Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Deborah Norville Examines Clarence Ray Allen's Murderous Life
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 5 years ago on
June 17, 2019

Share

Clarence Ray Allen, the mastermind of the 1980 Fran’s Market Murders and the last man put to death by the state of California, is the subject of the season finale of “Executed With Deborah Norville.”
The Allen episode will air at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tuesday on the REELZ cable network.

Allen Ordered Murders From Prison Cell

Allen was behind bars at Folsom State Prison at the time of the market murders. Three years earlier, a Fresno jury convicted him of ordering the 1974 murder of Mary Sue Kitts, 17, his son Roger’s girlfriend.
Killed at the friendly little country market: owners Ray and Frances Schletewitz’s only son, Bryon, 27, along with two other young employees, Douglas White,18, and Josephine Rocha,17.
Another store clerk, Joe Rios, and a neighbor, Jack Abbott, were wounded by blasts from a sawed-off shotgun wielded by Billy Ray Hamilton, a Folsom parolee sent to Fresno by Allen.
Abbott, who lived near the market, heard shots and came out to see what was going on. He returned Hamilton’s fire and wounded the fleeing parolee.

Hit List in Hamilton’s Wallet

Allen’s connection to the Fran’s Market murders surfaced when authorities arrested Hamilton five days later while attempting to rob a liquor store. Investigators found a hit list in Hamilton’s wallet. The list had the names of seven witnesses who testified against Allen in the Kitts trial, including Bryon and Ray Schletewitz.
Allen’s plan was to kill witnesses and become a free man at a potential retrial. Either Allen didn’t know that previous testimony would be read into the record at a second trial — or he was motivated solely by revenge.

Allen Finally Executed in 2006

Prison mug shot of Clarence Ray Allen
— Clarence Ray Allen
The state executed Allen by lethal injection Jan. 17, 2006, at San Quentin State Prison — more than 25 years after the market murders.

Featured on the Show

The show’s producers interviewed Patricia Schletewitz, the daughter of the market owners, as well as Abbott.
Also interviewed: former Fresno County prosecutor and retired judge James Ardaiz, who authored the 2012 bookHands Through Stone: How Clarence Ray Allen Masterminded Murder from Behind Folsom’s Prison Walls”; Ward Campbell and Ron Prager, the deputy attorneys general who prosecuted Allen in the Fran’s Market slayings; and Bill McEwen and Jim Steinberg, who reported on Allen for The Fresno Bee.
All will appear in the show.

Ardaiz Prosecuted Allen for Kitts’ Murder

Ardaiz prosecuted Allen for ordering Kitts’ murder. Another member of the so-called “Allen Gang” of criminals, Lee Furrow, strangled Kitts. He then threw her body into the Friant-Kern Canal on Piedra Road near Tivy Valley. Kitts’ remains have never been recovered.

Portrait of murder victim Mary Sue Kitts circa 1974
— Mary Sue Kitts
McEwen covered the Kitts’ trial for the Fresno Guide and the Allen execution for The Bee. He is now GV Wire’s news director.
 

DON'T MISS

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

DON'T MISS

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

DON'T MISS

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

DON'T MISS

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

DON'T MISS

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

DON'T MISS

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

DON'T MISS

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

DON'T MISS

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

DON'T MISS

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

DON'T MISS

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

UP NEXT

What Will Happen to CNBC and MSNBC When They No Longer Have a Corporate Connection to NBC News?

UP NEXT

Major Storm Drops Record Rain, Downs Trees in Northern California After Devastation Further North

UP NEXT

Newsom Heads to Fresno, a County That Voted for Trump

UP NEXT

Conservative Professors and Students Are Beating CA Community Colleges in Court

UP NEXT

Thousands of University of California Workers Go on 2-Day Strike Over Wages, Staff Shortages

UP NEXT

Gavin Newsom Pledged to Release His Tax Returns Every Year. The Last One Was for 2020.

UP NEXT

California Governor Will Not Make Clemency Decision for Menendez Brothers Until New DA Reviews Case

UP NEXT

Fewer Kids Are Going to California Public Schools. Is There a Right Way to Close Campuses?

UP NEXT

California Voters Reject Measure That Would Have Raised Minimum Wage to Nation-High $18 Per Hour

UP NEXT

With Democracy Supposedly at Stake, California Voters Stayed Away in Droves

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

6 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

7 hours ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

7 hours ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

7 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

8 hours ago

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

8 hours ago

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

8 hours ago

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

8 hours ago

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

9 hours ago

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

9 hours ago

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

NEW YORK — Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, was chosen Thursday by Donald Trump to serve as U.S. attorney general hours after...

5 hours ago

5 hours ago

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

6 hours ago

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

6 hours ago

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

6 hours ago

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

President Joe Biden with Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, at the Detroit Auto Show, Sept. 14, 2022. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to erase the Biden administration’s tailpipe rules designed to get carmakers to produce electric vehicles, but most U.S. automakers want to keep them. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
7 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

7 hours ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

7 hours ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at First Horizon Coliseum, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Greensboro, NC. (AP/Alex Brandon)
8 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend