Death sentence upheld for Mafia wannabe

The death sentence of a killer who wanted to be a Mafia hit man has been upheld for two 2002 murders he committed in Richland County by the S.C. Supreme Court.

The death sentence of Quincy Jovan Allen, 30, was "proper" and supported by ample aggravating circumstances that made him eligible for the death penalty, the Supreme Court ruled Monday in a unanimous decision.

The court’s seven-page decision contained the details of Allen’s grisly death odyssey -- in which he also killed two men in North Carolina -- over two months in 2002.

That year, Allen shot and killed Dale Hale near I-77 in Columbia with a shotgun. He then doused her body with gasoline and set it on fire.

A month after that killing, also using a shotgun, Alllen shot and killed a man, Jedediah Harr, who was a bystander in an argument Allen had with others.

"Allen gave statements to police outlining the details of his crimes," the Supreme Court noted.

"He told police he began killing people because an inmate in federal prison, where Allen spent time for stealing a vehicle, had told him he could get him a job as a Mafia hit man."

Before starting his death spree, Allen used a homeless man, James White, 51, who was sitting on a bench in Finlay Park in downtown Columbia, for target practice.

Allen shot him twice to learn how to use his shotgun, the high court noted.

Allen has also pleaded guilty and been sentenced to death for killing the two North Carolina men in 2002.

Circuit Court Judge G. Gordon Cooper sentenced Allen to death in 2005. Fifth Circuit Solicitor Barney Giese prosecuted the case.

Allen is now on Death Row in the S.C. Department of Corrections.

This story was originally published November 16, 2009 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Death sentence upheld for Mafia wannabe."