14 October 2024
DULUTH — Kerry Ehlenbach stepped to the front of a courtroom Monday, carefully placing a blue urn on the counsel table.
“This is Alissa,” she told the judge, taking a seat just a few chairs away from the man who ended her daughter’s life earlier this year.
For the mother and other family members, it was difficult to find justice in the sentence that was about to be handed down. But they wanted their loved one to be remembered, and to send a message to the community about domestic violence.
“I always thought that monsters lived in the closet and under the bed,” Ehlenbach told the court. “I never thought they could be right next to you.”
Accepting a plea agreement, Judge Theresa Neo sentenced Dale John Howard to 20 years for the March 22 murder of Alissa Marie Vollan inside his Central Hillside neighborhood apartment.
Howard, 25, had been legally prohibited from contacting Vollan, 27, after a domestic assault arrest earlier that month. She was the sixth confirmed victim of intimate partner violence in Minnesota in 2024, according to Safe Haven Shelter and Resource Center.
“She was so many pieces of the puzzle that made us a family,” her aunt, Sherri Anderson, said. “Now those pieces are missing, never to be filled in again.”
Howard claimed at a Sept. 17 hearing that he had no memory of the incident due to intoxication but asked the court to find him guilty based on undisputed investigative files.
Reports indicate neighbors told police they heard a woman scream twice inside Howard’s duplex, 31 E. Fifth St., around 1:30 a.m. Neighbors were “so alarmed” that they began recording audio, capturing “muffled moaning” noises, followed by a series of “loud thuds” and a “dragging sound.”
Howard was then seen leaving and walking to a downtown bar and back. He returned home around 2:30 a.m. and didn’t call 911 until 8 a.m.
Vollan’s blood was found in several locations, indicating her body had been moved. She had numerous wounds, and a medical examiner determined she died of blunt-force head trauma and smothering.
Howard had been arrested for assaulting Vollan at the same apartment just 13 days before. Police reports indicate the two had been drinking and got into an argument, resulting in Howard slamming Vollan’s head in the door and kicking her in the head several times, as witnessed by a neighbor.
Several family members said Monday they had concerns about Vollan’s well-being before she was killed. But she was always one to look for the best in people, telling her grandfather days before her death that she was OK.
“Alissa would’ve loved Dale forever, through good and bad, because that’s the kind of person she was,” Anderson said.
The family described Vollan as “full of giggles and smiles,” always bringing cheer and a lively sense of humor to those in her life. She had big, brown eyes that seemed to sparkle, and she enjoyed music, art, singing, summer camping and the holiday season. She aspired to be a marine biologist and interior designer and wanted to become a mother.
“I always suffered with depression,” said Ehlenbach, her mother. “I didn’t really feel like I was worth anything until Dec. 20, 1996, when Alissa was born and it changed my life forever. It gave me a reason for living. She filled my life with so much joy and happiness.”
Howard’s sentence is above the guideline for unintentional second-degree murder, as he agreed to an extra five years based on the violation of the no-contact order.
But Vollan’s family called the killing “premeditated” and hoped for a first-degree murder indictment. As it stands, he could be released from prison by age 40.
“Dale will spend less time in prison than Alissa got to live,” cousin Anna Pace said.
St. Louis County prosecutor Vicky Wanta said she understood the frustration, noting the judicial system is “not a victim justice system.” She said the courts are reactive, operating within rigid guidelines that can “never adequately account” for the value of a victim’s life.
Howard, after initially declining to speak, chose to briefly address the court. He called Vollan a “lover, best friend (and) caretaker to many.”
“The world’s greatest treasure is gone, and for that I am sorry,” he said. “There is no way to ever repay or replace the humanity she gave to the world, and I will never forget everything she has given to me. But God knows I will keep trying. I love her.”
Judge Neo, however, took issue with his explanations. She said murder “isn’t love,” and she didn’t find it credible that he completely forgot the events of that night.
“I think that you don’t want to remember,” Neo said. “I hope you do remember every single day. You didn’t take just one life. You took parts of dozens of lives.”
The judge acknowledged the family’s pain and dissatisfaction with the outcome but expressed hope that an end to the judicial process would allow loved ones to move forward with life while holding on to happier memories.
“Alissa would not want to see all these people who she loves struggle,” Neo said. “She would want to see you laughing again and celebrating.”
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