If there was an award for scumbag of the century, I’m fairly sure that Anthony John Angel Allen would be a top contender.
Now known as Anthony John Allen, Anthony John Angel was born on June 11th, 1934 in Torbay, Devon. He married his first wife, Monica, in the 1950s. The couple stayed relatively close to Allen’s hometown, and had two sons.
In 1966, the man known as Tony Angel died. But not really.
He had been caught stealing money from wage packets at his job. His marriage was in tatters, and he didn’t feel like facing the charges against him. So, he drove to Beachy Head, apparently known for being Britain’s most notorious suicide spot, and decided to commit suicide by drowning.
And it worked. He had convinced his wife, their children, his mother, and the authorities that he’d committed suicide. But what he actually did was run away. He jumped in, then swam along the coast until he found the stash of clothes and supplies he’d hidden earlier.
After that, he broke into the locker room of a golf club, and stole money, credit cards, and a new identity.
Anthony John Angel changed his name to John Allen, and intended to start a new life. He moved north, and began working in catering. A year after he faked his suicide, Allen met Patricia, whom he married. The couple had two children – a son and a daughter.
In 1975, the family moved to Salcombe. Allen worked there as a restaurant manager. Shortly after moving into a posh flat, Allen began having an affair with Eunice Yabsley. She was attractive, recently widowed, and owned a trendy restaurant in town.
A few weeks into the affair, Allen asked Eunice if she would mind caring for his two children. She declined. That’s when Allen put his plan into action.
Allen cried to Eunice one morning, looking much worse for wear, that his wife had left him for another man. He claimed she’d gone to live in the United States with an ex-lover. He also claimed she’d taken the children with her. But the story wasn’t adding up.
Patricia hadn’t taken any of her belongings, or anything for her children. She didn’t take any of her savings, her jewellery, or her passport. How could she get to the US without her passport?
Patricia also never contacted family or friends – something she surely would have done had she truly intended on leaving her husband.
Even when it became apparent that Patricia and the children hadn’t simply left, Allen never once reported his family as missing. He likely wouldn’t have bothered had rumours not reached the ears of a constable who wanted the case investigated.
As the investigation began, it was discovered that Patricia and the children not only hadn’t taken their belongings, nor had they reached out to anyone, but there was absolutely no record of them ever crossing any borders – something which would have been noted had it been attempted without passports.
They also found that Patricia hadn’t contacted social services, passport offices, or immigration services – all things she would have needed to do if she’d taken her children to the United States.
Tracker dogs, draining reservoirs, and digging up gardens drew even more blanks. It was as though Patricia and her children had simply vanished into thin air.
But people weren’t buying it. They knew Allen was trouble. His faked suicide had come to light a few years earlier when a friend spotted him and said: “You’re Tony Angle. You’re supposed to be dead!” The statement puzzled Patricia, but Allen shrugged it off.
However, the friend reported the matter to police. Allen’s jig was up. He was sentenced to a two-year suspended sentence for bigamy, theft, and false pretences. He only marginally avoided a jail sentence due to Patricia’s undying support and her vow to the judge that she would stand by him.
Up until that point, Monica, her two sons, and Allen’s mother all believed him dead. He never contacted them after he’d been found out.
Allen just could not keep out of trouble. He did jail time on and off again throughout his life. He just couldn’t stop swindling, stealing, and remorselessly lying. He would charm, con, steal, and swindle as he pleased. And he always had spare charm to keep Eunice on his hook.
In 1982, Eunice sold her restaurant. She and Allen moved to London, where they wanted a fresh start free of rumours and gossip. Patricia and her children were listed as “missing”, and the police didn’t have any concrete evidence against Allen to hold him for anything. He and Eunice were free to do as they pleased.
In 1987, after twelve long, con-filled years, Allen and Eunice broke up. Eunice was free. And she was thinking. And then she was writing.
In 1992, she published a book titled Presumed Dead. The book mainly focused on her relationship, and the ‘mystery’ revolving around Allen and his missing wife and children. This book was the first inference that Allen was responsible for the disappearances.
In 2000, 8 years after the book’s publication, police relaunched an official investigation. They also found witnesses who hadn’t been approached in the initial investigation.
One such witness described seeing Patricia looking very pale and ill in the family car, with the children inside. Another stated that she heard screams from the family flat shortly before the disappearances. She said she heard the children screaming: “Stop it, daddy, stop it, you’re hurting mummy, please stop it!”
That night, Patricia disappeared. Two days later, after failing to convince Eunice to mother his children, they also disappeared.
John Allen was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife and children.
Along with the witness testimony, Eunice Yabsley sealed Allen’s fate. She used parts of her book as part of her testimony, explaining that she hadn’t come forward before due to being manipulated by Allen, and then later due to being fearful of him.
Eunice told the court that the morning after they disappeared, she noticed scratch marks up and down Allen’s arms. He tried to explain them away. But they’d always rankled at her.
It’s believed that these were wounds inflicted by Patricia as she tried to defend herself from Allen’s attack.
On Monday, December 16th, 2002, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his wife and children. During his sentencing, he was described as a ‘bigamist and confidence trickster’. It is believed that Allen used a small boat, which he sold shortly after the murders, to move the bodies of his wife and children and dump them at sea.
The Honourable Mr. Justice David Steel told Allen that: “There is no possible explanation for their disappearance other than you murdered them.”
On August 8th, 2015, while serving his sentence, John Allen died of natural causes. He’d fallen ill earlier in the summer and never recovered.
The bodies of Patricia and her children will likely never be recovered. Her scumbag of a husband took the secret of their location to his grave.
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Sources:
Allen ruined my life – BBC News
First Allen faked suicide to start new life. Then he turned killer – Audrey Gillan – The Guardian
Bigamist sentenced to life for murdering wife and children who disappeared 27 years ago – Jason Bennetto – The Independent
Murderer takes secrets to grave – Kingsbridge & Salcombe Gazette
John Allen (murderer) Wikipedia page