Man accused in wife's shooting death in court Friday

MONROE, N.C. — New details are surfacing Friday about a husband charged with killing his wife.
 
Investigators said Reginald Allen shot her and then left her body in car by the side of the road in Marshville.
 
Allen made his first appearance Friday in court in Monroe and it was very brief.
 
He was mostly solemn and silent except when he told the judge that he understood that he was charged with murdering his wife.
 
Ever since the body of Alicia Sligh was found Sunday morning, shot to death in her car on a barren stretch of South White Street, Marshville has been on edge, worried about a slaying no one could understand.
 
"I would have thought it would have been a stranger or something," said Marshville resident Terry Cratsley. "But then, most of the time, it's not."
 
"Really had a strong suspicion, strong indication that he (Allen) was involved," said Chief Carl Webber with Marshville police.
 
Webber said evidence found at the scene and on Allen's clothing led detectives who questioned Allen on Thursday to an unexpected confession.
 
"He, perhaps in an attack of conscience, he began to admit to his involvement in it," Webber said. "And actually led us to where the gun was found."
 
Police said Allen told them he threw a gun in the wooded area minutes after shooting Sligh in the back of the head as the two argued while driving down the road.
 
The couple had moved into the house on East Union Street just eight days earlier, so few knew them there. For Marshville, where many people do know each other, the arrest of Allen was a relief.
 
"It puts everybody else at ease," said Marshville resident Raquel Rivera. "A lot of people were talking about it and we just didn't know what was going on."
 
Allen was appointed an attorney in court Friday. He remains in jail while the district attorney decided whether to see the death penalty.

WSOC