Pastor arrested for killing wife in 2011 fire

by Christine McCarthy and Brandon Hartman

GATESVILLE - A local pastor is now in the Coryell County Jail for allegedly setting his mobile home on fire and killing his wife last March.

Coryell County Sheriff's deputies arrested 49-year-old David Keith Allen at 6:45 on Tuesday night for Capital Murder of his 54-year-old wife, Paula Diann Allen.

An indictment obtained by News Channel 25 states that David Allen used a flammable accelerant on an open flame to burn down the mobile home located behind his New Life Church of Restoration.

On March 22, 2011, David Allen called the fire department and said his wife was trapped inside their burning mobile home. He told investigators he had been sleeping in the living room and hopped out a window around 1:00 a.m. when he realized the fire had started.

Fire crews found the mobile home in the 4000 block of East Highway 84 completely engulfed and eventually found Paula Allen dead inside.

Paula Allen's best friend, Robin Tippit doesn't consider David Allen's arrest closure, but another part to a long road of healing.

"I loved David just as much as I loved Paula..." Tippit says. "I looked to him as my pastor and it's just hard for me to grasp and to comprehend."

Tippit recalls the tragic March day and says her wounds have never healed.

"We all gathered at the church, and, you know, it was true.  She was gone and it's been tough. It's been a hard - hardest year of my life, ever," Tippit says, in tears. "Hardest thing I've ever gone through.

Michael Stidham, former Associate Pastor at the New Life Church, says he and others from the church have been expecting Allen's arrest.  Stidham became suspicious of Allen's involvement in the fire that very night.

"He had his truck keys on him and his wallet on him. Yet, he was asleep on the recliner when the fire took place and he jumped out the window.  But he had all his stuff on him," Stidham says, adding that Allen's behavior in the following days made him ask more questions.

"If I lost my wife like that, I can't see how I could breathe, you know, live," Stidham says.  "Just the thought tears me up. And he handled it quite well. And I think that's why a lot of people at the funeral were like, 'This is very weird.'"

Stidham says Allen didn't grieve because he was supposedly celebrating his wife's life, but Stidham and much of the community thought his reaction wasn't that of a truly mourning husband.

After being asked to step down as pastor, Allen left the New Life Church and created Final Victories Ministries. A small handful of people from the ministry gather with him. One member says he and Allen's friends continue to support him and think Allen is innocent.

Stidham and other church members have drifted away from David Allen.  Many neighbors near Allen's new home say Allen was the talk of the neighborhood.

On January 21, 2012, Allen remarried a Gatesville woman, according to court records.

Paige Rowland, now pastor of the old New Life Church, which has since changed its name to Crossroads, says the fatal fire tore the church apart.

Of the arrest, Rowland says, "I think a lot of people are a little bit relieved. I think a little bit shocked.  I feel I can say that we've all cried out for justice."

In the meantime, the community remembers Paula Allen, "the backbone of the church," according to Stidham.  Tippit also calls her a "generous, loving friend and mother."

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Pastor arrested for killing wife in 2011 fire