FREEHOLD --Patrick Allen, the Middletown man accused of using a frying pan to kill his wife, was convicted Thursday morning.
Allen was the prime suspect in the death of his wife of 20 years, Kimberly, who was murdered Nov. 18, 2011 in their West Front Street home in the Lincroft section of Middletown.
Barbara Stauff, the victim's sister, held back tears Thursday morning as she delivered a brief statement, thanking the jury and prosecutors for spending "countless hours over the past three years" analyzing the evidence.
Stauff did not answer questions from the media.
Prosecutors said a debt-ridden Allen his wife with a frying pan and strangled her during a fight after she found out about Allen's financial situation.
Allen had more than $600,000 in debt, between two mortgages on the family's house and $25,000 in credit card debt.
The couple's two children were in school at the time of Kimberly's death.
Allen, 47, was found guilty of first-degree murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, hindering his own apprehension and tampering with physical evidence.
Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Maria Franceschini said she was very pleased with the verdict.
"It's been a long trial," she said Thursday.
John Allen, Patrick Allen's defense attorney and first cousin, said the case should have been a mistrial.
John Allen questioned the state's decision to use the interview footage of Patrick Allen and the detectives halfway into the trial, after changing their mind on it before.
He said the prosecutors planned to use the footage until the eve of the trial, when they changed their mind.
"They change the whole tone of the trial," John Allen said.
And halfway into the trial, he said, the state decided to show the footage after all.
John Allen did not comment on whether he will seek an appeal, except to say he has to consult Patrick Allen first.
Assistant prosecutors Franceschini and Mary Juliano said they believe their change of course had no impact on the case.
"The evidence was there," Franceschini added. "There was enough evidence without the statement."
Patrick Allen's sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 29.
