Clarence Ray Allen
Clarence Ray Allen | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 16, 1930 Blair, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | January 17, 2006 (aged 76) San Quentin State Prison, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | San Quentin Prison Cemetery |
| Other names | Ray Allen Clarence Ray Jr. Junebug |
| Years active | 1974–1980 |
| Criminal status | Executed by lethal injection |
| Spouse(s) |
Helen Sevier
(m. 1947; div. 1963)Darlene Hope (divorced) |
| Motive | Witness elimination |
| Convictions | First degree murder with special circumstances (3 counts) First degree murder Conspiracy to commit murder Conspiracy Assault with a deadly weapon First degree robbery First degree burglary Attempted robbery |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| State | California |
| Imprisoned at | San Quentin State Prison |
Clarence Ray Allen (January 16, 1930 – January 17, 2006) was an American gang leader and proxy murderer who was executed in 2006 at the age of 76 by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison for the murders of three people. Allen was the second-oldest inmate at the time to be executed in the United States since 1976.
Throughout the 1970s, Allen organized several armed robberies across California. In 1978, he was convicted for ordering the 1974 murder of his son's teenage girlfriend Mary Sue Kitts for informing others of her involvement in Allen's gang. In 1980, while already serving a life sentence for Kitts' murder, Allen organised the killing of Bryon Schletewitz, as part of a greater murder scheme to eliminate witnesses in the murder. The resulting contract killing became known as the Fran's Market murders, in which Schletewitz and two uninvolved employees were murdered by a recently released convict who was promised payment by Allen.
Allen was found guilty of the three murders in 1982 and sentenced to death. The execution date was pushed back three times for two decades. When a final date was decided in 2005, Allen's lawyers declared that "he presents absolutely no danger at this point, as incapacitated as he is. There's no legitimate state purpose served by executing him. It would be gratuitous punishment." They argued that execution would constitute cruel and unusual punishment due to Allen's advanced age and health conditions, and requested that he be granted clemency by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, which was refused. As of 2025, Allen is the most recent person to be executed in California.