Seaford Man to Serve 25 Years for Fistfight Death

By Kimberly Lenz Tuesday, August 17, 2010

 

A York County man will spend the next 25 years in prison after accusations of infidelity turned into a fistfight, then a confession, then a fall down a flight of stairs that left another man dead.

Substitute York-Poquoson Circuit Court Judge Thomas Nance did not explain the sentence he imposed on 38-year-old Allen Dale Williams for killing Thomas Ragans: 40 years for the second degree murder charge, with 20 years suspended; five years for the unlawful wounding of Thomas Ragans’ wife Robin, who suffered a fractured collarbone and knee in a tumble down her home’s front staircase; and 10 years with five suspended on a charge of breaking and entering with intent to commit assault. Nance said the lesser charges’ sentences would run concurrently, but consecutive to the murder sentence.

Williams showed up at Ragans’ Dandy home early the morning of Nov. 15, 2009, wearing just a pair of sweatpants and sneakers and carrying an accusation that the 46-year-old Ragans was having an affair with Williams’ estranged wife. Williams had shared that accusation with Robin Ragans the night before during a series of phone calls between the pair of strangers, whose only connection was their mutual suspicion of their respective spouses.

Williams confronted Ragans inside the family’s home, demanding that he admit to the affair and promising to leave if he’d tell the truth. The men fought inside the Ragans home, with Williams taking the brunt of the altercation – a full coffee pot smashed across his face - and Thomas Ragans eventually admitting to the affair. Somehow Williams and the couple tumbled down the home’s dozen front steps. Williams rose from the tangle, and before leaving the property on foot he kicked Thomas Ragans in the head. Ragans later died; the medical examiner testified the cause was blunt force trauma, consistent with a fall and not being struck.

Williams addressed the court for the first time since his arrest nine months earlier for Ragans’ murder.

“I would like the Ragans family to know I would do anything to trade places with Tommy Ragans to bring ya’ll your happiness,” said Williams, who looked at Robin Ragans and her family as he spoke. “I would do anything to have that for you guys.”

In letters to the court and testimony, members of both families and friends expressed how lives had unspooled since the morning of Nov. 15.

Robin Ragans testified that the death of her husband had been devastating to the extended family, but focused on her three daughters who will grow up without their father.

“He is going to one day be reunited with his children,” said Robin Ragans of Williams. “My children don’t have that luxury… The closest my children will get to seeing their father is standing over his grave. Unfortunately, that will be a one-sided conversation.”

Ragans mocked a letter Williams had written to her after his conviction, which expressed “remorse for the events leading to Tommy’s untimely death.”

“I want everyone to know that I never set out to seek revenge only understanding and not in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine we would be dealing with such hardship and personal loss over such an unfortunate set of circumstances,” Williams’ letter read. “I would give anything for our families to be complete again enjoying peace and happiness. I ask God every day that he grant me forgiveness for my part in what happened.”

Robin Ragans said an “unfortunate set of circumstances” was forgetting your wallet when you were already on your way to the movies. She suggested Williams should listen to the 911 tape of the fight, and claimed his actions were a “cold, brutal murder” not deserving of any compassion.

Williams’ mother, Rhonda Buckanin, talked about how her son had worked hard to provide a comfortable life for his wife to be a stay-at-home mother to their two young children. Since being jailed  her son has been active in church, she said.

Defense attorney Tim Clancy asked the court for mercy, pointing out Williams’ lack of a violent criminal history and letters from friends, a stepsister, his mother and stepfather, and the parents of friends who’d known and kept in touch with him since he was a teen. All portrayed a fair, hardworking man who’d succeeded at business.

Prosecutor Eileen Addison demanded the judge go beyond the maximum sentence of 40 years for the “far-reaching consequences” of Williams' behavior, for which she felt Williams hadn’t yet taken responsibility.