A Middletown man who beat his wife with a frying pan then strangled her to death in the kitchen of their West Front Street home November 18, 2011 has the murder conviction against him upheld in an appellate court.

Patrick Allen, 51, had appealed the 2014 conviction, contending there were errors made during the 12-person jury selection as well as improper admission of expert testimony at the trial, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office.

Allen is currently serving a 30-year state prison sentence that coincides with a 30-year period of parole ineligibility for the murder of 44-year old Kimberly Allen.

The trial took some turns afterwards when prosecutors say he denied murdering his wife by claiming an intruder broke in and committed the heinous act.

Allen felt he was entitled to a new trial because the trial judge erred by refusing to permit him to exercise a peremptory challenge to remove a female juror from the panel.

In addition, Allen didn't like the idea of the prosecution calling a crime scene reconstruction expert in to the trial to analyze and interpret blood stains at the crime scene and offer opinions about the manner and circumstances of the Kimberly's death.

He believed the expert wasn't qualified to give the opinions he did and his opinions were based on insufficient facts.

He then challenged certain police officer testimony and portions of the jury charge.

In a 46-page opinion, Appellate Division Judges Marie P. Simonelli, Michael J. Haas, and Garry S. Rothstadt found Allen received a fair trial and rejected his claims.

He was convicted of first-degree murder, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, fourth-degree tampering with physical evidence, and third-degree hindering apprehension.

Monmouth County Superior Court Judge John T. Mullaney, presided over the ten-week trial that ended with guilty verdicts on December 4, 2014.

Middletown Police found Kimberly dead on the kitchen floor on the day of the murder and their investigation discovered the two had a fight, that led to Patrick beating her.

Kimberly Allen's death was due to homicidal violence, including asphyxia and blunt impact injuries to the head, according to the Middlesex County Medical Examiner's Office.

Patrick Allen was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife.

The case was prosecuted by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutors Maria Franceschini and Mary Juliano.

The appeal was handled by Paul H. Heinzel, Esq., presently an Assistant Prosecutor at the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office.

Allen was represented at trial by John Charles Allen, Esq., of New Brunswick.

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