Meet Dennis Allaben, 46, of Tucker, Georgia. Allaben was arrested after he willingly walked into Clayton County Police Headquarters and confessed to murdering his wife, a Mo’Nique Show set decorator.

Maureen Allaben, the spunky set decorator for “The Mo’Nique Show” and a local food stylist, was killed Sunday by her husband, who drove for two days with her body in the bed of his pickup truck before turning himself in.

After he killed his wife, Dennis Allaben drove from the couple’s home in Tucker to Virginia and told his relatives there on Monday about the murder.  He then fled his relatives’ home, returned to the Atlanta area and early Tuesday morning decided to turn himself in.

Police then recovered 43-year-old Maureen Allaben’s body from her husband’s blue Ford pickup, where she’d been wrapped up and placed after the murder. Dennis Allaben had driven around with his wife’s dead body in the back of his pick-up truck for days before he confessed to the crime:

DeKalb police report said that on Monday, Dennis Allaben drove to his relatives’ home in Chesterfield, Va., and dropped off his two children. The report did not say if the children knew their slain mother was in the back of the pickup.Allaben told his relatives that he had killed his wife and was leaving the children with them, the report said. A woman who answered the phone Wednesday at the Allaben home in Chesterfield said the family had no comment.

On Wednesday afternoon, two of Maureen Allaben’s friends and their children showed up at the Allabens’ Tucker home and laid flowers on the doorstep.

“It’s shocking,” said Jennifer Boyanton, whose children went to school with the Allabens’ young boy and girl. “They were a wonderful family. … She could light up a room.”

Tara Gilmore, also a family friend, said her thoughts are with the Allabens’ children. “I just hope they’re safe,” she said. “It’s a terrible loss.”

Maureen Allaben was a “food stylist” who arranged and shot photos of food through a company called Creative Avenues. Among her clients were Atlanta Bread Company, Home Depot, Olive Garden and Turner Broadcasting. She was working as a decorator for the Mo’Nique comedy show on BET.

Maureen Allaben had recently been featured in Creative Loafing where she was interviewed about her unique job.

(Source)