On the evening of February 22, 2011, the indictment maintains, Allen went to the Sundown Saloon on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. There, he encountered the unnamed student, who was there with friends.
Allen and the student are said to have been acquainted, but they hadn't really talked at length until that night -- and the conversation stretched past midnight.
During the early hours of the 23rd, Allen offered to walk the student home. She lived near the Sundown with two roommates, but one of them was out of town and the other was asleep upon their arrival. The latter woke up briefly when Allen and the student entered the residence, but put in earplugs and turned on some music to prevent her from being disturbed again.The next morning, the roommate got ready to go to a dentist appointment, noticing a pair of men's dress shoes before she split. Upon her return, at around 1 p.m., the shoes were gone and the student was still locked in her bedroom. However, her breathing was so labored -- the word the roommate uses in the indictment is "wheezy" -- that she could hear it through the door.
Even so, the roommate didn't think the student was in trouble until about 10 p.m., after she'd taken a nap and returned from a late-afternoon departure. This time, the student's door was unlocked, and when the roommate looked inside, she was alarmed at what she saw. She told investigators that the room was a mess, with a picture having been knocked off the wall, and the student was naked beneath a single sheet and seemingly disoriented, with her eyes rolling around and unable to focus. She appeared to have vomited as well.
The roommate dialed 911, and by the time the student arrived at the hospital, she was in what's described as a catatonic state, with her limbs rigid, her legs drawn up and her eyes open but darting back and forth.
Why? Doctors determined that the student's blood sugar levels were dangerously low due to severe hypoglycemia likely caused by either an intravenous or subcutaneous injection of insulin. Additionally, a sex assault nurse examiner saw various bruises and abrasions on her legs and vaginal area consistent with having been sexually assaulted.
Continue for more about Frederick Allen's conviction, including the indictment. Later, cops found what's described as a "white substance" spread on various items in the apartment, plus a note that read, "I will wash your sheets for you love, see ya Saturday!"
The author was Allen, who later told investigators that he and the student had gotten "a little intimate" but stopped when she began to get sick. He subsequently took her bedding with the intention of cleaning it, but then decided to toss it in a dumpster instead.Oh yeah: He confirmed that he usually takes his insulin kit with him when he goes out.
That's a pretty damning set of facts, but Allen's trial proved to be nothing like a slam dunk, likely due to his high-powered lawyer: Pamela Mackey, best known for representing basketball star Kobe Bryant after sex-assault accusations were made against him in Colorado circa 2003. As reported by the Boulder Daily Camera, Mackey argued that the student's condition could have been caused by having too much to drink without eating properly.
The trial lasted nearly two weeks, with four days' worth of deliberation -- and earlier this week, the jury told the judge members were unable to reach unanimity on charges of assault and sex assault. He responded by encouraging them to try again, and eventually they achieved consensus.
Allen was acquitted of sexual assault with a deadly weapon, sexual assault on a physically helpless victim causing serious bodily injury and sexual assault on an impaired victim. But the jury found him guilty of sexual assault on a person incapable of appraising the nature of their conduct while armed with a deadly weapon, sexual assault on a person incapable of appraising the nature of their conduct causing serious bodily injury and first-degree assault with a deadly weapon.
Look below to see a larger version of Allen's booking photo, followed by the aforementioned indictment.
More from our Colorado Crimes archive: "Lynne Freeman, school volunteer, sentenced for sexually assaulting daughter's teen pal in a closet."
