Stevie Allman: Murder, Cover-Up, and Identity Theft

The Stevie Allman murder was carried out on June 30, 1997, by her younger sister, Sarah Mitchell, who bludgeoned the 52-year-old East Oakland woman to death, dismembered her body, hid the remains in the kitchen freezer, and then set fire to the house to make the killing look like a drug-dealer firebombing. Mitchell spent the next two weeks posing as her dead sister, collecting sympathy donations and draining her accounts, before the scheme collapsed and she was arrested. A jury convicted her of first-degree murder in November 2000, and she is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.¹

Who Stevie Allman Was

Allman grew up with several siblings in the family home on the 2100 block of 50th Avenue in East Oakland. She was five years older than Sarah Mitchell and had helped raise her; relatives described the two as close enough to be mistaken for twins, and called Stevie the “rock of the family.”²

After their mother, Lucille Allman, died in 1994, Stevie bought out her siblings’ shares of the house and became its sole owner. A retired hydraulics company employee, she lived quietly and had spent years caring for her mother.³ Publicly she was known for one thing: she had been recording drug transactions from behind her living room curtains and turning the tapes over to Oakland police. Her house had been firebombed more than once, and the attacks were believed to be retaliation by dealers.⁴

The Killing and the Staged Fire

On June 30, 1997, Mitchell beat Allman to death in her bedroom. Blood evidence later confirmed Allman had been struck repeatedly in the head there, before her body was dismembered in the bathroom and the remains placed in the kitchen freezer.²

A small fire had already damaged the home on June 19. On July 1, Mitchell set a much larger one that gutted the house, arranging the scene to look like drug dealers had firebombed Allman in retaliation for her activism.⁵ She escaped with first- and second-degree burns across roughly 15 percent of her body. Investigators later described the injuries as “splash burns” on her arms and legs, a pattern consistent with someone pouring an accelerant and being caught in the ignition.⁶

Impersonating Her Sister

From her hospital bed, Mitchell told reporters and police she was Stevie Allman. She said drug dealers had firebombed her home because of the videos she had been giving to police. The story drew immediate public sympathy. Governor Pete Wilson offered a $50,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the attackers.⁷ More than 100 cards and letters arrived, along with 92 checks totaling $4,700 sent to the Alta Bates Foundation for the woman everyone believed was Allman. The Oakland Police Officers Association planned to give $500 to replace two pets killed in the fire.⁵

Mitchell used the identity to reach her sister’s money. She emptied Allman’s bank accounts, tried to claim insurance she could not access in her own name, and pocketed at least $3,600 in sympathy checks.² Prosecutors put the total theft at $17,000, combining public donations with money obtained by forging Allman’s name on financial documents.⁸ The impersonation was not improvised. Police found that Mitchell had been cashing checks in her sister’s name for at least two years, and had forged Allman’s signature to cash a $5,609 inheritance check after their mother’s death in 1994.³

How the Impersonation Fell Apart

A third sister living near Santa Cruz saw the news coverage and did not recognize the woman on television. The real Stevie was withdrawn and stayed out of neighborhood politics, not a public crusader. She contacted other relatives, confirmed her suspicions, and on July 7, 1997, filed a missing person report with Oakland police describing Allman as reclusive and uninvolved — the opposite of the person Mitchell was portraying.³

Physical evidence at the fire scene also failed to match the firebombing story. Broken glass lay outside the house rather than inside, which was inconsistent with Molotov cocktails thrown through the windows. When police pressed her, Mitchell produced identification for both women. Fingerprints confirmed the woman in custody was Sarah Mitchell.²

On July 15, 1997, officers executed a search warrant at the burned-out bungalow and found Allman’s decomposed remains in the kitchen freezer.⁵ Mitchell was arrested at Oakland police headquarters the same day on suspicion of murder, forgery, and giving a false name to police.⁷

Why Mitchell Killed Her Sister

Prosecutors argued the motive was money. Mitchell had struggled financially for years, moved through failed relationships, and relied on her sister and mother for housing. When Lucille Allman died, Stevie became sole owner of the family home, worth about $60,000, and continued to receive monthly annuity checks from a former employer.³ Stevie had also been considering leaving Oakland, which threatened Mitchell’s living situation.² By killing her and stepping into her identity, Mitchell stood to take the house, the annuity, insurance proceeds from the fire, and the cash in Allman’s accounts. Another sister, Lee Kitchens of Oregon, told reporters she believed Mitchell also needed money to buy drugs.

Trial and Sentence

Mitchell was charged with murder in Alameda County Municipal Court on July 23, 1997, and denied bail.⁹ Alameda County Superior Court Judge Alfred Delucchi presided, with Deputy District Attorney Terry Wiley prosecuting. On November 21, 2000, a jury found Mitchell guilty of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of financial gain.¹

Prosecutors sought the death penalty. During the December 2000 penalty phase, family members asked the jury to spare her. Her 78-year-old aunt, Milisse Wells, told the jury, “I know you found her guilty, but I don’t want her to die. I lost one niece already. I don’t want to lose another.” Leotta Belleville, 60, the oldest sister and the one whose missing person report had helped break the case, said, “I don’t want to bury another sister. I know that there’s good things in her.”¹

The jury rejected the death penalty and recommended life without parole. Judge Delucchi imposed that sentence and barred Mitchell from ever profiting from the crime.¹⁰

The Appeal

On July 25, 2002, a California state appellate court upheld Mitchell’s conviction and her sentence of life without parole, leaving intact both the first-degree murder verdict and the financial-gain special circumstance.⁸

1
SFGate. Relatives Beg Jury to Spare Sister’s Life
2
Oxygen. Sarah Mitchell Killed Sister to Steal Her Identity
3
SFGate. Suspect in Firebomb Murder Called
4
The Washington Post. The End of a Crusader
5
Los Angeles Times. Sister Charged With Murder and Identity Switch
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UPI. Firebombing Case Turns to Murder
7
SFGate. Bizarre Twist in Oakland Firebomb Case
8
SFGate. Conviction Upheld in Dismemberment Case
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Los Angeles Times. Murder Charge Filed Against Sister
10
San Mateo Daily Journal. Life Without Parole for Woman Who Killed Sister