INDIANAPOLIS -- A man charged in the gruesome slayings of his mother and grandparents said Monday he deserves the death penalty but believes his sister should be spared for her alleged role in the plot.\nKenneth Lee Allen, 29, and his sister, Kari Allen, 18, are accused of killing their three relatives and entombing the bodies in a basement to reap their elderly grandparents' savings of about $200,000. Prosecutors formally charged them Monday with three counts each of murder and conspiracy and two counts each of robbery. A judge entered innocent pleas for them.\nWhile being led into court, Kenneth Allen told reporters he plotted the slayings in which his mother and grandmother were dismembered. Police have said Kari Allen served as a lookout while her brother committed the murders.\n"I take full responsibility for everything ... Give me the death penalty," Allen said. "I believe I deserve it and need it."\nHe said his sister should be freed, however. "She does not deserve to be a part of any of this," he said.\nMarion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said he did not hear Kenneth Allen's comments.\n"Let's just wait and see. We still have a lot of evidence to go through before any determinations are made," Brizzi said.\nRoger Rayl, a spokesman for Brizzi, said no decision had been made about seeking the death penalty in the case. He said evidence is still being processed and reviewed.\nThe siblings' uncle told The Indianapolis Star that Kenneth Allen had a gambling problem and had vowed to kill his grandparents because he was angry that his grandfather would not give him money.\nHe allegedly plotted the killings after he was released in November from a federal prison in Kentucky, where he served time for a counterfeiting conviction.\nInvestigators allege Kenneth Allen killed his mother, Sharon Allen, 53, at her apartment in Noblesville, Ind., about 15 miles north of Indianapolis, Dec. 30 after she refused to participate in the plot against her parents.\nOn Jan. 3, he and his sister allegedly lured their grandmother, Betty Bradley, 75, to the apartment and also killed her. They then allegedly killed their grandfather, Leander Bradley, 91, at the elderly couple's Indianapolis home and entombed the bodies in its basement.
During a 15-minute hearing, Marion Superior Court Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson entered innocent pleas on behalf of the siblings on each of the eight counts they face.\nKenneth Allen nodded to acknowledge his sister as she was led into the courtroom and seated at the opposite end of a table where he also sat. When the judge asked Kenneth Allen if he understood the charges against him, he said, "Yes, your honor." Kari Allen said simply, "Yes."\nIf convicted on all the charges, each could receive a maximum of 445 years in prison and a minimum of 45 years, Magnus-Stinson said.\nThe judge approved court-appointed attorneys for both and set a tentative April 25 trial date.\nThe siblings were caught Feb. 8 after a traffic stop in Missouri while traveling to Las Vegas. Authorities returned them Friday to Indianapolis.
