| For Immediate Release Case # 06WF2607
June 17, 2008 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
WOMAN FACES TRIAL FOR MURDERING MOTHER
WITH BOYFRIEND AND DUMPING BODY
IN NEWPORT HARBOR
*Co-defendant boyfriend charged with murder to be tried in July 2008
SANTA ANA – A woman faces trial tomorrow for stabbing and murdering her mother with her boyfriend and dumping the victim’s body in Newport Harbor. Rachael Scarlett Mullenix, 19, Huntington Beach, is charged with one felony count of murder and faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison if convicted. Opening statements are expected to begin tomorrow, Wednesday, June 18, 2008, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-28, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Ian Westleigh Allen, 23, Huntington Beach, Mullenix’s boyfriend at the time of the murder, is charged with one felony count of murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon. He faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life in prison if convicted. He is expected to begin trial on July 11, 2008, in Department C-41, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
On Sept. 13, 2006, Allen and Mullenix are accused of murdering Rachael Mullenix’s mother, Barbara Mullenix, at the Mullenix’s Huntington Beach home because the mother disapproved of the couple’s relationship and was concerned that her daughter was not spending enough time with the family. The defendants are accused of murdering the victim by stabbing her dozens of times and then dumping the victim’s body in the harbor.
Barbara Mullenix’s body was discovered on Sept. 14, 2006, after the Newport Beach Police Department received a call about a body floating in the harbor at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club. The victim was found in the water rolled in a blanket.
Allen and Mullenix are accused of fleeing the state in an effort to escape prosecution. On Sept. 15, 2006, detectives investigating the case issued a teletype to law enforcement across the U.S. with a description of Allen’s truck after learning that the defendants may be driving to the home of one of Rachael Mullenix’s friends in Florida.
On Sept. 17, 2006, detectives learned that Allen and Mullenix had been detained in Louisiana by the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Department. The defendants had been stopped on the highway after Louisiana law enforcement learned that the couple may be traveling through the state. The defendants were taken into custody and subsequently transported back to Orange County to face charges for the murder of Barbara Mullenix.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Sonia Balleste of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
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