Studio Owner Not Seeking Victim’s Life Insurance

The widow of a studio owner suspected of ordering an employee’s murder said in court papers Friday that she wants none of the $2.5 million from the victim’s life insurance policy, which named the studio as sole beneficiary.

Barbara Dale Allen maintains, however, that the studio should get the proceeds, which have been deposited in an interest-bearing account under the supervision of the Los Angeles Superior Court, according to court papers.

“It goes to her business. There’s no doubt about it. [But] she’s not making a claim to it personally,” said attorney Lawrence H. Nagler, who represents Barbara Allen and the studio.

Nagler said the studio, Hollywood Recording Services, has many clients and creditors in line for cash. “Hollywood has debts,” he said.

The studio’s general manager, Barry J. Skolnick, 30, was slain Jan. 30 in a garage near the studio offices on Sunset Boulevard. Detectives have said Barbara Allen has cooperated with their investigation, and Nagler said she is “absolutely” innocent of any wrongdoing.

Her husband, Coleman Allen, owned the studio and a Huntington Beach finance firm until his death April 6 of heart disease. The finance company, Premium Commercial Services Corp., is at the center of several police investigations into possible connections with several violent incidents, including the slaying of a Fountain Valley flight attendant last year.

LAPD detectives said that before Coleman Allen’s death they were focusing on him as the prime suspect in orchestrating Skolnick’s death.

Police said tips and financial records suggested he masterminded the shooting.

Los Angeles police have offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who shot Skolnick in the head. Police suspect that the killer was a hit man.

Premium Commercial is now being probed for possible links to a number of violent crimes, including the slaying in June of flight attendant Jane Carver, killed as she finished a jog near her home in Fountain Valley.

Police suspect Carver was mistakenly killed in a botched hit aimed at another woman from the same community, who had filed a lawsuit charging that Premium Commercial used strong-arm tactics to collect a $400,000 debt from her husband.