Jurors deliberated for fewer than three hours before finding Aldrick Scott guilty of first-degree murder in the 2022 killing of his ex-girlfriend.
Sighs of relief and quiet cries echoed through Douglas County District Court Judge Kimberly Miller Pankonin’s courtroom on Monday afternoon as jurors announced the guilty verdict against Scott. The case was submitted to the jury at 11:01 a.m. and a verdict was reached at 1:32 p.m.
Scott, 48, will face an automatic life sentence for the killing of 43-year-old Omaha woman Cari Allen. The jury also found Scott guilty of using a firearm to commit a felony and evidence tampering, both felonies.
At the trial, which lasted five days, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine painted a picture of a premeditated killing — alleging that Scott drove from his home in Topeka, Kansas, to Omaha on the evening of Nov. 19, 2022, to confront Allen. The prosecution said that Scott hid inside Allen’s home for about an hour before she returned home from a date, at which point he confronted her and shot her once in the chest.
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Scott admitted to many of the key facts of the case. He admitted to driving to Omaha, to circling the parking lot of a sports bar looking for Allen and to parking a few blocks from her home before walking over around 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 19. He also admitted to patching bullet holes in the walls of Allen’s home with spackle he found in her garage. He further admitted to burying her body in a shallow grave at an abandoned farm in Shawnee County, Kansas. And he admitted to fleeing to Mexico and, later, Belize, where he was apprehended in early December.
“We agree with the state on many of the fundamental facts in this case,” Mary Dvorak, Scott’s defense attorney, said during closing arguments. “But where the state sees premeditation, we see panic. Where the state sees intent, we see self-defense.”
Scott didn’t deny killing Allen — but he claimed he did so in self-defense after Allen threatened him with a gun.
Testifying in his own defense, Scott claimed he waited for Allen to return home and knocked on her door was invited in at about midnight. He said they had a heated argument before Allen went upstairs and he followed behind.
When they got to Allen’s bedroom, Scott testified, he sat on the bed and Allen began rummaging through her closet. Scott claimed Allen produced a firearm from the closet, held it with both hands and pointed it at his head before saying she was going to “hurt” him.
Scott said he “rushed” Allen to attempt to disarm her, which led to them “fumbling around” with the gun. During the struggle, Scott said, the gun went off and struck Allen in the chest.
During closing arguments Monday, Kleine called Scott’s story unbelievable and ludicrous.
Allen’s son, ex-husband, best friend and Scott himself each testified that they never knew Allen to own a firearm or keep one in the house. No gun safe, ammunition, paperwork or other firearm accessories were found in the home to suggest she may have recently bought a gun, Kleine said.
Scott claimed to have thrown what he said was Allen’s gun, the shell casing and the bullet in a trash can at the Kansas City airport prior to catching a flight to Mexico on the morning of Nov. 21. During closing arguments, Kleine asked jurors to consider why Scott would have done this when ballistic evidence could have proven his story.
“He came up with this story, which was pretty far out, that he had to kill her in self-defense — and that didn’t fly, obviously, with the jury,” Kleine said after the verdict was announced.
Brett Allen, Cari Allen’s ex-husband, said his family was relieved by the verdict.
“We just prayed and hoped the jury would see it as we did,” he said.
Scott will be sentenced May 30.
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