Kriti Mehrotra
When Patricia Mills was found dead inside her Goliad, Texas, home following an intense fire on the morning of June 25, 2003, it left the entire community shaken. However, as explored in NBC’s ‘Dateline: Secrets in the Ashes,’ it wasn’t until nearly a decade later that her case was brought to a satisfactory close with the conviction of her husband, Delbert Mills, for murder. It was during the proceedings of his bench trial that several allegations against him came to light, but arguably one of the most significant was regarding his relationship with Allison Newman.
Allison Newman and Delbert Mills Had Reportedly Been Caught Red Handed by His Wife
Born on July 17, 1977, Texas native Allison Leigh Newman was once happily married to a man named Jimmy Newman, with whom she shared at least a couple of children. However, they ultimately divorced owing to her affair with a married father of one, Delbert Mills. According to court records, in testimonies by Delbert’s wife Patricia’s loved ones, she had discovered their affair around a month before the fire in June 2003, but had been suspicious of it for at least six months prior. She was reportedly heartbroken that her husband, the father of her son, was having an extramarital affair and had asked for a divorce.
According to Patricia’s sister, Sharon Burdette, in late 2002, Allison had actually moved into the Mills household for around a month, but Patricia eventually kicked her out. As per her testimony, Delbert later admitted to her that his wife did so because she feared he and Allison were having an affair, which later turned out to be true. Nevertheless, they continued their involvement, with him often even dropping by his at her sister’s to go and meet Allison, using the excuse that he wanted to discuss with her the matter of the money he was owed by her.
As if that’s not enough, Patricia’s niece testified that when her aunt came to visit her roughly a month prior to her death, she admitted that she had caught Delbert and Allison together on the couch of their family home. The victim’s brother also testified that his sister had told him about catching the couple red-handed, following which she had asked her husband for a divorce. However, as per records, whenever she brought up leaving him, he allegedly only threatened her life and once even asserted that the only way she would leave him was in a body bag.
Allison Newman Allegedly Knew Patricia Mills’ Death Was Not an Accident
It was on June 25, 2003, when Patricia Mills died of asphyxiation as a result of smoke inhalation during a fire at her home at 127 South San Patricio Street in Goliad, Texas. Unfortunately, the cause of the fire could never be ascertained, but her family did believe it was deliberate for more reasons than one, including Delbert’s affair with Allison and their whirlwind courtship. After all, they tied the knot in a beautiful, cozy ceremony merely two months after the incident, following which he moved in with her and her children. He gave up the custody of his own son to his late wife’s sister.
In 2007, according to the testimony of Jimmy Newman, he was visiting his wife to see his children when he heard the couple engaged in an intense argument. As per his accounts, Delbert said to his wife, “B****, if you mess with me again, I’ll burn you up in this goddamn house like I did my first fucking wife… I’m serious about this here. That bitch needs to be gone too, just like the other one.” Jimmy stated he was not making a dark joke or being goofy in any way, shape, or form because he seemed really angry.
Moreover, Jimmy asserted that at the time, his ex-wife Allison simply told her new husband to “Shut up! Get back in the house. I already know what you done. [sic] You’re going to get yourself in more trouble.” However, when investigations into Patricia’s case reopened, and she was questioned regarding the same, the details she provided to officials resulted in her not being charged with any crime. She was not charged with accessory after the fact or any other criminal count, and nor did she testify against Delbert during his trial, even though they had divorced by the time it rolled around. In other words, spousal privilege was no longer involved.
Allison Newman is Currently Serving a Long Sentence in an Illinois Prison
At some point in the 2010s, Allison Newman Salinas reportedly relocated to Pekin, Illinois, and tied the knot with a man named Patrick Salinas. They faced their own challenges in their union, but he seemingly stood by her through thick and thin, including during the trial of her ex-husband. However, in the years that followed, she tried to run for a Senate seat and even attempted to start a bakery business, but neither panned out as she had expected. That’s because she faced significant backlash from her local community, with many alleging she was a scammer, but nothing legal ever came of it.
However, things changed on July 8, 2025, when Allison was arrested on the charge of solicitation of murder for trying to hire a Texas man to kill her husband. According to court records, she had been talking to a man from Texas to help remove her husband from the picture sometime between 2023 and 2024. This man was someone she had dated briefly as a teenager and then again in 2021, who later claimed she had begun manipulating him after learning of an inheritance he had received. During the investigations into the matter, officials uncovered that there were several texts and phone calls between Allison and the man as they came up with how to kill Patrick. Her motive seemed to be financial and a desire to be with another man without having to worry about splitting the assets she owned with her husband.
As if that’s not enough, it also came to light that she had filed several Protection Orders against her husband in the past and had even filed for divorce three separate times, but none of the latter filings were ever finalized. In the end, a month after Patrick claimed in court that the situation was not what it seemed to be and that he blamed mental health issues on both sides, Allison pleaded guilty in exchange for 16 years in prison in August 2025. Therefore, today at the age of 48, she is incarcerated at the Logan Correctional Center in Broadwell Township, Illinois, where she is expected to remain until at least she becomes eligible for parole on February 28, 2039. If she is denied early release, her sentence will conclude on February 28, 2042.
