Allaben v. State, 315 Ga. 789

Maureen Allaben was found dead after being strangled; her body was wrapped in a blue moving blanket and discovered in Dennis Allaben’s pickup truck after he drove from Georgia to Virginia and back.
Allaben admitted to his sister‑in‑law and to his children that he had killed Maureen, described using a cloth with ether to render her unconscious, and said her body was in his truck; he also took steps (removed phone battery, stole a plate) to avoid detection.
DeKalb County investigators found at the marital residence items consistent with the concealment (a blue moving blanket of the same type, buckets and tape); the victim’s minivan remained at the DeKalb home and she was only partially clothed.
The medical examiner concluded cause of death was strangulation consistent with a prolonged "sleeper hold," noted petechial hemorrhages and neck injuries, and found alcohol, Benadryl, and ether in the victim’s system.
Allaben was tried three times for malice murder after two prior appeals and reversals; at the third trial (Dec. 2016) a DeKalb jury convicted him of malice murder and he was sentenced to life (later resentenced to life with parole eligibility).
On this appeal Allaben challenged (1) sufficiency of the evidence to prove malice murder and (2) proof of venue in DeKalb County.

Issue	State's Argument	Allaben's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for malice murder	Evidence (confessions, forensic injuries, incapacitating substances, concealment) permits inference of malice and intent to kill	Death was accidental; sleeper hold generally unlikely to cause death and his statements described an intent only to render her unconscious	Affirmed — viewing evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, a rational jury could find malice beyond a reasonable doubt
Venue in DeKalb County	Circumstantial evidence (victim at DeKalb home, blanket/tape at that house, Allaben’s admissions while leaving Georgia) supports that the killing might have occurred in DeKalb	Body was found in Clayton County and witnesses were not asked directly where/when death occurred, so venue is unproven in DeKalb	Affirmed — circumstantial evidence sufficed to prove venue beyond a reasonable doubt under OCGA §17‑2‑2 principles

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (U.S. 1979) (federal standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
Allaben v. State, 294 Ga. 315 (Ga. 2013) (prior appeal in the same matter)
Allaben v. State, 299 Ga. 253 (Ga. 2016) (prior appellate decision addressing similar sufficiency arguments)
Jones v. State, 314 Ga. 400 (Ga. 2022) (jury may infer malice from surrounding facts and circumstances)
Polke v. State, 315 Ga. 33 (Ga. 2022) (venue proven by direct or circumstantial evidence)
Worthen v. State, 304 Ga. 862 (Ga. 2019) (review of venue sufficiency follows the same light‑most‑favorable standard as guilt)
Raines v. State, 304 Ga. 582 (Ga. 2018) (venue may be established without direct testimony identifying the county)
Wynn v. State, 313 Ga. 827 (Ga. 2022) (force used in strangulation supports inference of intent)
Morrison v. State, 300 Ga. 426 (Ga. 2017) (forensic evidence inconsistent with accident can permit rejection of defendant’s accidental‑death claim)