CA CA - Mary 'Sue' Kitts, 17, Fresno, July 1974 *C. Allen guilty*

Mary Sue Kitts
Missing since July 1974 from Fresno, Fresno County, California
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

Age at Time of Disappearance: 17 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance:
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; grey eyes.

Circumstances of Disappearance

Mary Sue Kitts was last seen in Fresno, California in July 1974. For three years, she was presumed to be a runaway.

During an armed robbery of a Visalia K-Mart in March 1977, Larry Green shot a bystander, and police arrested him along with Benjamin Meyer and Clarence Ray Allen. Authorities eventually linked Allen to the 1974 murder of Mary Sue Kitts, the live in girlfriend of his son, Roger.

In 1974, Clarence Ray Allen enlisted the help of his son Roger Allen, as well as other employees in Allen's security guard business, to burglarize Fran's Market.

On June 29, 1974 the night of the burglary, Roger Allen invited the owners 19-year-old son, Bryon Schletewitz, to an evening swimming party at Allen's house. There, Bryon's keys to Fran's Market were taken from his pants pocket while he was swimming.

Later in the evening, while Bryon was on a date arranged by Allen with Mary Sue Kitts, Allen and accomplices, used Bryon's keys to burglarize his parents' market. They removed a safe from the market and divided the $500 in cash and over $10,000 in money orders found inside.

Kitts contacted Bryon Schletewitz and confessed to him that she had helped to cash the money orders stolen from Fran's Market. Bryon confronted Roger Allen with this story, and Roger admitted that the Allen family had burglarized the store.

When Roger told his father of Bryon's accusation based on Kitts's confession, Allen ordered Kitts to be killed.

Kitt's was strangled to death by Allen's accomplice Lee Furrow.

Allen had his accomplices tie stones to Kitts's wrapped-up body and, while he watched for traffic, dumped her into the Friant-Kern Canal. Her body was never recovered.

Allen was tried and convicted in 1977 of robbery, attempted robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon. His arrest also led to his second 1977 trial, for the Fran's Market burglary, conspiracy, and the murder of Mary Sue Kitts. In return for testifying for the prosecution, Furrow pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder.

Clarence Allen was sentenced to death for arranging the execution murders of three people who testified against him. He was executed by lethal injection on January 17, 2006.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Fresno Police Department
Missing Persons Unit
559 621-2455

E-Mail: policedept@fresno.gov


Source Information:

Death Penalty
San Francisco Chronicle
The Doe Network: Case File 2585DFCA

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2585dfca.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/k/kitts_mary.html

The guy who arranged her murder was a real psycho -- after his conviction he arranged for the murders of three other people from his prison cell. (Doe was wrong when it says the three all testified against him, though. One of them was a witness against him and two of them innocent bystanders who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.) A poster boy for the death penalty. He finally got what was coming to him in 2006. He was in his seventies by then and his attorney actually argued that executing such an old man was cruel and unusual!

This case is now 35 years old. Although it seems to have been solved and the individual responsible has paid the price, Mary Sue Kitts is still missing.

Clarence Ray Allen was a cold blooded killer. Could he have been responsible for other murders as well?

Bumping case up...

How is this a cold case when they already know she is dead. She technically isn't missing.

scriptgirl said:

How is this a cold case when they already know she is dead. She technically isn't missing.

Click to expand...

Actually, she is still missing. It was proven in a court of law that she was murdered - even though there was no body to present as evidence.

The term "cold case" can be applied to a case for a number of different reasons. Usually it is because someone has been missing for a long time or because a crime has been unresolved, or when a suspect is identified but not brought to trial, etc. .... And the passage of time plays a part in that determination.

If there are loose ends which cannot be tied up or resolved, the case could be considered "cold". For instance one person might be caught and convicted, but an accomplice remains at large or unidentified.

Sometimes a case is considered Open and Active by police, but might be posted here simply because a lot of time has passed.

There are a number of other cases posted in this forum in which it was determined that a missing person was murdered and that a suspect was identified or even convicted. But if the body remains missing, the case is not yet considered closed.

Bumping case up...

Richard said:

This case is now 35 years old. Although it seems to have been solved and the individual responsible has paid the price, Mary Sue Kitts is still missing.

Clarence Ray Allen was a cold blooded killer. Could he have been responsible for other murders as well?

Click to expand...

I want to thank you for listing it. Sue was my cousin. We always called her that, not Mary Sue. She was so tiny. My Aunt Lenore is now dead, and my Uncle Nate eventually married another woman. She was their only child. My aunt never gave up looking for her. She hired her own PI. She even went and spoke to Clarence Ray at his security guard business. Of course, he told her they had not seen her.

Clarence Ray Allen was a great poster child for the Death Penalty.

bumpin'

Here is to hoping he died in great pain. How could they not recover her? Those canals aren't that deep.

Does anyone know if Mary Sue Kitts has DNA available? I have decided to add her to Namus and I would like to know if she has DNA so she can be compared to UIDs.

Tony1902 said:

Here is to hoping he died in great pain. How could they not recover her? Those canals aren't that deep.

Click to expand...

Human bones were found during a search of the canal for Mary’s body. They have never been conclusively identified however.

I’m hoping that her real family can be found so they can get DNA samples. I submitted her to Namus months ago but she has no identifiers Available. Maybe she has Dentals but idk.

Mary Sue Kitts
Missing since July 1974 from Fresno, Fresno County, California
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

• • Date Of Birth: November 1. 1956
  • Age at Time of Disappearance: 17 years old
  • Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'1"; 100 lbs.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; hazel/gray eyes.
  • Marks, Scars: A Small scar on the left side of her chin and a dime sized birthmark on the middle of her back.

Circumstances of Disappearance

Mary Sue Kitts was last seen in Fresno, California in July 1974. For three years, she was presumed to be a runaway.

During an armed robbery of a Visalia K-Mart in March 1977, Larry Green shot a bystander, and police arrested him along with Benjamin Meyer and Clarence Ray Allen. Authorities eventually linked Allen to the 1974 murder of Mary Sue Kitts, the live in girlfriend of his son, Roger.

In 1974, Clarence Ray Allen enlisted the help of his son Roger Allen, as well as other employees in Allen's security guard business, to burglarize Fran's Market.

On June 29, 1974 the night of the burglary, Roger Allen invited the owners 19-year-old son, Bryon Schletewitz, to an evening swimming party at Allen's house. There, Bryon's keys to Fran's Market were taken from his pants pocket while he was swimming.

Later in the evening, while Bryon was on a date arranged by Allen with Mary Sue Kitts, Allen and accomplices, used Bryon's keys to burglarize his parents' market. They removed a safe from the market and divided the $500 in cash and over $10,000 in money orders found inside.

Kitts contacted Bryon Schletewitz and confessed to him that she had helped to cash the money orders stolen from Fran's Market. Bryon confronted Roger Allen with this story, and Roger admitted that the Allen family had burglarized the store.
When Roger told his father of Bryon's accusation based on Kitts's confession, Allen ordered Kitts to be killed.
Kitt's was strangled to death by Allen's accomplice Lee Furrow.
Allen had his accomplices tie stones to Kitts's wrapped-up body and, while he watched for traffic, dumped her into the Friant-Kern Canal. Her body was never recovered.

Allen was tried and convicted in 1977 of robbery, attempted robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon. His arrest also led to his second 1977 trial, for the Fran's Market burglary, conspiracy, and the murder of Mary Sue Kitts. In return for testifying for the prosecution, Furrow pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder.

Clarence Allen was sentenced to death for arranging the execution murders of three people who testified against him. He was executed by lethal injection on January 17, 2006.

The canal was searched and some human bones were recovered, but police were unable to make a positive identification of them.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Fresno Sheriff's Department
559-488-3939

Agency Case Number: 74-13248
77-4069

Source Information:
Death Penalty
San Francisco Chronicle
Victim Services
The Doe Network: Case File 2585DFCA

Mary Sue Kitts
BIRTH 1 Nov 1956
DEATH 1 Jul 1974 (aged 17)
California, USA
BURIAL Body lost or destroyed, Specifically: missing since 1974

LINK:

Mary Sue Kitts (1956-1974) - Find A Grave...

mhoward48 said:

I want to thank you for listing it. Sue was my cousin. We always called her that, not Mary Sue. She was so tiny. My Aunt Lenore is now dead, and my Uncle Nate eventually married another woman. She was their only child. My aunt never gave up looking for her. She hired her own PI. She even went and spoke to Clarence Ray at his security guard business. Of course, he told her they had not seen her.

Clarence Ray Allen was a great poster child for the Death Penalty.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry for your loss. Do you know what day in 1974 she went missing from or was it July 1st?

I am not sure what date officially. She was invited to a party specifically so they could kill her, and get rid of her body. She was working for Clarence Ray at his security business. One of his son's was her boyfriend. She was living with him. Her mom, (my aunt) became suspicious when she could not get a hold of her, and notified authorities. Unfortunately, they listed her as a runaway, even though she still had $300. in the bank for years untouched. There is probably a official statement with LE somewhere, as to when that party occurred.

mhoward48 said:

I am not sure what date officially. She was invited to a party specifically so they could kill her, and get rid of her body. She was working for Clarence Ray at his security business. One of his son's was her boyfriend. She was living with him. Her mom, (my aunt) became suspicious when she could not get a hold of her, and notified authorities. Unfortunately, they listed her as a runaway, even though she still had $300. in the bank for years untouched. There is probably a official statement with LE somewhere, as to when that party occurred.

Click to expand...

Thank you.

I found a book about Clarence Ray Allen titled: Hands Through Stone: How Clarence Ray Allen Masterminded Murder from Behind Folsom's Prison Walls by James A. Ardaiz which was published in 2012 There are excerpts of the book at Hands Through Stone where it states that she was last seen leaving her parents house on July 15, 1974 with Roger Dale Allen in one of the security vehicles (an el Camino) for Allen Security. She was apparently working at a Denny's Restaurant in Fresno and they said the last date she worked was on July 18 1974 and she didn't pick up her check. As to the date when she was supposed to have been murdered, I don't know, but it must have been shortly after that.