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Wayfair, every style, every home. Detectives quickly noted that this name, Alan Edward Dean, was in the Melissa Lee case file. Remember that? Starting in the second half of May 1993, Snohomish County Sheriff's Detective Rinta and Everett PD Detective Anderson divided up Melissa's address book and started calling the phone numbers written inside to try to track down everybody that she knew. Detective Rinta called a phone number listed for just a Michael. The man who answered the phone said there wasn't a Michael there. However, Detective Rinta asked if he could come by for a chat in person as part of an ongoing investigation. The man on the phone was agreeable. So on May 19, Detective Rinta went to the residence of this man at 18 Madison street, number 3W in Everett. The man identified himself as Allen E. Dean. Detective Rinta showed Dean a photo of Melissa Lee and he said, oh yeah, I remember her. He said he met Melissa through a chat line and dated her once or twice in March of 1993. He did not know she was dead, he said, until the detective told him, I have to explain this chat line thing. Detectives found the words Nightline written in Melissa's address book with a phone number. Apparently it was some kind of group telephone chat line where you could talk to people you didn't know. Dean said he met Melissa through this chat line and that he used the name Mike when he was on the chat line. That's why she had written down Michael in her address book with his phone number. Dean told Detective Rinta that sometime in March 1993 he picked up Melissa and and Melissa's little sister Kelly at their residence on Filbert Road. They went to the Alderwood Mall and then back to his apartment. They also stopped in at Melissa's friend Gina's house before he dropped Melissa and her sister at home. This should be ringing a bell. It certainly was for detectives because a cross check of Melissa's day planner revealed the following. On Sunday, March 14, the entry in Melissa's handwriting read met Allen on the Nightline over the phone. Melissa had written in her day planner on the next day, March 15, that quote, Allan picked me and Kelly up at 4:15pm and we went out to eat, then to Fantasia, then went home. Melissa's planner had included a third entry for Allen. One day later on March 16, she wrote, quote, went out with Allan again, this time with Krista, and then Krista stayed the night. Allan was Allen Edward Dean. He was 35 years old at the time that he was hanging out with 15 year old Melissa and her friends. He knew where she lived because he'd picked her up and dropped her off at her house on at least two occasions. The address where Detective Rinta interviewed him in 1993 was 3.6 miles from where Melissa's body was discovered and a pretty straight shot westbound on Madison and then south on Mokateo Boulevard. That entry on March 16th was the last mention Melissa made of Allen in her day planner slash diary. Dean had told Detective Rinta that he couldn't remember if he went out with Melissa more than once. He denied having sex with her when the detective asked. Seeking to get more background information on Allen Dean, Detective Rinta had learned that he was a mechanic for Boeing and worked at the Everett plant. But he said he'd been on disability since December 12, 1992 because of a bad back. He said at the time he was driving a blue Thunderbird and a records check showed he was the registered owner of a 1984 light blue Ford Thunderbird 2 door. Back in 1993, Detective Rinta had followed up with security at Boeing about Allen Dean and confirmed that he was indeed on a medical leave of absence. His assignment was day shift assembler of decorative interior panels on airplanes. Detective Rinta's report noted that Dean had access to many types of chemicals in his line of work. The report doesn't say this, but I imagine Dean was pretty interesting to the detectives. After all, he was an adult male who was basically soliciting and spending time with literal children. He Was intriguing enough that detective Rinta and detective Anderson followed up with Dean on May 26, 1993. They interviewed him at his apartment, where they noted that he was recovering from back surgery he'd had on May 8th. They noted in their report that he had staples in his back and was not very ambulatory. In this interview, when detective Rinta asked Dean for his whereabouts on April 13th to 14th, Dean said something like, I have no idea. Probably just sitting here at home. And that was it. There was apparently no additional investigation into Alan Dean. I think the detectives discounted him because he wasn't part of all the rumors about gang members who had killed Melissa. He said she was too young for him. He was a gainfully employed adult who did not raise the investigator's suspicions. Described instead as cooperative and friendly. And with his significant back injury, the they simply discounted him as a viable suspect. His name did not come up again until CC Moore put it in her report in 2019. Now, in 2019, the Washington investigators wanted to confirm an address and vehicle registration they had for Dean and generally scout things out. So they assigned a deputy Merrill to assist the Snohomish county sheriff's office major crimes unit by gathering information. He was dispatched to the home address they had listed for Allen dean, which was 16711 Sixth Avenue Southeast in Bothell, Washington. The deputy pulled into the driveway and got out of his car. A man came out of the house who matched the photo he had pulled up of Alan Dean. The man confirmed his name was Allen, and the deputy said he was there to inform him he had a warrant out of federal way for driving with a suspended license, which was true. The deputy told Dean that he needed to take care of the warrant. He then asked him if the car in the driver was his, and Dean said yes, but he only used it to go to the store. After all, he had a suspended license. A quote from deputy Merrill's report. Allen then started speaking about the constitution and informing me that all police were felons Based on the constitution. The investigators took the next few months to pull together everything they could find on Dean, including the references in the case file from Melissa's address book and information on his prior criminal record, which I will get into. In July of 2019, they were ready to try to obtain a DNA sample from him for comparison to the DNA from the semen stain on Melissa's blue underwear. Because he was observed to be reclusive, they decided to come up with a ruse. This is one I haven't heard of before. They had three female Snohomish county regional drug task Force detectives dressed in plain clothes, including T shirts with a chewing gum company name on the front, and go around pretending to conduct a study of a new chewing gum product, asking the public to assess the various flavors that were offered to them. They knew that Allen Dean was living at 16711 6th Avenue, so they walked up to the door and knocked. A woman opened the door whom they determined was named Carolyn O. The owner of the home. She was renting a room to Allen Dean. The officers offered her the gum taste test and said she could select a gift card for participating, and she eagerly agreed. Once she was done, she said to the undercover officers that her renter was at home and he might like to try the different flavored gums as well. She turned around and yelled, alan. She didn't get a response, and she commented that he was always on the computer. Then she said he was actually in the shower. So she told them to come back in 20 minutes. The detectives returned to the residence, and they found Dean standing on the front porch smoking a cigarette. He agreed to sample the different gum flavors and provide his opinion. He talked with the officers for 10 minutes about the flavors, the testing process, and so on. They gave him a Dixie cup for him to spit the gum samples into one by one. But at the end of the survey, when they tried to get him to place the Dixie cup in a paper bag for them to throw out, quote, dean refused to give the chewed gum back to the undercover detectives. Detective Michelle Poff noted in her report that he said, you're not here to collect my DNA, right? Who? Us. They were going to have to get his DNA a different way. Snohomish county investigators started surveilling Dean at his home on July 25, 2019. Their assignment was to monitor his activities and try to obtain a surreptitious DNA sample. Over the next several months, they surveilled Dean and noted that while he was a smoker, he wouldn't throw out his cigarette butts. He would retain them by wadding them up in his hands and not visibly discarding them anywhere. He also didn't leave his house much and rarely ventured out, proving to be a challenge for the sheriff's office investigators hoping to score abandoned DNA. In the spring of 2020, they finally got a break. On April 21, Snohomish County Regional drug and gang Task Force detective Jeff Earhart was surveilling Dean's residence via live feed from a pole camera mounted across from his house. As an aside, this has to be a very boring assignment 90% of the time, but anyway, Dean emerged from his house and Detective Earhart watched him walk to the mailbox while smoking a cigarette. Before going back in the house, Dean dropped the cigarette butt on 6th Avenue Southeast and crushed it out with his right foot. Within 10 minutes, a detective scooped up the butt and booked it into evidence. It was submitted to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab and a report issued by forensic scientist Greg Frank said the major male DNA profile from the stain on the back of Melissa's shorts matched the single source male DNA profile from the cigarette butt. Gotcha.
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In January of 2020, Brad Wolwotny of the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit had been assigned by sergeant Scott Fenter to be the lead detective in the Melissa Lee Cold case homicide after Parabon identified Allen Dean as a potential suspect. While Rotney decided to review Melissa Lee's address book, when he opened the evidence envelope, he discovered the package also contained the day planner. And that's when he discovered all the stuff in Melissa's day planner about Dean that I already discussed. He noted that she never missed a day of writing in her planner. His report says, quote, March 16, 1993 was the last entry that Melissa made when in the above mentioned document referencing Allen, who I believe to be Allen Edward Dean. I believe March 16, 1993 was the last voluntary contact she had with Allen Dean until her abduction slash death in April of 1993. There were no entries referencing Allen Dean in April 1993. End quote. Detective Wolvotny started conducting interviews of people close to Melissa to see if he could connect Dean to her in any more concrete way. He started by interviewing her friend Krista. S. As Melissa's day planner had indicated that Krista and she had both gone out with Alan on March 16, 1993, Christa confirmed that she and Melissa were both involved in a chat line where they would call the number and listen to recordings and press a button if they wanted to connect with live men. They spent a lot of time at night doing this. I'm sure you're all thinking what I'm thinking. This sounds like a very bad idea for teenage girls. Alan Dean, AKA Mike, was catfishing girls via chat lines way back in 1993. Krista said she did indeed recall one particular guy that they met on the chat line about a month or two prior to Melissa's death that they actually went on to meet up with in person. She said she remembered getting into a light blue Ford Thunderbird with Melissa. She couldn't remember the guy's name, but said he was a white male of average build who looked to be in his 20s with lighter color hair and and acid washed jeans. She couldn't remember at all where they went or what they did. Detective Walvotny believed that this was the outing on March 16 that Melissa wrote about in her planner. And he noted that according to Detective rinta's report from 1993, Allen Dean owned a light blue Ford Thunderbird. Detective Walvotny interviewed Kelly, Melissa's sister, about the entry about Kelly and Melissa going out with Allen. She said she remembered that day, it was sometime before her birthday, April 2, which is also mine, shout out to Kelly and said the three of them went out to eat somewhere and then went to Fantasia. She described Allen as being older, a white male in his 20s. While they were at Fantasia, Allen gave Kelly money to play games and Allen and Melissa hung out while Kelly was playing. She couldn't remember anything about the car that he was driving. Kelly was surprised to hear about Alan Dean being a suspect. She said her family always assumed TJ Was behind Melissa's murder. Remember that they already had a match between the DNA on the cigarette butt dropped by Allen Dean and the blood stain on the back of melissa's shorts. On June 2, 2020, Detective Walbotny submitted the extract obtained from the semen stain located in the crotch of Melissa's blue underwear to the Washington State Patrol crime lab. And he asked forensic scientist Mariah Lowe to compare the DNA profile from the semen stain extract to the DNA profile obtained from Dean's cigarette butt. On July 1, he got the results back. The partial YSTR profile obtained from the semen stain on the crotch of the underwear matched the YSTR profile from the cigarette butt discarded by Alan Dean. This meant that neither Dean nor any of his paternal male relatives could be excluded as the donor of the male DNA in the underwear sample. And this was crucial. Remember that in his 1993 interview, Allen Dean had denied having sex with Melissa Lee. That denial would seal his fate. It was time to arrest Alan Dean. He had an outstanding warrant out of federal way for a driving offense, so the investigators had the perfect excuse to haul him in. The question was where to initiate the arrest. The investigators had no way of knowing what weapons or other dangerous items Dean had in his room, but they knew he had used ether on Melissa's, and he had a record of violent sexual crimes, which I'll get into. So they were taking no chances. So they positioned himself outside his house on July 28, 2020, and waited for him to make his daily trek to the mailbox. As he walked out, he was arrested by Deputy Howerton without incident after being told he was being arrested for driving without a license. Deputy Howerton's report says that he and the defendant conversed during the arrest. The defendant disputed whether or not he had a warrant and told Deputy Howerton that he was interfering with interstate commerce. Alan Dean was brought into the interview room at the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes unit. As Detective Walbotney stood by, Detective Conley read Dean his Miranda rights. When Detective Conley asked Dean if he understood his rights, he said he didn't. She asked if there was a language issue, and he said, quote, I decline any and all offers of contract, and I don't concede to any presumptions. I comprehend you were just trying to do your job, but I cannot make any legal determination on any questions you are asking me. Well, the Detectives smartly interpreted that to mean that Dean was invoking his Miranda rights and refusing to speak with them. Detective Walvotny informed Dean that he was actually under arrest for a 1993 murder and kidnapping. They left the room, but before they did, they told Dean the room was audio and video recorded. They also told him they would be serving a search warrant to collect his DNA. After they closed the door, Dean was alone in the interview room when he made two statements. After 12 seconds of silence, he said, I knew that's what this was about. He then looked to the ceiling and said, I'm sorry. Upon booking, Dean refused to respond to the name of Alan Dean. Nonetheless, as promised, a search warrant for a DNA reference sample from Dean was served on him that same day on July 28, 2020. It took five months to get results, which is a little shocking, but the lab report, dated December 17, 2020, indicated that the estimated probability of selecting an unrelated individual at random from the US population with a matching profile was 1 in 7.2 quadrillion. According to court documents, subsequent testing of the stain from the crotch of the underwear located a single spermatozoon, and the resultant YSTR profile matched the defendant and his patrimonial line. Subsequent testing of the oral and anal swabs, which were unfortunately packaged together after the initial autopsy and therefore were indistinguishable as to which came from which body part yielded a complete male YSTR profile at 23 markers that matched to Dean and his patrimonial line. A press conference was held on July 29 by the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office announcing the arrest of Allen Dean for the kidnapping and murder of Melissa Lee 27 years earlier. Sheriff Adam Fortney said, quote, I know it's many years later than we would have hoped, but I'm glad that we're one step closer to bringing justice for your daughter and your family. I this is truly why we do what we do, end quote. He asked anyone who Knew Dean in 1993 or maybe encountered him on the chat line or knew anything about his accessing ether to please contact the sheriff's office. Cece Moore participated in the press conference remotely. She explained the genealogy in general terms to the assembled crowd. Van Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Adam Cornell told the assembled media and family that Dean would be charged with first degree murder, and his office was asking for a $2 million bail for the defendant. Quote, I'd like to say that a successful prosecution will be the last chapter, but we know that's not the case because no cop, no prosecutor and no court can bring Melissa back to life, cornell said. But we can do everything in our power to bring her a measure of justice. End quote A radio reporter asked now sergeant Brad Wolvotny if he had a message for any criminals who thought they had gotten away with it. I don't play games, walvotny said. We work with the facts, we work with the evidence, and the evidence will lead us where we need to go. One reporter asked about whether Dean's name was in the case file. I'm certain that no one really wanted to answer that question because looking back, it seemed the 1993 investigators had let the Dean lead slip through their fingers. All Detective Wolvotny would say at the press conference was that Dean's name came up early in the investigation and deputies spoke to him, but they encountered a roadblock and were unable to tie him to the slaying. Sharon Lee flew back to Snohomish county for the press conference. She stood near photos of her daughter mounted on easels. Asked to speak, she was clearly anxious. She said simply, I'm just happy I got to live long enough to see this happen. I hope he rots in hell. Investigators showed Kelly a driver's license photo of Dean from back in 1993, and she identified him as the man who picked her and her sister up in his blue Ford Thunderbird all the way back in March of 93. On July 29, Dean had his first court appearance. He was not cooperative. He paced around, refused to be represented by a public defender, asked to be released and generally spewed nonsense, according to reporters who were in the courtroom. He said of his case being assigned to a public defender, quote, this is forced. This is under duress. I decline any and all offers to contract and I don't concede any proceedings that are adverse to my best interest, end quote, he told the judge, quote, a trust cannot fail for want of a trustee. Any profit from a trust made by a trustee is the profit of a beneficiary. The judge said, I have no idea what you're talking about, and found probable cause existed to hold Dean on $2 million bail pending the filing of formal charges, which took place the next day. The criminal complaint was filed on July 30, 2020, in Snohomish County District Court. It charged Allen Dean with first degree murder, felony murder, alleging that the defendant killed Melissa while committing or attempting to commit rape and or kidnapping. It also charged him with first degree kidnapping, alleging that he intentionally abducted Melissa for with the intent to facilitate a felony. The charging documents revealed that in the course of executing a search warrant at the 6th Avenue Southeast home where Allen Dean was renting a room, detectives had found a can of starter fluid in the garage containing the same substances ethyl ether and heptane that were found in Melissa's system. They also found photos of Dean standing next to a pale blue four Thunderbird, but the icing on the cake was a so called kill kit. The CSIs collected in Dean's room. A box they found contained a can of brake cleaner containing ether, a lethal looking roofing hammer, a large folding knife, black gloves, rope, zip ties, black garbage bags, a plastic ball and a blue knit cap with the eye holes cut out. Are you serious? Like if you went to the serial killer store and asked for a complete kill kit, this is what they would sell you. In a court hearing on August 17, Dean continued to be uncooperative, sitting with his arms crossed and acting surly. When the judge asked him his name, he said, I can't make any determinations on any of the questions you're asking me. He refused to allow his assigned public defender, John Scott, to represent him, saying, Mr. Scott does not represent me. He's an intervener. He has no representation at all. I've told him to leave me alone and that's harassment and stalking and enticement to slavery. He should be arrested for the felonies he's committed against me. John Scott confirmed for the judge that Dean had indeed said those things to him. Dean continued to demand that he be released from jail and made whole with complete restitution. Judge Paul Thompson said, I am respectfully declining your request. By this point, Dean had already sent three handwritten letters to various judges saying, I, Edward Allen Dean, cannot make any legal determinations on any of the claims you're making. The first letter continued, I am not a US Citizen, nor am I resident of any federal judicial district or any central district of the United States or the State of Washington. I decline any and all offers to contract and do not concede to any presumption. I am not in agreement with any proceedings that would be adverse to my best interest. Another letter said, I do hereby require to be set free immediately with complete restitution and recoupment, settlement and closure, and to be made whole in the nature of Tresevant versus the city of Tampa, $65,000 an hour for deprivation of liberty and constitutional rights. Wow, that's even more than I make doing this podcast. The letter went on to misquote a bunch of legal maxims about equity. You get the point. According to the Daily Herald, the language used by Dean in these letters mirrored that used by self proclaimed sovereign citizens, described as a, quote, fringe movement of anti government protesters who assert that state and federal law does not apply to them and refuse to recognize the authority of government entities over them, end quote. Basically, this fringe group of sort of constitutionalists refuses to comply with the laws governing our society. And when the authorities try to enforce that compliance, they basically say, you can't make me. It causes chaos and confusion and impedes the legal processes, which no doubt is the goal of these sovereign citizens. Dean was all in on this. All in all, during the pre trial period, he wrote over 1000 pages of letters espousing his sovereign citizen theory to Donald Trump, the IRS commissioner and the Secretary of Transportation, among others. In addition to his ramblings, a psychiatric history of Dean revealed that he had been treated in King county in 2007 and 2009 for diagnosed schizophrenia. At this point, the judge told the prosecutors that he intended to order a competency evaluation for Dean. Prosecutor Laura Twitchell pushed back, saying this had been seen by law enforcement and prosecutors before, where defendants act as though their fringe ideology renders them impervious to criminal charges. She told the judge that, quote, what the defendant is saying is gibberish from our perspective. Our position is, even though we don't agree with it, it's a belief system, not the same thing as him not having a capacity to understand it, end quote. The issue of whether Dean understood what was going on was important because that would determine his competency. Judge Thompson said he had doubts about Dean's ability to understand the proceedings and assist in his own defense. So he was going to get a professional opinion prior to proceeding. An order for a competency evaluation was issued, but Dean refused to cooperate with the doctor attempting to assess him. So on September 2, 2020, a 15 day order for competency evaluation was signed upon the motion of the court, who has, quote, reason to doubt the defendant's competency based on a good faith belief that as a result of mental disease or defect, he may lack the capacity to understand the proceedings against him or assist in his own defense, end quote. The order meant that Dean was to be sent to Western State hospital for a 15 day involuntary hold in order to be evaluated by a qualified expert appointed by the Department of Social and Health Services, the agency that ran Western State. While he awaited his transfer to the hospital, Dean went on something of a hunger strike, motivated apparently by paranoid ideations that the jail food was poisoned. He failed to eat for five days and ended up having to be hospitalized for acute malnutrition. On October 8, Dean was civilly committed to Western state Hospital for the initial evaluation period of two weeks. In his intake interview on October 8, he made some outrageous and concerning statements. He said the hospital was poisoning his food because of a government plot. According to the intake report, quote, he has grandiose delusions as well, thinks he has millions of dollars at one point, then suggests he is without any money and the government and legal system somehow stole everything, including his clothing. End quote. Dean refused to allow his defense lawyer to participate in his evaluation sessions accusing him of identity theft. According to the herald, quote, evaluators found him to be delusional, paranoid and antisocial with a potential diagnosis of schizophrenia. On October 16, 2020, a psychologist evaluating Dean recommended a finding of incompetency. On October 20, the court found that as a result of mental disease or defect, 20 Dean was unable to understand the nature of the proceedings against him and assist in his own defense. An order for felony competency restoration treatment was issued dismissing the felony charges and directing a 90 day civil commitment to include inpatient treatment in the custody of the department of social and health services. Western state hospital records indicate that during this three month period, Dean refused to take his prescribed medication or participate in his treatment plan. Another competency hearing was held in January 2021, and Washington State Hospital doctors again opined that Dean was not competent. The judge again determined that as a result of mental disease or defect, the defendant was unable to understand the nature of the proceedings against him or to assist in his own defense. An order directing an additional 90 day civil commitment evaluation was issued. On January 19th.
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Dean.
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A separate order was issued mandating involuntary medication after a doctor treating Dean wrote in an evaluation form, quote, the defendant has been unwilling to actively participate in treatment to include voluntarily taking prescribed medications. A medically necessary component of psychiatric treatment for this individual would entail the use of antipsychotic medications. The prognosis for reduction of the defendant's mental systems without clinically induced medication is extremely poor. The prosecutors argued for forced medication, writing in a brief quote, the government has a heightened interest in providing resolution to family members who have been waiting for answers for almost three decades. End quote. Judge Janice Ellis authorized the medication order and Dean was administered the antipsychotic drugs Zyprexa and Haldol. He was forced to take the medications about which he said, the prosecutor wants me drugged up so I'll be unable to Defend myself. Doctor's notes say Dean had delusions and was isolative, demanding and hostile, among other things. At the end of the second 90 day hold on April 19, 2021, Superior Court Judge Richard Okrent heeded a report by Western State Hospital doctors that Dean was unlikely to regain competency in a reasonable amount of time even with continued treatment. According to court documents, the evaluators at the hospital said the defendant met diagnostic criteria for unspecified schizophrenia spectrum disorder, unspecified substance related disorder and unspecified personality disorder with antisocial and paranoid traits. He had been treated in the past for Wernicke's encephalopathy, a thiamine deficiency often associated with alcohol abuse that could have been exacerbating his mental illness. He also showed symptoms consistent with an unspecified neurocognitive disorder. Basically on a quotidian basis, he was physically unkempt, unhygienic, antisocial, ornery and isolationist. The judge dismissed the charges against Dean and committed him to Western State Mental Hospital indefinitely. The charges could be refiled in the event competency was restored sometime down the road. Prosecutor Craig Matheson said in a public statement. It's very frustrating to finally have the technology to find and arrest a suspect only to discover his mental health is what it is. Sharon Lee told Komo. He's got to stand trial and pay for what he did. Justice. He needs to be held accountable for what he's done. You can't hide behind the mental health process forever.
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At Amica Insurance, we know it's not just about where you're going, but who you go with. That's why we work even harder to protect what matters most. And as a mutual insurance company, we're built for our customers. And prioritize your needs. Amica empathy is our best policy. Visit amica.com and get a quote today.
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Time passed and on June 8, 2021, a doctor's notes say, quote, allen says he is being accused of murdering a girl in 1993. He says, I am innocent. He says the Victim was a 15 year old girl named Melissa. We met on the phone. You could dial a number and get connected with people. I visited her at her house. I was 36, she was 15. I thought she was too young for me and I left by November of 2021. Another doctor's notes reflect that Dean was, quote, completely off any psychotropic medications. No deterioration has been noted. His thought processes remain goal directed without any evidence of overt psychotic thinking, end quote. However, Dean still was not well. He suffered from extreme vertigo, had a blunted affect, was sarcastic, paranoid, hostile, and seemed depressed and angry about the state of his life. For example, in early December 2021, Dean said to various counselors at Western State, I'm 64 years old. I got nothing out there. I got nothing in here. I got no friends, no family. I got nobody. I'm going to die here. In early 2022, the doctors and psychiatrists at western state noted that Dean continued to suffer from the severe major depressive disorder spectrum disorders and physical and psychiatric cognitive impairment. The schizophrenia diagnosis seems to have gone away, but they also stated he was ready for a less restrictive alternative placement like an adult family home. They noted that he had lived on his own without any issues prior to his commitment. He was no longer on medications for his mental health conditions and he no longer needed a full service hospital. In late February of 2022, Detective Walvotny learned Dean was going to be released by western state hospital. It was unclear whether he would be moved to a group home or just released altogether. The prosecutors immediately refiled the homicide charges. On March 7, 2022, an arrest warrant for dean for murder in the first degree was authorized by snohomish county superior court. The next day, detective walvotny and snohomish County Sheriff Sgt. Marcus Dill picked up Dean at western state hospital and transported him to the snohomish county jail where he was booked anew. This from walvotny's report, quote, when dean was taken into custody at western state hospital this morning, I advised him of his constitutional rights. When asked if he understood his rights, Dean responded an emphatic no. Once again, the state and the defense submitted briefs on whether or not Dean was competent to stand trial, and oral arguments were held before superior court judge Anna alexander. Prosecutor Craig matheson argued for the state that if doctors felt dean could be released, he could stand trial. John scott, Dean's defense lawyer, again filed a motion to dismiss and argued that the release was not evidence that competency had been restored. Since Dean was still labeled gravely disabled, Dean sat in a wheelchair and picked his nails. After hearing oral arguments, judge alexander ruled, quote, this court holds that there exists no evidence to establish a a good faith basis to reasonably conclude that Mr. Dean's competency has been restored. As such, the state's refiling of the charge against this incompetent defendant was not authorized by law, and it is hereby dismissed without prejudice. Mr. Dean shall immediately be removed to the custody of the department of health services. In other words, there was not enough evidence of competency to refile the Charges and the prosecution should not have attempted to do so. Dean was sent back to Western state on another 180 day civil commitment. In a conversation with a social worker in early May, he said, I never touched that girl, so they can't have DNA evidence. I'm not guilty of anything. On May 5, a doctor wrote of Dean, patient does not need to be in a psychiatric hospital. It was noted that Dean understood his situation and that when he was released, he was going back to jail. His speech was logical and coherent with no disorganized patterns. On June 1, when asked by a counselor how he was doing, Dean said, I'm the same as always. I've got no future, nothing to look forward to. When the healthcare staff tried to interact with him, he made statements such as, I live in a cement box, man. Nobody cares about me. I don't care about your effing questions. He also said that on the outside, he lived on disability payments because, quote, I didn't want to work. A psychologist treating Dean wrote in a progress record dated June 29, 2022, quote, despite differing reports made by psychologists and evaluators of Mr. Dean over the last year and a half, there is currently insufficient evidence to diagnose Mr. Dean with a formal thought disorder or any other psychiatric disorder, end quote. It was noted that Dean's mental health had not declined, although he'd been off medications for quite some time, and Dean, quote, does not show any symptoms of psychosis or mental health disorder that interferes with his ability to make decisions or provide basic needs of health and welfare. There is no indication at present that Mr. Dean is gravely disabled, end quote. In late July 2022, the state attorney General's office again wrote to prosecutors Dean was going to be discharged from the hospital. So for the third time in August of 2022, prosecutors refiled first degree murder charges against Dean. A felony arrest warrant was issued for him, and on August 5th, Snohomish detective T. Leo, also assigned to the US Marshals Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, went to Western State Hospital to arrest Dean and transport him to the Snohomish County Jail and be booked once again. Even though Western State had released Dean, the judge still had to verify that he was competent to stand trial, understanding the charges and being able to assist in his defense. So another order for competency evaluation was signed by the judge. On August 8, 2022, an October report from Dr. Nathan Andrews of Western State said that when the doctor quizzed Dean as to whether he understood the nature of the legal proceedings being initiated against him, he said, they said murder. It's just an accusation. I don't want to talk about it. I don't care, dude. Fucking irritating shit. I'm not guilty. He went on to answer questions by saying that he didn't effing care about the trial, didn't effing care about his defense, didn't effing know whether defendants were required to testify and quote, they don't have any effing evidence. It's the same effing DNA shit. Dean was queried about the role of a jury and stated it was, quote, a bunch of people who hang around and listen and decide whatever they decide. The October report concluded, quote, Mr. Dean currently has the capacity to understand the nature of the legal proceedings against him and has the capacity to assist his attorney in his defense with a reasonable degree of rational understanding. A hearing was held to consider the findings of Dr. Andrews and whether Dean was competent. Apparently, one doctor expressed concerns at the hearing about competency. So on December 21, 2022, the Snohomish County Superior Court again ordered Dean to undergo forensic evaluation of his competency. This would take place over sessions at the jail where Dean was being held rather than at the hospital. All in all, Dean spent two years at Western State and an additional six months in jail while all the competency stuff was sorted out. He was finally found competent in a February 24, 2023 report by Angela Saley, PhD, who wrote, quote, Mr. Dean should be able to engage in sustained discussion with his attorney and provide relevant and organized response. He would be able to attend to comprehend and recall discussion with his attorney in court proceedings. Mr. Dean would be able to use information provided to him to make reasoned decisions pertaining to his case. Mr. Deane does present with a degree of hopelessness and irritability pertaining to his circumstances, though given the serious nature of his charge and potential consequences, this is not due to a mental disease or defect, but consistent with the circumstances. Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Miguel Duran ruled, quote, Mr. Dean demonstrates the capacity to understand the nature of the legal proceedings against him and has the capacity to assist in his own defense. Prosecutors obtained the agreement of Dean's defense attorneys that the case would proceed. It was finally going to trial. This is a paid message from GoFundMe. Meet Juan Naola. When a son was hospitalized for a viral infection, Juan started a GoFundMe to pay for medical expenses.
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On February 28th, Judge Duran arraigned Dean on the renewed first degree murder charge to which he pleaded not guilty. Pending the defendant posting $2 million bail, he was to be held in this Nahomish County Jail until trial. Dean refused to sign the detention order. Sharon and Kelly Lee were relieved, to say the least. They they spoke to Komo with Kelly, expressing the family's frustration over the past two plus excruciating years to hear he was crazy and then they would release him and rearrest him. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, kelly said. Sharon told KOMO he had 31 years of freedom that my daughter didn't get to have and so he deserves to rot. As trial approached, of course, Dean's attorneys tried all the usual tactics to exclude evidence against their client. They sought to suppress the cigarette butt that had been the source of DNA that matched to Melissa's shorts and swabs. As expected, those efforts were futile. They tried to undermine the igg, claiming that Dean had a privacy interest in DNA that a relative uploaded to GEDmatch, saying that this kind of fishing expedition cannot be allowed. The state countered, quote, defendant claims in his briefing that the use of genetic genealogy to identify him was a warrantless exploratory search and that Mr. Dean never consented to be a part of these databases. Mr. Dean never consented to this search. Well, that, however, is the point. Defendant was not part of that database. An individual distantly related to him was. Defendant did not explain how he acquired a privacy interest in the manner in which that distant relative allowed his DNA to be used, end quote. With no privacy interest, the state pointed out the defendant had no standing to challenge the genetic genealogy. The judge agreed the DNA would come in. The defense also tried to exclude the statements Dean had made in front of the Gumroos detectives about, you aren't here to get my DNA, are you? And in the interrogation room where he was recorded saying, I knew that's what this was about, and I'm sorry. Unfortunately for the defense, the judge found that Dean's statements were voluntary. In the case of the apology, he had been mirandized. He was alone and under no duress. He'd been warned it was being recorded, and it didn't appear any mental health conditions interfered with the voluntariness of these statements. They were therefore admissible. In preparation for trial, Dean's attorneys filed a notice that they intended to assert other suspect evidence. This other suspect was T.J. peters. The state opposed this, but the judge ruled the defense could introduce TJ as an other suspect under Washington law. I'm going to skip the legalese and just say. The judge ruled the defense had met the statutory bar to introducing another suspect. The prosecution was going to have to deal with the whole TJ threatening and putting a hit on Melissa thing. The defense really wanted to paint TJ as a villain. They had compiled little bits and pieces from all the interviews back in 1993 about TJ basically being a bad dude, including him pushing and threatening women and hurting his father in a fight. Furthermore, defense investigator Todd Reeves had reinterved a lot of the witnesses in preparation for trial and asked them about tj. He asked Alicia S. Do you think TJ killed her? And she said, yes. Todd said, why? And she said, I don't know, because all the rumors and stuff like that were going around that, like, you know, he threatened her and he choked her. I mean, there were just rumors that flew around. TJ Reeves asked Melissa Dee, who had dated TJ at the time of Melissa Lee's murder, whether TJ had ever choked her. And she said yes. He asked, what did he choke you with, his hands or an object? And she said, with his hands. Further, and this is directly from court documents in the case, Potential witnesses during their pretrial interviews stated that that TJ was a menace. He put the family cat in a microwave. He threw the cat into the fireplace. He molested his younger brother when they were children. He was aggressive and assaulted to his brothers as children. He abused his girlfriend. Melissa D. He had an inappropriate relationship with Melissa D's mother, in which he was probably a child victim. He was a pervert and a thief, and he was generally unstable and punched walls and threatened to kill people when he got mad. The prosecution argued to keep all of these bad acts about TJ out of the trial. They admitted that it sounded like he was an extremely unpleasant individual, but that's not what was before the jury. They argued that hearing about all these bad acts was irrelevant and would be prejudicial and that the defense was offering them as inadmissible character evidence that TJ killed Melissa Lee. After initially waffling, the court agreed with the state. TJ could be presented as an alternative suspect, but the bad acts would stay out. Nonetheless, the defense proceeded with its alternative suspect theory. The big problem for the defense was they couldn't find TJ. He had three warrants out for his arrest as of March of 2023. He failed to show up for his court dates on these warrants, and he was homeless and drug addicted. According to the public defender investigator Todd Reeves, no one could figure out where he was in order to subpoena him to testify at Dean's trial. So the defense filed a request to allow in TJ's statements from 1993 under the statements against interest exception to the hearsay rule. The defense really could not commit to whether TJ had killed Melissa himself or had someone else kill her. But they spent an awful lot of time trying to undercut TJ's alibi for the night that Melissa was murdered. Remember that several of his family members said he was home that night. One of these was his father, Ed Peters, who said he was home with his son until 1:30am when he, Ed, went to bed. However, when the defense interviewed Ed in preparation for trial, Ed, who had memory issues, could not recall making that statement back in 93. So the defense decided to challenge it. They basically wanted to introduce evidence from other members in the family that TJ was very intimidating and Ed was afraid of him. TJ's brother Brian told the defense attorneys about an incident in which TJ and Ed got in a physical fight and TJ injured Ed and Ed had to go to the hospital. When the defense interviewed TJ's mother, Deborah, she said, quote, he has a temper, a really bad temper, and he put his hands through walls when he got angry, end quote. Further, they interviewed TJ's brother Anthony, who said, quote, I believe Ed was very frightened of tj and rightfully so. TJ learned to box and TJ had a lot of friends that were very scary. Defense attorney Dan Snyder asked Anthony, did it seem like Ed would lie for TJ if he needed to or if he was forced to? Anthony answered, yes. Yes, of course. The implication was that Ed would have told police whatever TJ told him to say because he was intimidated. The defense claimed not to be seeking to admit this evidence to show a propensity for violence, but to show motive as to why TJ's family might lie for him. Remember we talked about the photos of the threatening messages written on the inside walls of the shed at T.J. peters house that were discovered in October 1994. The defense also wanted to introduce the photos of those messages. Their motion stated, quote, the fault in law enforcement's investigation in clearing TJ Peters too early without adequate investigation will be a focus in this trial. Their failure to investigate the veracity of TJ's alibi will be a focus in this trial. Additionally, these photos cast doubt on the credibility of each of the witnesses who frequented this shed and would have observed these writings and failed to report this to law enforcement. Many of these witnesses are also involved in the alibi of TJ Peters, including Steven Peters, Edward Peters, Deborah Peters, and Melissa Dee. So what they were saying was, we want to use these photos to show that everyone who said TJ was at home and could not have killed Melissa might be lying because none of them ever mentioned those messages in which Melissa was was overly threatened. It was a dumb argument. And in the end, the photos of the graffiti were excluded as hearsay. The graffiti photos were being offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted in the writings that TJ killed Melissa. The questioning of witnesses about TJ's alibi was permissible though, and the defense took that and ran with it. The trial began and prosecutor Craig Matheson used his opening remarks to set the scene. Melissa was home alone that night with the rest of her family out or away. Her friend was unable to sleep over. What could possibly go wrong? Matheson asked the jury. What went wrong is the stuff of every parent's nightmare. He talked about the extensive and lengthy police investigation and how the case eventually went cold. He told the jury, days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months, months turned to years, and years turned to decades. And still the individual who strangled Melissa Lee is out there. Unidentified photos of Melissa on the autopsy table were shown in court. They showed her backwards underwear, her pushed up sweatshirt and bra, the bruising and abrasions, the drag marks. Then Matheson told the jury how DNA on Melissa's clothing had linked to the defendant. And they found evidence that he had met Melissa on a phone chat line and taken her out at least twice. And how tox screening of Melissa discovered she'd been exposed to ethyl ether, an anesthetic. Detective Sergeant Mulvotny was a major witness for the prosecution. He. He was introduced to show the jury how meticulous the modern investigators were and how they had very carefully built their case against Dean. He told them about reconciling all the evidence in the case files, creating an 84 page timeline locating Dean's name in Melissa's diary and him being interviewed in 1993. He talked about the detectives going to the bridge and taking photos, about resubmitting evidence for DNA testing Dean's arrest and processing his home and finding photos of him with the blue T bird and in the parking lot of the very place he was living when Melissa was killed, just a few miles from the dump site. And the interaction with Dean and his comment when the detectives left the room, which seemed to equate to a confession. The state also called various scientists to testify about the rock solid DNA link between the Melissa Lee evidence and Allen Edward Dean. In her opener, public defender Heather Wolfenbarger told the jury her client was not the man who killed Melissa Lee. Instead, she relayed the defense theory that T.J. peters, who was 16 years old at the time, had orchestrated the murder, either committing the murder of Melissa himself or ordering a hit on her. TJ had broken up with Melissa just three days earlier and he had put out a hit on her using his gang affiliation. She said detectives were deterred from pursuing TJ as a suspect because they were wrongly convinced by his alibi. So they turned their attention elsewhere. TJ's alibi, Ms. Wolfenbarger told the jury to did not hold water. And she said the DNA evidence against her client was not cut and dried. She called the DNA analysis an evolving science and not perfect. Members of the jury. Alan Jean did not kill Melissa Lee. She said Sharon and Kelly both testified for the state about what Melissa was like and what was going on in her life. Both women recalled that Melissa was meticulous about her appearance and took very careful care of her clothing, Washing it, ironing it, folding it, hanging it as appropriate. She would not have worn clothes with any stains on them. This testimony was designed to undercut any anticipated testimony by the defense that Dean's DNA had gotten on Melissa in previous interactions. Sharon admitted to the jury that Melissa was a handful, always on the phone, smoking and dabbling in acid and pot. Kelly testified that Sharon did not have a motherly instinct back then, worked six days a week and the girls were left to their own devices. Both testified about Melissa's use of her day planner as a diary. Krista, Melissa's bestie, told the jury about her and Melissa using the chat line to meet guys. The chat line was for 18 and up. They lied about their ages to gain access. The prosecution tied Dean to the chat line by having detectives Rinta and Anderson testify about learning about the chat line from Melissa's day planner entries and questioning Allen Dean about his admitted dates with Melissa. But back in 1993, Christa also talked about going out in a light blue Thunderbird with an older rocker looking guy named Allen who was wearing acid wash jeans. The prosecution's case relied heavily on law enforcement and forensic scientist witnesses who testified about the crime scene, evidence collection and testing results. Extensive testimony was offered that the defendant's DNA profile from his buckle swab was compared to four DNA profiles generated from from various blood and semen deposits on Melissa's body and clothing collected at autopsy. The defendant's DNA profile matched each one. Dr. Kiesel also testified about finding ether in Melissa's system and said that when he opened Melissa's body at autopsy, he could smell it. He told the jury that ether had formerly been used as an anesthetic, although now it was primarily used as an automotive parts cleaner. Dr. Barry Logan was the director of of the Washington State Toxicology Laboratory at the time and a lifelong toxicology expert. He had participated in the initial testing of Melissa's blood at the behest of medical examiner Dr. Eric Kiesel. He testified that ether, 47 milligrams per liter of blood and trace amounts of heptane were present in Melissa's system. This meant, in his opinion, that near her time of death, Melissa was administered ether, which likely rendered her unconscious. Many detectives testified about the investigation, the evidence and the connection of Allen Dean to that evidence. Detective Rinta testified about his interviews of Dean back in 1993 and that the defendant had told the investigators he worked as a mechanic at Boeing, the suggestion being that he had access to industrial chemicals. The trial lasted a total of eight days. The state rested after a week and the defense surprisingly, did not call any of their own witnesses to rebut the DNA evidence. Instead, defense attorney Dan Snyder cross examined many of the forensic scientists about the age of the DNA and timing of the deposits. DNA was an evolving science and cannot tell a story, Snyder told the jury. He tried to sow doubt in the minds of the jury about when Dean's DNA got onto Melissa's clothing, the defendant admitted to hanging out with Melissa. Snyder reminded the jury his cross examination of Greg Frank, the forensic scientist who had conducted the majority of the testing in his case, focused on a study found by the defense that showed that DNA deposited by semen might last through six laundry wash cycles and possibly transfer to other pieces of clothing it was washed with. The indication was that the semen found on Melissa's underwear linked to the defendant might have been left there on another occasion. In fact, Snyder got Frank to admit Dean's DNA could have been deposited on Melissa weeks earlier. In its case in chief, the state introduced evidence supporting its other perpetrator theory. In the nick of time, their investigator had located T.J. and trial judge Millie. Judge. Yes, Judge. Judge signed an arrest warrant for TJ so he could be held in order to be available for trial. The prosecution wanted to head off any possible defense that they were concerned about TJ as an alternative suspect. So instead of waiting for the defense to introduce him as an alternative suspect, they introduced him in their case in Chief. When Detective Sergeant Walvotny tracked T.J. down, he started crying and clearly was still emotionally affected by Melissa's murder. The prosecution put TJ on the stand and asked him all about his relationship with Melissa, their breakup, the your marked bitch phone call and is having nothing to do with Melissa's murder. They were children, just 15 and 16 years old. Craig Matheson made sure detectives testified that they had never been able to build a solid case against TJ. When the defense got their turn, they questioned TJ about Melissa calling TJ incessantly on the night of April 13th, annoying him and his family. Deborah testifies she overheard her son T.J. tell Melissa on the phone, you're marked bitch. She said she asked TJ what that meant, and he responded, that's gang talk for your dead. And of course, the defense had asked Sharon all about getting threatening phone calls from unidentified males during the weeks leading up to Melissa's murder. The defense also called TJ's brother Brian, who stated that TJ had access to his father's van and to carburetor cleaner and starter fluid products containing ether, which his mother, a mechanic, stored in the garage. The defense questioned T.J. about his volatile relationship with Melissa and his ties to a gang called Organized Crime Syndicate. Because TJ was unable to remember a lot of what happened in 1993, some of his April 1993 statements were admitted in which he admitted telling people he had placed a tag or hit on Melissa. But he also said that it was a joke and he was just fooling around on the stand. TJ said he didn't recall any of that and said, I, I don't know why I'd say that. When asked if he was part of the organized crime syndicate gang, he said he'd never heard of it. Maybe a rap group or something? He asked. TJ denied ever abusing Melissa, denied that he had anything to do with Melissa's death and said he cared about her. And he said he was shocked to learn of it when the detective showed up at his door. He seemed to choke up a little bit when he said this. Let's talk about TJ's alibi, which the defense focused on heavily. Melissa D had testified that she wasn't sure if TJ had spent the night at her house on April 13th to 14th and admitted that it was theoretically possible that he left while she was asleep to go kill Melissa. But her father testified that TJ had been at his house until he and TJ left together to attend an AA meeting. After the meeting, the father dropped TJ off at the peters home around 9:30pm this supported the testimony of TJ's own family members. Their testimony was bolstered by their written statements from back in 93 admitted to to help them refresh their recollections. TJ's father, Ed, TJ's younger brother Steven and his mom all testified that after TJ came home after his AA meeting, he and his father were together until 1:30am at which time Ed went to bed. TJ was watching a movie on the couch when Steven got some water at 2. When Ed rose for work at 6am, TJ was still on the couch asleep. That was three people, not including TJ, whose detailed testimony put him at home on the night of April 13th to 14th, 1993. It was up to the jury to decide whether TJ could have slipped out, abducted and killed Melissa, driven her to the bridge in Everett and done all that before Sharon and Gary got home at two to their own home. Yet after his brother saw him on the couch at his own home at 2, the defense relied heavily on the testimony of its final witness, Anthony Gonzalez. TJ's half brother Anthony lived at Melissa D's home where she lived with her parents. Under questioning, Anthony told the jury that his brother TJ claimed to be in the organized crime syndicate gang and it told him that he put a hit on Melissa Lee and forgot to call it off. He also said that on the night of the 13th, TJ told Melissa she was marked. Anthony told the jury about being in the room for an earlier conversation between TJ and Melissa when TJ told her he'd forgotten to call off a hit on her. On the witness stand, Anthony confirmed that a hit means to quote, un alive somebody stuttering. He clarified that meant to murder somebody. Anthony said Melissa was scared upon hearing this, but TJ told him that the hit never came to fruition and he wasn't the one who killed her. After Anthony's testimony and cross by the prosecution, the defense rested their case. In his closing, Craig Matheson reviewed all the reasons that TJ had not been connected to the murder of Melissa Lee and Alan Dean. Had he reminded the jury of the DNA evidence and that Dean going on a couple of dates with Melissa a month before her murder could not begin to explain that the presence of his semen and blood on her clothing and her being in his car did not begin to explain his YSTR profile occurring in only 1 in 6,100 males being on her oral and or anal swabs. Plus, Dean's concerns with law enforcement gathering his DNA profile, his close proximity to where her body was dumped and his recorded video admission was surely enough for a guilty verdict. Matheson said of the TJ theory, do you think TJ Peters knew that if he went to the garage and got carburetor cleaner or starter fluid and used it as a subduing agent, that would work? You saw T.J. peters testify. You saw his demeanor. He can barely string three words together. Do you think he got an A in high school chemistry? Do you think he even went after? Again, showing the video of Dean's sort of confession, Matheson told the jury there was no doubt who killed Melissa. It was this man, he said, pointing to Dean. In his closing, the defense attorney Snyder harped on the TJ issue. He pointed out that since Melissa's calendar indicated she had no further contact with with Alan Dean after March of 93, there was no way that he would know that she was home alone that night. Conversely, her abusive ex boyfriend TJ knew she was home alone and even told her that she was marked bitch. He reminded the jury that Kelly had testified that Melissa told her TJ was abusive and she herself had seen the bruises, including on Melissa's neck. Snider also called attention to Anthony tying TJ to the gang he claimed not to remember. Snyder even suggested TJ had lied on the stand. Why would he possibly lie? Snyder asked. You know why, ladies and gentlemen, Snyder had introduced evidence that Dean had a serious back injury and was on leave from work at the time of the murder. Remember the third time the detectives talked to him in 93? He was recovering from back surgery that he had had just about three weeks after the murder. They made him show them the incision and staples. Snyder told the jury that because of that back injury, Dean would have been unable to abduct Melissa and and pick her up to throw her off the bridge. In her rebuttal, Deputy prosecutor Sarah Johnson revisited the DNA evidence and reminded the jury, DNA doesn't lie, but people do. The jury of seven women and five men got the case at about 2 in the afternoon and deliberated for two hours the next morning. All they needed was less than an hour to come up with a unanimous guilty verdict.
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When the jury announced their verdict, Kelly and Sharon were ecstatic. With Kelly pumping her fists in the air, Dean showed no reaction. He had been stone faced for the majority of the trial. Deputy prosecutor Craig Matheson hugged and shook hands with detectives and the family. Kelly expressed gratitude to the prosecutors and detectives, saying, quote, I want to thank you so much for not giving up on my sister because she can rest in peace. I thought my sister's case would never be solved. Sharon told Komo News, quote, the best moment of my life I could ever hear was guilty. It was the greatest thing I could ever hear in my life. It was like seeing the devil get his comeuppance. Dean's sentencing took place about a month later, on April 24, 2024. The sentencing range available for someone convicted of first degree murder with a zero previous convicted offender score was 240 to 320 months. The prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memoir. Melissa Lee should have been 46 years old today. She should have had an opportunity to have finished school, gotten married, have children, maybe even had a grandchild. None of these things will ever occur. The defendant, by virtue of his lust and willingness to kill, took Melissa Lee before she could even properly be called an adult. All that she may have done, all that she may have become, ended on April 13, 1993. So instead of engaging in the typical life that she should have been enjoying since 93, Melissa Lee has been in prison forever in a grave. During that same 31 years, the defendant was able to do whatever he wanted. He lived a life of freedom after he killed her. Longer than this court has authority to imprison him for. The state's recommendation is that this court impose the high end of the standard range for this awful murder. 320 months for the calculated taking of a young life hardly seems equitable. However, it is the sentence available to this court. Hopefully, what this court does gives Melissa's family some cold comfort in the courtroom. Craig Matheson delivered the same message. Instead of engaging in the typical life that she should have been enjoying since 1993, Melissa Lee has been imprisoned forever in a grave. Allen Dean also spoke. According to reporters in the courtroom, he leaned forward in his wheelchair and exploded in rage. He said, I'm innocent. Not guilty. No one ever came forward after 30 years. I didn't go near that girl. They planted that DNA. I'd been framed. I don't care what you people say. And he rambled about the state murdering his daughter. No one knew what he was talking about. Detective Sergeant Wotney told me that Dean's daughter died at a young age of cancer. And he blames the state for some reason. Kelly read her victim impact statement aloud. It said, melissa's murder has affected me in so many ways. Even after 31 years, I still have a hard time talking about Melissa. I shouldn't have to say that I had a sister, but she was murdered. I am still angry and heartbroken. My kids never got a chance to meet Melissa. Allen Dean made sure of that the night he decided to murder her. She was only 15. It has been devastating knowing that Allen Dean was free all those years while Melissa was in the ground. My sister has been gone longer than she lived. I only have years of memories with Melissa. But unfortunately, we are reduced to only saying, I wonder what she would be like today. There's just no way the evidence was planted. Not when they found evidence of rape. She. She addressed Dean directly. You strangled my sister. You tossed my sister off a bridge like a piece of garbage. I believed because of the heinous way Allen Dean kidnapped and murdered Melissa, he should get life without parole. Sharon's written victim impact statement said, my daughter's murder totally devastated me for over 31 years. Every day I cry because I miss her so much and love her so much. Melissa wasn't even 15 for two months before Allen Dean murdered her. I didn't even get the chance to finish raising her. She didn't get to adulthood. She didn't get to get married to give me grandchildren. I still can't believe she's gone forever. Every day kills me more and more knowing I will never see her again. The senseless murder of Melissa has caused me to have serious health issues. Melissa has spent over 31 years in the ground. Allen Dean has been free for 28 of those years. I pray the court to put Allen Dean away forever, she concluded. After all the statements were delivered, sentence was pronounced by Superior Court Judge Millie Judge for all those years you were free in the community and her family wept and prayed for justice. Today is that day, Judge, judge said. She then sentenced Allen Edward Dean to the max 320 months or 26 and 2/3 years in prison. After it was all over, Sharon told Komo, he'll die in prison. It's what he deserves. He was free for 28 of those 31 years. I think he deserves some of the suffering we've gone through. Kelly added, I'm glad it's over. Maybe we can try and start to heal, but it doesn't bring my sister back. My sister has been in the ground longer than she got to live so who is Alan Dean and what else did he do? It's hard to say exactly what we know about Alan Dean since a lot of this came from his own interviews while in the mental hospital in Washington state. It's difficult to know what's true and what's not. Dean was born in California on December 23, 1957 to Dale and Donna Dean. The family moved to Washington State when he was a child. This is all from a 2023 report on Dean. Dean reported that he believed his parents were deceased and he had no contact with them for several decades. He stated he had a sister with whom he had also no contact for several years. He had no children that were living. Dean described his childhood as pretty violent due to his parents. He claimed to have suffered a number of head injuries when younger. Dean said he left school the year prior to his high school graduation as his home life was not bearable. In another telling of the story, he claimed to have left home at age 15. He resided with various friends and acquaintances. He said his mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and took medication for that condition. Dean claimed that he had earned his GED and said he attended community college and took general classes and social stuff, whatever that means. He left college in order to work. Dean reported he was last employed about 20 years earlier at Boeing building airplanes. He worked for Boeing for 12 years but suffered a back injury and became involved in substance abuse. He'd been living on Social Security disability for the past 20 years, he said. Looking into Dean's employment history, they determined that he was known to make inappropriate comments to female employees. Detectives learned that Dean had been married. There's someone for everyone, I guess. In 1995, he married a 25 year old woman. I'm calling Sarah. He was 37. I wanted to know whether the investigators had contacted Sarah, Dean's ex wife. Detective Sergeant Wolvotny told me that when the arrest went down, he had detectives stationed on hand in Texas and Arizona to immediately talk to Dean's known relatives before Dean could get to them. One was Sarah and the other was Dean's dad, who was indeed alive. Sarah didn't know anything helpful. Their marriage was after Melissa's slaying. But it is interesting that Dean married a 25 year old when he was 37. Before arresting him, Detective Sergeant Wolvotny ran a criminal history check on Allen Dean and found between 1977 and 2007 he had been arrested for assault three, possession of marijuana, unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, assault or domestic violence of one of his girlfriends, refusal to cooperate with an officer, resisting arrest, failure to obey an officer, obstructing a law enforcement officer and contributing to the delinquency of a minority. I asked Detective Sergeant Wolvotny about these arrests and if he had details. He told me that most of these records were older and therefore missing the details we wanted. But even with all those arrests, Dean had only two misdemeanor convictions and no felony convictions, which explained why his DNA was not in the convicted offender database. Of course, the contributing to the delinquency of a minor charges were of particular interest to me and for good reason. These charges pertain to an incident on May 24, 1985, seven plus years before Dean killed Melissa. Then 28 year old Dean was living in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was identified as the suspect in a case of sexual conduct with a minor. The Victim was a 13 year old girl who was a runaway. The Scottsdale police report indicated that Dean purchased alcohol for the victim and provided her with marijuana. The victim told investigators that Dean took her after a 14 year old friend of hers back to his apartment where he kissed her. He told her to remove her clothing and she did. She said she didn't want any sexual contact with him and wasn't sure why she complied with taking her clothes off. But she felt really high and believed the marijuana was laced with something. She said Dean laid on top of her and massaged her breasts, which was all witnessed by her friend. He was also naked. The victim said she fell asleep and when she woke up she had abdominal pain. He said to her, I hope I didn't get you pregnant. When an Arizona investigator interviewed Dean about these allegations from the 13 year old, he told the investigator that he picked up both girls and took them back to his apartment to get them off the streets. He admitted buying beer and pop for them and said that both girls slept in his bed, but denied kissing or having any sexual contact with either of them. It's very sobering to hear the outcome of this case. Allen Dean was arrested on charges of sexual contact with a minor Allen, but was released pending issuance of a complaint. The investigator on the case consulted with the DA's office, which declined to file charges, feeling that a felony prosecution was not warranted. And Alan Dean fled Arizona shortly after that incident. When the investigator looking for him contacted Dean's mother, she said they would have to surprise her son rather than let him know he was being sought because he would skip out and he had. Detectives also uncovered another incident, although it didn't involve a minor. A woman who was in her 20s encountered Dean when he was in his early 30s. She said that he gave her alcohol on a date until she was highly intoxicated. She passed out at his apartment and woke up to discover that he had raped her and wouldn't let her leave the apartment for days. She did not report the incident until well after the fact. So I know you're all wondering whether Dean was faking the mental illness. Western State Hospital mental health providers agreed that initially he did present symptoms of psychosis, including delusional ideation. However, other providers noted his presentation was consistent with a personality disorder and beliefs consistent with the fringe sovereign citizenship ideology. While at Western State, his psychosis resolved to the point that he was taken off antipsychotic medications in September of 2021 with no recurrence of his symptoms. But long before that, it seems Dean was malingering. In July of 2020, Corrections Deputy E. Wold issued a supplemental report regarding Dean's observed behavior. When Wold escorted Dean to a court hearing, he basically said in his report that Dean's behavior changed for the hearing and he became rambling and incoherent. After the hearing concluded, Dean initiated a conversation with Deputy Wold, saying, I want to apologize for the way I acted in court. I'm just trying to protect myself. Deputy Wald described his speech as clear and coherent and and very different from his behavior during the court proceeding. Detective Sergeant Wolvotny told me that Dean was definitely malingering. He pointed out that Dean was fully functional in society and was able to articulate things like, I thought that's what this was about. He wanted to avoid prison, so he feigned mental illness to get special treatment as long as he could. He was crazy like a fox. I had more questions. Most importantly, how did Dean know Melissa was home alone that night? He had to know that even her little sister Kelly, whom he knew was not at home in order for him to stage such a brazen home invasion, complete with kicking in the door. But the phone number Dean was using at the time did not appear on the Lee household phone call list at any time. Granted, his landline number was written in Melissa's diary. She could have talked to him from a payphone or a friend's line. Also, remember that Melissa and Dean had connected via the night chat line. Melissa was home alone all night that night and was upset about TJ and was calling everyone she knew incessantly. Isn't it possible that she called into the chat line and got connected to Dean? She might have wanted to talk to someone she knew, and Dean was there. You can see how that conversation would go. I'm upset because my boyfriend broke up with me and he won't take my calls. Oh. Where are you? I'm at home. Isn't your mom or sister there to comfort you? No. I'm home alone. Well, that could be all it took. Dean did not live far at all. 11 miles. He could have been over there in 10 minutes. Police believe he probably watched Melissa through the windows for a moment to be sure she was home alone. Then he made his move. The broken door frame points to Dean having forcibly entered the home somehow. In the skirmish, he dropped his cigarettes and lighter, which were fingerprinted, but somehow did not come back to him. He drugged Melissa with ether that he brought along, put her in his car, and raped, killed, and dumped her. I wondered whether Dean was also faking the back injury. He did convince the detectives he had had surgery, but he was strong enough to kick in Melissa's door, but abduct her, rape her, and throw her over the bridge railing. And Dean admitted that he didn't like the Boeing job and didn't want to work. Sounds like a fake injury to me. I asked Detective Sergeant Wolvotny whether he believes Dean has more victims. He described the kill kit the searchers found in Dean's room as a go kit and Detective Walvotny said he's genuinely surprised Dean's DNA has not come back to more victims after being put into codis. I truly believe there are more victims out there, he told me. Unfortunately, the investigators were not permitted to do a forensic analysis of Dean's computer. The search warrant they had obtained related to evidence of the Melissa Lee murder and there was no evidence that a computer was involved since the murder happened back in 1993. But Dean's roommate had said he was always on that thing. It's very frustrating that they weren't able to download the contents and see what Dean was up to. This case is also frustrating because unlike in many of our other cases, Allen Dean was in the case file and was in there from very early on. He was talked to more than once. It's hard to see how the investigators at that time let him slip through their fingers. If they had run his record not just in Washington, but on a national level, they would have found the Arizona incident. And if the Arizona authorities had prosecuted Dean for that offense, he would have been a convicted felon. His DNA would have been in CODIS and Melissa Lee might even be alive. Detective Sergeant Wolvotny pointed out that although that was an unfortunate Ms. And Dean got away with his crime for way longer than he should have, at least the rapist and sexual predator is now where he belongs. Speaking of that, Allen Dean has appealed his conviction. He is seeking a new trial based on his contention that the judge wrongfully excluded the TJ bad acts testimony and the shed photos and also wrongfully permitted the inclusion of the DNA evidence and Dean's incriminating statements. His appeal is pending. Prosecutor Craig Matheson has retired but vowed to come out of retirement to re prosecute Dean if he's awarded a new trial. But no one thinks that's going to happen. A 12 member jury found him guilty. Even while his defense was accusing TJ of the crime, the evidence was overwhelming. Dean's appeal is a shot in the dark. The dark in his cold, dank cell. I have no doubt that he will stay there for the rest of his miserable life. Thank you so much to Detective Sergeant Brad Walvotni for talking to me extensively about this case. And if you are one of the bad guys, they are coming for you. Thanks for listening to this episode of dnaid. Before you leave, please let me tell you about some important things related to the show. If you'd like to support this podcast and in the process get access to early and ad free episodes as well as bonus content like crime scene photos you can sign up for a Patreon subscription for only $5 a month by heading over to patreon patreon.com dnaid of course you're welcome to contribute more than $5 a month. We rely on Patreon funds to pay for the original source materials I use to research each episode. If Patreon isn't your thing, you can also show your support with an AbJack Insider subscription through Apple Podcasts. It costs just $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year. Your Abjak Insider subscription will give you the same benefits for not only dnaid but for all of the shows on the ABJAC Network like Killer Communications and Campus Killings. Head over to Apple Podcasts and find the DNAID page or look for the Abjak Network to get started. If you're on social media, we'd love to interact with you there. DNAID is on every major social media platform. Search your favorite platforms for DNAID Podcasts to find us. We also have a YouTube channel and our website is DNAID podcast.com. you can find links to all of these anytime in our show Notes. If you need to reach the show, contact us by emailing dnaid podcastmail.com finally, if you want to pick up some fun DNA ID merch and represent the show, visit the store at www.customizedgirl.com DNA S DNAID podcast DNAID is researched, written and hosted by me, Jessica Betancourt. It's produced by me and Mike Morford of abjack Entertainment Music by Connor Betancourt.
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