashley Jones only drew closer scrutiny after a burglary at Marsha's home turned up damning text messages, and police went back to a death…

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Why you'd press play

When a root beer float hides poison, the reporting stays sharper than the strange case.

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