Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

UCG Elder Stephen Allwine Loses His Appeal For Being Found Guilty Of Killing His Wife

In November of 2016, United Church of God elder, Stephen Allwine, shot his wife in the head. The serial adulterer and frequent user of the Ashely Madison adultery website then took his young son out to dinner. When they arrived home he let his son go into the house first just so the child could discover his dead mother. Things quickly started to unravel when police pegged him as the prime suspect and searched his many IT devices. They soon discovered his use of the Ashely Madison adultery site and even more sinister his use of the dark web to hire a paid assassin to kill his wife. After paying them money, they refused to do it, so Allwine developed his own strategy. (Those details are included in the links below.)

This week Allwine went on trial for premeditated first-degree murder. The situation laid out by prosecutors was a mix of religious guilt and piety, online double lives and desperate measures. According to the prosecutors, Stephen, an Internet technology specialist, had begun cheating on his wife using the infidelity site, Ashley Madison. But to him, divorce was not an option.

“He was seeing other women but he didn’t want to divorce her because of his position in the church,” Washington County prosecutor Jamie Kreuser told a jury this week, the Star Tribune reported. Washington Post

Needless to say, Allwine was soon arrested and after a lengthy court trial by jury, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

His motive was simple they said, leaving Amy was not an option, not for the church-going, well-respected family man who taught others how to have healthy marriages. Murder, however, was an option, he could play the grieving widower, who would no doubt be encouraged to go on with his life, and find a new wife. The $700,000 life insurance would be the financial security he needed to do so. 
 
Despite the defences best efforts to refute the theory put forward by the prosecution, the jury returned after just 8 hours of deliberation, they found him guilty of murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison. Medium

Allwine went to court recently to have his case overturned. Court documents state the following for refusing his appeal: Minnesota Courts.gov

SYLLABUS
1. Sufficient evidence supports the jury’s verdict that appellant is guilty of first-degree premeditated murder.

2. The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying appellant’s claim of prosecutorial misconduct without an evidentiary hearing because, even if the alleged facts were proven by a preponderance of the evidence, appellant is conclusively entitled to no relief on that claim.

3. Based on the information before the district court when it denied appellant’s claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel without an evidentiary hearing, the district court did not abuse its discretion because, even if the then-alleged facts were proven by a preponderance of the evidence, appellant is conclusively entitled to no relief on that claim.

4. A motion for reconsideration of a postconviction order that denies relief cannot introduce new evidence.

Affirmed.

MCKEIG, Justice.
After being convicted of first-degree premeditated murder for killing his wife, 

After being convicted of first-degree premeditated murder for killing his wife, appellant Stephen Allwineappeals from his conviction and from the district court’s denial of his petition for postconviction relief. Allwine presents four issues on appeal. First, he argues his conviction must be reversed because the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support the jury’s verdict that he is guilty. Second, he claims his conviction must be reversed, or alternatively, a postconviction evidentiary hearing must be held, because the State committed prosecutorial misconduct. Third, he argues he is entitled to a new trial because his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel. Last, he contends an evidentiary hearing must be held to review the opinions of two experts to determine if a new trial is warranted. Because we conclude that these claims have no merit, we affirm the judgment of conviction and the decision of the district court that denied postconviction relief.

FACTS

Stephen and Amy Allwine married in 1998. Stephen worked in information technology. Amy ran a dog training business from the Allwine family residence. Stephen and Amy had a son, J.A. Stephen and Amy were very involved in their church, which does not condone infidelity or divorce. Stephen was a church elder who gave sermons and counseled others in the congregation. If a church elder is found to have committed adultery, that person could no longer serve as an elder and may be asked to leave the congregation. Beginning in 2014, Stephen engaged in multiple extramarital affairs.

In February 2016, a person using the online screen name “dogdayGod” sent a message to Besa Mafiaon the dark web,seeking to hire a person to kill Amy. Soon after, dogdayGod sent a second message to Besa Mafia requesting that Amy be killed while she was on a business trip in Moline, Illinois. DogdayGod provided Besa Mafia with the address of the hotel where Amy would be staying, a physical description of Amy, a description of Amy’s vehicle, and a photograph of Amy. DogdayGod paid Besa Mafia in Bitcointo kill Amy.

In May 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) learned through an anonymous source that dogdayGod was trying to hire a hitman to kill Amy. An FBI agent and a Cottage Grove police detective notified Amy of the threat against her life. Law enforcement advised Amy to take security precautions and to report any suspicious activity to police. The next month, Amy notified the FBI that she had received two anonymous emails threatening to harm her and her family unless she committed suicide. In response to the threats, the FBI began an investigation. Investigators interviewed Stephen and Amy’s work colleagues, and searched Stephen and Amy’s two HP Notebook laptop computers.The investigation did not result in any leads.

November 13, 2016: The Day Amy Allwine Was Killed

Stephen awoke shortly before 6:00 a.m. and went to his basement office to work. Around 12:00 p.m., Stephen went upstairs to have lunch with Amy and J.A. Soon after, Amy told Stephen that she was feeling dizzy, lightheaded, and that she was going to bed to rest. Around 1:00 p.m., C.Z., Amy’s father, arrived at the Allwine residence to finish a home project that he had started a few days earlier. Stephen told C.Z. that Amy was in bed and not feeling well. C.Z. did not see his daughter while he was at the Allwine residence.

Around 2:00 p.m., C.Z. left. Minutes later, Stephen called C.Z. and asked him to return and pick up J.A., so that he could take Amy to the clinic for medical attention. C.Z. returned to the Allwine residence, picked up J.A., and the two left.

Around 5:30 p.m., Stephen arrived at C.Z.’s residence to pick up J.A. C.Z. asked Stephen what he learned about Amy’s illness at the clinic. Stephen told C.Z. that Amy decided not to go to the clinic. Following a brief conversation, Stephen and J.A. left. Stephen and J.A. returned to the Allwine residence at approximately 6:52 p.m. Upon entering their home, J.A. saw his mother lying on the floor with a pool of blood around her head. At approximately 7:00 p.m., Stephen called 911. On the 911 call, Stephen told the emergency dispatcher: “I think my wife shot herself. There’s blood all over.” Minutes later, Cottage Grove police arrived at the Allwine residence. Officers went into the master bedroom and saw Amy lying face up on the floor with her pants unbuttoned and unzipped, her hands at her sides, blood on the floor, and a handgun laying on Amy’s left forearm. Officers discovered Amy suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of her head.

Stephen Allwine’s Trial

Following an investigation, a grand jury indicted Stephen Allwine on the charge of first-degree premeditated murder. Minn. Stat. § 609.185(a)(1) (2020). Allwine retained private defense counsel. On January 23, 2018, the case proceeded to trial. The State presented several witnesses and experts, including law enforcement officials, the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on Amy’s body, and a computer forensic expert who analyzed over 60 electronic devices that were seized from the Allwine residence—including a MacBook Pro laptop computer with the username “S Allwine” and an iPhone 6S named “S Allwine’s iPhone.”

A retired officer testified that Allwine reported to police that he had been scammed out of $6,000 while trying to purchase Bitcoin in March 2016. Another officer testified that the crime scene was “strange” and not consistent with a suicide. The medical examiner testified that she discovered a nontherapeutic amount of scopolaminein Amy’s system. Based on the level of scopolamine, the medical examiner agreed with law enforcement’s assessment that Amy died at 3:15 p.m. or earlier on November 13, 2016. The medical examiner also agreed with law enforcement’s assessment that the evidence was not consistent with a suicide.

The computer forensic expert testified that the user S Allwine downloaded TOR— a web browser needed to access the dark web—on the MacBook Pro laptop computer.The expert testified that he found a “note” on the MacBook Pro laptop computer with an email address “sharklasers.com,” which allows users to send anonymous emails. The expert testified that the user S Allwine composed an anonymous email on the MacBook Pro laptop computer. The expert testified that minutes before dogdayGod sent a message to Besa Mafia, requesting that Amy be killed while traveling to Moline, Illinois, the user S Allwine ran a Google search of Moline, Illinois on the MacBook Pro laptop computer. The expert testified that the user S Allwine used the MacBook Pro laptop computer to view Amy’s Facebook account and browsed her photographs the day before dogdayGod sent a photo of Amy to Besa Mafia. The expert testified that dogdayGod sought to buy the drug scopolamine online. Last, the expert testified that the same unique 34-digit alphanumeric code that dogdayGod used to pay Besa Mafia in Bitcoin was found on the MacBook Pro laptop computer with the username S Allwine.

The defense argued that Stephen could not have murdered Amy because he was not home at the time Amy was murdered. The defense presented several witnesseswho all testified to either seeing Amy sometime in the afternoon in her driveway or to hearing an anonymous vehicle speed off quickly around the Allwine residence. On January 31, 2018, the jury found Stephen Allwine guilty of first-degree premeditated murder. The district court sentenced him to life without the possibility of release.

To this day there are many in the United Church of God who give Allwine undying support and believe he is totally innocent. Some even went on to brag what a wonderful opportunity he now had to be able to preach the gospel to his fellow inmates.

Nothing is shocking in the Church of God movement anymore.


A few links to the story:

Preacher Murders Wife and Has Son Find Her Body: What happens when the ones we love and trust, turn out to be the ones we should fear?

A church elder’s Ashley Madison affairs led him to the dark Web — and murder, police say

22 comments:

  1. HWA would often write "beware of the evil of self esteem." His ministers followed his dog whistle lead by treating members like dirt.
    The ACOG culture does does not discourage murder, be it verbal or physical.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The is much truth in Anon 5:33 PM comment. Murder can be physical and verbal. Verbal murder has and does go on in ACOG culture.

      Delete
  2. This is too long to read. UCG is right, he does have a wonderful opportunity to preach God's truth to those in prison. God works in mysterious ways.

    ReplyDelete
  3. To this day there are many in the United Church of God who give Allwine undying support and believe he is totally innocent.

    The media lie so much that disregarding what they say is not irrational. So they likely trust the person they think they know.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 9.26 PM
      I often observed church members warming up to church crazies. So of course there are some who will support convicted murders.

      Delete
  4. I had a person in my UCG church who said it was her fault. If she had paid attention to him instead of training dogs then he would not have committed adultery on her. This guy also praised Allwine's future opportunity to preach the gospel to other inmates who have never heard it before. All they have been exposed to are Satan's Sunday keepers instead of true Sabbath-keepers. Sick thinking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Her fault instead of training dogs = owning a successful business and earning a living.

      And worlds media think the Taliban are bad. COG Taliban have been thriving for decades.

      Marry a man in the Church they say....

      Delete
  5. Who wrote this post ? Was it NO2HWA ? I find it strange that the author of this post described the police as "pegging him". Pegging him what a double meaning word to describe a cold blooded killer who was described by the Judge as " One of the coldest people he'd ever encountered." The judge rightly called Allwine a "Actor". Which sums up a lot about the modern day state of Christianity.

    The evidence against Allwine was for all to see.

    In fact the entire post reads as if an inside UCG pro Stephen Allwine supporter had wrote this post.


    ReplyDelete
  6. My hope and prayer that the innocent little boy, who had already been thru the trauma of being given up for adoption, and then being used as a prop to discover his murdered adopted mother, can navigate the rest of his life with success, and happiness.

    ReplyDelete

  7. The disUnited Church of Godlessness is where unrepentant, unconverted unbelievers, and murderers, go to behave very badly while playing church.

    ReplyDelete
  8. In a small town called Mossville, just a 1/2 mile from my neighborhood, we had a similar crime take place. A Baptist minister, Nathan Leuthold, gunned down his wife in cold blood. It was not a spur of the moment thing. He carefully planned out this murder, even reading a book on being a hit man. His motive was to be free so he could carry on with a Lithuanian girl he brought over from Europe to 'futher' her education (?) for religious work. Yah sure! But like Allwine's plot, his plans quickly unraveled. The police found that book I mentioned, a diary kept by his wife that detailed the hell of living with him, and other sundry pieces of evidence that pointed to him being the killer. His trial lasted a couple of weeks, and he was found guilty of 1st degree murder, and sentenced to life, without the possiblity of parole. I saw him on one of those true crime about a couple of years after he was sent to prison. He came across as a cold blooded psychopath without a smidgen of guilt on his conscience. It's a pity Illinois didn't have the death penalty, because this jerk was someone who needed to leave this mortal coil with extreme prejudice!

    ReplyDelete
  9. this so called "elder" . . . the 6th Commandment ... obviously he doesn't read that..

    should be base behavior for ANY minister

    ReplyDelete
  10. What part of you shall not commit adultery, or you shall not murder is unclear?

    The fact that there is clear evidence that this guy frequented an adultery website, and engaged in even more sinister behavior betrays his true character and motives,
    and efforts to justify his actions with the excuse that his wife was somehow not being attentive enough is completely repugnant and classic victim blaming. The fact that he allowed a child to walk in and discover his dead mother's body is beyond chilling and betrays his utter lack of concern or care for the child.

    You can't claim to follow Jesus Christ and continue to excuse the behaviour of this man. His actions toward his wife and child were evil.

    ReplyDelete
  11. He was concerned about his position in the UCG, but not his relationship with God or his wife.
    What a total nut job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These types lie to themselves nevermind lying to others. The lying becomes all encompassing. That's why God hates lying and specifically condemns liars.
      Allwine will languish in jail for the rest of his life speaking lies and believing his own lies.
      The spirit of lying is a disease that's been at pandemic levels amongst the COG ministry for decades. The devastatingly state of the split COG is testimony to the lying priesthood. They lie to themselves but cannot see the members don't believe their pathetic lies.

      Keep the faith. Beware liars abound.

      Delete
  12. The worst of the WWCOG members in my congregation ended up in UCG.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I viewed the video. Several times throughout the video, whenever Allwine's Church was mentioned by the reporter, a picture of a United Church of Christ building was shown. In my mind, this was an unintended smear on that Church. It also elevated UCG in stature. Perhaps the reporter didn't know or wasn't told that a more accurate portrayal of the WCG and its splinters are rental halls, schools, Masonic Temple halls and hotel meeting rooms.

    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  14. I agree Richard. Imo just coz Allwine committed adultery and murder doesn’t mean the whole UCG group should be deemed guilty. It’s guilt by association. Yet, those judging guilty the entire UCG coz of the heinous actions of one man would they accept their whole sport or social club being likewise judged guilty if a member was convicted of similar abhorrent acts or worse??!! I doubt it!

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  15. Does the heinous action of one individual reflect on the who group? Yes! Example one, the sin of Adam and Eve. Example two, God was angry and punished Israel when one person stole devoted objects in Joshua 7:1
    It's the way the world works.

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  16. “A LITTLE leaven, leavens the **WHOLE LUMP”!!! “By their FRUITS you will KNOW THEM”!,

    ReplyDelete
  17. UCG or United Church of Christ? Did no one else notice that in the video?

    ReplyDelete