Maureen Allaben, food stylist profiled in CL, killed by her husband, authorities say
After driving for two days with his wife’s body in the bed of his pickup, Dennis Allaben confessed to authorities that he killed her.
One of Maureen Allaben’s last Twitter updates read, “Working at BET today. Lots of good times ahead.”
Less than a month later, her husband walked into the Clayton County Police Headquarters to announce to authorities that he’d killed his wife.
According to the AJC, law enforcement agents believe that Dennis Allaben killed Maureen on Sunday, wrapped up her body and placed it in the back of his pickup truck. Authorities say he then drove the truck from their Tucker home to Virginia to drop off the couple’s two children with relatives, after which returned to Georgia to admit what he’d done:
The DeKalb police report did not say if the children knew their slain mother was in the back of the pickup. Allaben told his relatives that he had killed his wife and was leaving the children with them, the report said.
Maureen Allaben worked as a food stylist and designed sets for the “Mo’Nique Show.” CL profiled her and her unusual line of work work in September.
Allaben was passionate about her work, which included styling food for the Thanksgiving scene in the Sandra Bullock film The Blindside. On Allaben’s Twitter page, she wrote, “My life as a food stylist is amazing.”
Police have not yet determined a motive for the killing, nor have they released a cause of death.
(Photo of Maureen Allaben by Alan Friedman; photo of Dennis Allaben courtesy DeKalb County jail.)