Suvechha Sarkar
Tragedy struck the quiet community of Olney, Florida, when Manuela Sabine Allen was found dead in July 2019. She was a loving mother and a supportive wife, and her untimely demise left her family and friends completely grief-stricken. Investigation Discovery’s ‘Murder Under the Friday Night Lights: Killer on the Field’ and NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Footprint at the Lake’ delve deeper into the circumstances that led to her brutal murder and how an extensive investigation finally unveiled the killer. It also features interviews with her loved ones and officials who worked tirelessly to help serve justice.
Manuela Allen’s Life Revolved Around Her Family and Students
Manuela Sabine Kammerl was born on April 9, 1970, in the village of Unterschwarzenberg in Bavaria, Germany. She arrived as a ray of sunshine in the lives of her parents, Hans and Elisabeth Kammerl. She grew up surrounded by the love and support of her parents, her brothers — Manfred, Hannes, Wolfgang, and Günther, and her sisters — Melanie Wörz, Lisi Wiele, Helly Mayr, and Carola Kisiela. Manuela was a woman of great faith and very considerate. She moved to the US to study English and earned a Bachelor’s in Education. During her college years there, she met her soulmate, Peter Allen. On April 12, 1996, the couple tied the knot in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Over the years, they welcomed four kids — sons, William and Darian, and daughters, Melanie and Kiara — into the world. The family lived in Crowell, Texas, before moving to Olney, Florida, in 2008.
After moving there, Manuela began working as a Spanish and English Teacher at Olney High School. She also taught writing and obtained her certification in special education. Her life revolved extensively around her family and students, who loved her dearly. However, everything turned upside down on July 6, 2019. That evening, Manuela and her husband, Peter, watched television like any other day before she went to sleep in their bedroom. Peter slept on the couch but was woken up early in the morning of July 7 by their daughter, Kiara, who asked where Manuela was. She found the door locked when he asked her to check the bedroom. When she went to check through the garage, which led to a laundry room connected to the bedroom, she was shocked to find blood everywhere.
Manuela Allen’s Remains Were Discovered Near a Lake in Florida
Since Manuela’s white SUV was missing, Peter said that he presumed she might’ve hurt herself and drove to the hospital. He went to check at the hospital, but when he couldn’t find her there, he called 911. Upon the arrival of the officials at the house, they found blood in the hallway, bedroom carpet, and bloody footprints all over the kitchen. They also noted blood spatter on the bedroom dresser, along with drag marks in the connecting laundry room that led to the garage. It indicated signs of struggle, and they reportedly believed that it was a crime of passion. Shortly after, another police officer volunteered to check the area of Lake Cooper, located a few miles away.
There, the officer discovered Manuela’s unoccupied, missing SUV, which reportedly had brown smears on the sides that looked like blood. Not far away, near a fence, he shockingly discovered human remains wrapped in bloody sheets. Detectives found footprints in the mud at the scene, besides a bicycle tire mark leading from there towards Olney. The autopsy reportedly revealed that she was stabbed approximately 47 times, and she tried to defend herself during that heinous attack. It was determined that her cause of death was asphyxiation because she was strangled. Furthermore, the autopsy uncovered that she was shot once after she passed away.
Numerous Witness Accounts Led the Police to Manuela Allen’s Killer
Investigators first questioned Peter, who informed them about the previous evening and how he was a heavy sleeper. He continued that he heard a thump during the night but did not think much of it. Furthermore, he reportedly added that he heard the SUV start and thought Manuela would get a coffee, but by the time he opened the door, the car was gone. Officials discovered that her son and daughter, William and Melanie, were not home then. Manuela’s younger daughter, Kiara, informed them that she came home around 11:30 pm and went to her room before falling asleep with her earbuds on. Similarly, Darian, who returned home shortly after his sister, told them he played video games all night with headphones on. He reportedly heard nothing except a small sound, which he presumed was his father in the kitchen.
After assessment of the physical evidence, Manuela’s children and Peter were ruled out as suspects. An oil field worker near the scene reportedly informed the police that on the morning of July 7, he saw a male in shorts, dark shoes, and a backpack riding a bicycle. When another woman reported a male with the same description, detectives obtained CCTV footage from a nearby bank that captured the individual. Initially, they honed in on Cory Taylor, who had committed a burglary of a habitation and stole firearms. However, when they went to his apartment complex, they noticed a bicycle with dirty tires. Its tracks were similar to those found at the crime scene. Cory informed them that the bike belonged to Julius Orion Xavier Mullins, a football player and a student at the high school where Manuela taught.
Confession and Forensic Evidence Brought the Killer to Justice
Officials learned that Julius previously dated Manuela’s daughter, Melanie, and they had broken up a few months prior, owing to some fights between them. According to several accounts, they found that Julius was allegedly upset about the heartbreak. He also knew where he could find Manuela’s car keys since he had already visited their house several times. When he was brought in for questioning, detectives noted multiple cuts along his hands and legs. Initially, he denied everything, but later confessed to the murder. He admitted that he snuck into Manuela’s home on July 6, while she and Peter were asleep, and stabbed her. He also confessed that he closed the bedroom door and asphyxiated her to death before taking her out of the garage to her car.
Julius reportedly admitted that after disposing of the remains near the lake, he rode back home on his bike. Apart from his confession, investigators also discovered that the footprint at Manuela’s home and the DNA of the fingerprints found at the scene matched with Julius. Moreover, the shoe print found near the lake also matched him. Ultimately, he was arrested on July 15, 2019, and charged with the murder of Manuela. Julius pleaded guilty on May 28, 2020, to one count of first-degree murder, one count of burglary of a habitation, and one count of tampering/fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair. He was sentenced to 55 years in prison for murder and 20 years each for tampering and burglary.
