Orangcrush, The burglar could have seen Allison's boyfriend leave and thought no one was home. Maybe he rang the doorbell and Allison was in the shower and didn't hear it, so he found his way in.
I really don't think it was personal at all. JMO.
You could be right. It's definitely possible that he tried to "legitimately" enter the house and when there was no answer, he found his way inside and she surprised him.
I still have to go back to LE's statement that she was targeted, it was an isolated incident, and that no one in the neighborhood needed to worry (I'm paraphrasing - they also said for people to keep their doors locked, so...). There was this LE quote from an early news report by the local NBC news station: "We believe that
Allison knew her attacker, that she was targeted" (bolding is my own). This seems REALLY personal to me. It feels to me like this was deliberate in terms of Allison - not necessarily in terms of what actually happened (robbery vs. murder), but in terms of it happening *to her* for some reason. My opinion only, of course.
The fact that LE said they think she knew her attacker puts an entirely different spin on things, in my eyes. How *well* she knew her attacker and what that person's motives initially were is up for debate. Maybe things have changed, maybe they've discovered additional details throughout the investigation that indicate it actually wasn't personal.
Here's something else that's been nagging at me. Its been months since this happened, and yet, no one has been named a person of interest or a suspect. Based on the evidence at the crime scene (the killer left DNA and fingerprints), it seems to me like this person was not experienced. His lame attempt to clean up clearly didn't do enough to remove incriminating evidence.
If Allison knew the person who did this to her and it was truly personal as LE has said, they must have run in the same circles (just guessing), which would mean her friends/coworkers/family might have known him as well. Based on that thought, would that be a compelling enough reason for the killer to make sure he never, ever seemed as though he could even be a POI, let alone a suspect? Mouth stays shut, stolen items are kept or disposed of in a way they cannot be found/traced, he's "there for the friends/family," etc.
I dunno. This is a very frustrating case and I so hope there will be some resolution for Allison's family soon.
(And as usual, all of this is just my opinion!)