A Michigan man who murdered and dismembered his girlfriend and then stuffed her remains in coolers has been sentenced to decades in prison, the Sturgis Journal reports.
On Thursday, a judge ordered that Wade Allen serve 37.5 to 60 years in prison on a charge of second-degree homicide in connection with the death of his girlfriend, Kelly Jean Warner, and two to five years for the attempted dismemberment and mutilation of her.
Police arrested Allen on May 22, 2019, after police in Sturgis, Michigan, received a tip that Allen hit Warner and killed her unintentionally, according to the newspaper. Allen allegedly put Warner’s body in a bathtub before dismembering her.
When officers came upon the coolers, Allen claimed he was preparing for summer.
The 39-year-old has never admitted that he killed Warner, who was a diabetic and had other health issues.
“I should have taken better care of her,” Allen told the judge in a tearful statement, according to the Journal. “I was trying to take care of myself, let alone someone else.”
“I have never, and I did not want her to die at all.”
Allen also was sentenced to 38 months to five years in prison for attempted criminal sexual conduct for sexually assaulting an inmate who shared information about him with authorities. Prosecutors alleged that Allen told cellmates he had strangled his girlfriend to death – information that at least one of the cellmates relayed to law enforcement.
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Prosecutors alleged that Allen has a long history of abusing partners. Meanwhile, the sexual assault victim testified that the conduct at issue “was not consensual” and that Allen was a “monster,” according to the newspaper.
Allen pleaded no contest to the charges in January, WTVB-TV reports.
Sturgis is located in southern Michigan near the Indiana border.
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[Feature Photo: Wade Allen/St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office]
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