The Allison Tornensis Case

On July 4, 2000 a man walked into an Oregon police station and confessed to a murder he committed in 1992. He confessed to a murder that had long since grown cold because investigators had no leads what so ever.  

On August 1, 1992 in Quilcene Washington the body of fifteen year old Allison Tornensis was found in the nearby river.  She had been missing since July 29th. An examination of her body revealed that she had been stabbed 23 times.  The case was shown on America's Most Wanted in 1995 and still nothing panned out.

And then walked in Robert Froehlich in that Oregon police department.  He would readily confess to the crime.  He would allege that he was a drug addict and at the time of the murder he had been on what he called a 5 day binge with methamphetamine's, he was twenty years old at the time.  He was married and just one month earlier his wife had given birth to their first of three children, a girl.  

Over the next several years life did not get much better for Froehlich or for that matter more so for his children.  It appears that both Froehlich and his wife had drug issues over the years and there were many fights between the two.  In December of 1994 he served a sentence (although I cannot say for how long) for 4th degree assault against his wife.  In 1995 he told his probation officer he felt like he was "going crazy" and had recently locked his wife out of their home because he was convinced if she came back inside he would kill her. He and his wife finally divorced in 1997.  

He would claim when he walked into the police department in 2000 that he had been staying with his brother in Oregon and had gotten off the drugs about a month and a half earlier.  He would also claim that this crime had haunted him every day since it happened.  

My research indicates that the case was taken to trial rather than a plea deal or a guilty plea made.  On March 29, 2002 Robert Froehlich was sentenced to sixteen years in prison for 2nd degree murder.  The state was asking for twenty years but the judge believed that going by the law at the time of the crime that sixteen was the maximum in which he could sentence him without there being an issue on appeal.

I am uncertain as to how much time Robert Froehlich spent in prison.  What I can tell you is that he is not incarcerated in the state of Washington at this time. I can only hope this means that he has or is staying out of trouble. It was said that he truly felt remorseful for his actions and while of course he should have never committed the crime, had he not confessed investigators have said it was unlikely the case would have ever been solved.  He gave the family closure and answers.  

Comments

  1. Hi Susan,
    I am Allison's cousin. Her story was also aired on Swamp Murders in 2014. Robert F. spent 14 years in prison and then was sent to Montana I believe. After reading the actual case file the family is no longer convinced that Robert F. ever had anything to do with Allison's murder. We believe Allison knew her killer and that there was more than one person involved; we have our suspicions on who they may be. Even after almost 25 years we are hopeful that the real story will come out. Above there is a lot of information about Robert so I thought I would enlighten your readers about who Allison was. Allison was a beautiful, caring, animal loving young 15 year old girl. She has one younger brother and the two of them were very close. Allison was extremely well liked and would happily help others whenever the opportunity presented herself. She had the most infectious laughter and was never with out a smile. Allison was the daughter you always hope for, she wasn't rebellious, or disrespectful to her elders. She believed deeply in God and prayed often. Allison Lynnette Tornensis has been missed deeply ever since her life was brutally taken at the hands of others. Although Allison would be 40 years old today - she will always be Forever Fifteen.

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    Replies
    1. Sorry this happen I just seemed the story on swamp murders people are so wicked and evil. I'm really sorry

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    2. Thanks for your insight. Must be hard if the wrong person had been convicted. It didn't become clear to me from swamp murders if there was any hard evidence against Froehlich. Just based on the documentary I thought of possibly one other viable suspect, but ofcourse that doesnt mean anything.
      I hope you will get closure

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    3. 14 years in prison is nothing. That meth head deserves death penalty.
      Nils Tornensis

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  2. Her friend, girl who was that night with her and two boys? Was she ever on lie detector?

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  3. I went to school with allison, her brother and one of her cousins. On the long ass bus ride home she would help me with my homework and one of very few who was nice to me. I would like to run into Robert these days as a former special ops combat marine I like to show him a few thigs

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