Woman convicted for husband’s fatal fall

A Spokane woman was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison after she pleaded guilty to killing her husband in a case that went unsolved for years until her daughter wrote a letter documenting how it happened.

Teresa M. Allen, 43, also known as Teresa M. Rodriguez, entered an Alford plea for the charge of second-degree manslaughter in connection with the October 2000 death of her husband, Dennis W. Coffey.

He died from a fall down a flight of stairs outside his family’s home at 426 E. Eighth Ave. His blood alcohol content at the time was 0.18, which is more than twice the legal limit.

In the Alford plea, Allen did not admit guilt but acknowledged that she could have been convicted, and she wants to take advantage of the plea agreement.

“I deny my guilt,” Allen told Superior Court Judge Ellen Kalama Clark. “I’m going to profess my innocence.”

Clark repeatedly told Allen, who seemed reluctant to take the plea agreement, that she could back out at any time and instead go to trial. However, Allen kept saying she understood and wanted to continue.

“This is a case, despite its age, that continues to tear apart an entire family,” said Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Mark Lindsey. “The only eyewitness believes the state has done enough and sees this as an appropriate resolution.”

Defense attorney Diane Grecco said that witness was Allen’s daughter Kristin Coffey, who was 11 at the time.

“My own impression is that she has a very hostile relationship with her mother,” Grecco said. “She idolized her father both in life and in death. Ms. Allen has always maintained that she did not push him.”

After 48-year-old Dennis Coffey died on Oct. 27, 2000, Allen – then known as Teresa Coffey – told a police detective that said she heard a noise in the stairwell and found her husband lying at the bottom.

The case remained unsolved until Kristin wrote a letter that was discovered last fall by a Women’s Shelter employee on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation. Kristin, now 17, had run away and left the letter among her belongings, according to court records.

The account was a “multi-page letter detailing how she witnessed her mother murder her father,” according to court records.

Two other witnesses also told detectives that Allen had admitted at various times to causing Dennis Coffey’s death by pushing him down the stairs.

Kristin did not appear in court Wednesday. Lindsey said she already has started college courses.

Since Allen, who is a member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, has no significant criminal record, Grecco asked Clark for leniency because of the nature of the evidence.

“She adamantly denies the allegations as put forth in the police report,” Grecco said. “Nothing is going to make Mr. Coffey’s family happy.”

In the end, Clark sentenced Allen to serve two years in prison, which was the middle of the sentencing range.

“My biggest concern is this young lady who was a child when this happened,” Clark said referring to Kristin. “It resulted in the death of a person, and I cannot take that lightly.”