Melissa Jenkins Murder: Evidence, Trial, and Prue Sentences

The Melissa Jenkins murder was the March 25, 2012 killing of a 33-year-old Vermont science teacher by a married couple, Allen and Patricia Prue, who lured her from her home with a fake broken-down-car story, strangled her, and dumped her body in the Connecticut River. Allen Prue was convicted at trial and sentenced to 50 years to life plus a concurrent life sentence; Patricia Prue pleaded guilty and received life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Who Melissa Jenkins Was

Jenkins taught science at St. Johnsbury Academy, a prep school in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, and waited tables part-time at The Creamery Restaurant.¹ She was a single mother. Her son Ty was two and a half years old the night she was killed. Her motto at the school was “Love those the most who need it the most.”²

How the Killing Happened

Allen Prue had plowed Jenkins’s driveway in the past. He had asked her out several times, and she stopped using his services after the attention made her uncomfortable. In the fall of 2011 he showed up at her home intoxicated, trying to get the work back.³ Prosecutors later said the Prues had watched and followed Jenkins for some time and shared a sexual fantasy about her that they intended to act on.⁴

On the night of Sunday, March 25, 2012, around 8:30 p.m., Patricia Prue called Jenkins and said their vehicle had broken down. Jenkins told a former boyfriend she had just gotten a “weird call” and was heading out to help.¹ She brought Ty with her in her SUV.

When Jenkins stepped out of her vehicle, Allen Prue grabbed her and strangled her. Patricia Prue then choked her again in the back of their car “to ensure she wasn’t breathing,” according to court documents.³ The couple took the body back to their home, placed it on a tarp, removed her clothing, and poured bleach over her. They drove to a boat access on the Connecticut River and dumped the body in the water, weighted with cinder blocks and covered with branches. Then they crossed into New Hampshire and burned Jenkins’s clothes along with their own.⁵

How the Prues Were Caught

Jenkins’s former boyfriend grew worried when he could not reach her. He found her SUV idling on a rural road with Ty alone inside, unharmed.¹ Police were called that night. At the scene, investigators found a business card for Allen Prue’s snowplow operation, which pointed suspicion at the couple.⁶

Detectives interviewed the Prues on Tuesday night. Patricia denied any involvement. Allen confessed. He told police the plan that night had been to “get a girl,” someone “they could play with,” and he led officers to where the body had been dumped.³ Jenkins’s body was recovered from the Connecticut River the next day. She had been strangled and beaten.⁶

On Wednesday, March 28, 2012, Allen Prue, then 30, and Patricia Prue, then 33, were arraigned. Both initially pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and unauthorized removal of a dead body. The charges were later upgraded.³

What the Evidence Showed

Vermont’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Steven Shapiro, ruled the cause of death manual strangulation and the manner of death homicide.⁷ The autopsy found six circular marks on Jenkins’s body that Shapiro testified were caused by a stun gun. An empty Vipertek stun gun box was recovered from the Prues’ bedroom, though the device itself was never found. Investigators also matched marks on a tarp from a burn site to marks on Jenkins’s body, matched a shoe sole to footprints at the scene, and recovered a cinder block and a bottle of bleach.⁸

Prosecutors introduced Patricia Prue’s journal, which described a “joint fantasy” the couple shared and included entries saying she had “plans for people who have messed with her” and that “people will be surprised of what she is capable of.” Investigators found internet searches for “how to kidnap a girl” and traced a prepaid cellphone the Prues had bought to the call made to Jenkins the night she was killed.⁹

Allen Prue’s Trial and Sentence

The Prues were tried separately. Allen Prue’s trial opened on October 8, 2014, in Vermont Superior Court in St. Johnsbury on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted kidnapping.¹⁰ His confession was the centerpiece of the prosecution.

Defense attorney Robert Katims argued that the confession was false and had been given to protect Patricia, who Katims said had killed Jenkins in an “obsessively jealous” rage. He described Allen as a man with a low IQ who was “easily manipulated.”¹⁰ The jury rejected the argument after six hours of deliberation and convicted him on all three counts.⁶

On December 17, 2014, Judge Robert Bent sentenced Allen Prue to 50 years to life for the murder, plus a life sentence for attempted kidnapping. The judge denied the prosecution’s request for life without parole, citing Prue’s lack of any prior criminal record. Prue will first become eligible to argue for parole at age 82.⁴

Bent described the attack as “committed with suddenness and ferocity” and said the killing was “primarily driven by Mr. Prue.” “They hunted their victim as a pair,” he said. “This was a hunt and they were acting as a pair. A pack. A pack of two. It couldn’t have been done without both.” At sentencing, Allen Prue maintained his innocence, telling the court: “The one thing that I am guilty of is bringing the person that did this crime to Vermont and for that I’m truly sorry.”⁴

The Fight Over the Confession and the Appeal

Allen Prue’s conviction turned on his confession, and the defense fought hard to keep it out. Police had brought Prue to the barracks under the pretense of discussing an identity theft case involving his wife’s credit card. Before questioning, officers held what later courts called an “unorthodox” swearing ceremony, with everyone raising their right hands and swearing to tell the truth, and then described the Miranda warnings as “formalities” for “documentation purposes.” They told him, “you’ve watched all the cop shows… You’re not under arrest or any of the above.”¹¹

The interview ran seven hours. There was a one-hour gap between the Miranda warning and the point at which questioning turned to the homicide, and warnings were never re-administered, even after Prue confessed and led officers to the body. His defense moved to suppress, arguing that his IQ of 75 meant he could not have knowingly waived his rights. The trial court ruled the police tactics were “more than a little strange” but found the waiver knowing, intelligent, and voluntary.¹¹

On September 9, 2016, the Vermont Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the convictions and sentence in State v. Prue, 2016 VT 98. Prue had raised four issues: suppression of his confession, exclusion of evidence of Patricia Prue’s psychiatric diagnosis (including an alleged “homicidal” alternate personality), admission of Patricia’s internet search history, and denial of a sentencing continuance. The court rejected all four. Associate Justice Beth Robinson wrote that the seven-hour interrogation was sufficiently “cohesive” for the initial Miranda warnings to remain valid throughout. “We find no error and affirm defendant’s convictions and sentence,” she wrote.¹²

Patricia Prue’s Plea and Life Sentence

Patricia Prue had originally planned an insanity defense. Pretrial evaluations found she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and possibly dissociative identity disorder.⁹ In December 2014, weeks after her husband was convicted, she asked to change her plea. She said she wanted to resume communication with Allen, which had been prohibited during the proceedings.

On February 12, 2015, she pleaded guilty to aggravated attempted murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy. The next day, Judge Bent sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Her attorney, Brian Marsicovetere, argued for recognition of Vermont’s mental health gaps, and Patricia Prue told the court her “biggest regret was not seeking help for her mental health issues earlier.” Bent said the crime was not a “sudden or impetuous act” and that she was a “full participant” who “knew how the abduction would end.”⁹

In November 2021, Patricia Prue filed a post-conviction relief petition seeking to overturn her conviction. She alleged prosecutorial, judicial, and defense attorney misconduct, ineffective assistance of counsel, and inability to aid in her own defense due to “extreme stress.”¹³ No public ruling on the petition has been reported.

Jenkins’s Son and the Community

Ty, the toddler found in his mother’s idling SUV that night, was raised by family. He later demonstrated for detectives how his mother had been strangled. Caledonia County State’s Attorney Lisa Warren pointed to the trauma inflicted on the child as among the worst consequences of the crime.⁴

St. Johnsbury Academy held a memorial service for Jenkins and established the Melissa Jenkins Memorial Prize, awarded at commencement.¹⁴ Headmaster Tom Lovett, speaking after Allen Prue’s sentencing, described the “aching sorrow” the school still carried and the “outpouring of love” her memory had drawn.⁴

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6abc. Vermont Teacher Melissa Jenkins Murder
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St. Johnsbury Academy. Love Those the Most Who Need It the Most
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CBS News. New Details Emerge in Murder of Vermont Teacher Melissa Jenkins
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VTDigger. Allen Prue Gets 50 Years to Life for Killing Melissa Jenkins
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ABC7 News. Vermont Teacher Murder Details
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WCVB. Vermont Man Guilty of Luring, Killing Teacher
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MyNBC5. Medical Examiner Describes Melissa Jenkins Injuries
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Burlington Free Press. Medical Examiner Testifies at Prue Trial
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Burlington Free Press. Patricia Prue Sentenced to Life Without Parole
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ABC News. Husband’s Defense in Vermont Teacher Murder: Wife Did It
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Findlaw. State of Vermont v. Allen Prue, No. 2015-002
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Burlington Free Press. Supreme Court Upholds Allen Prue’s Murder Conviction
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WCAX. Woman Convicted in Vermont Teacher Killing Wants New Trial
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St. Johnsbury Academy. Hilltopper Autumn 2014