July 30, 2024, Day 1 pre-trial hearing
Up early in Delphi. First of three days of pre-trial hearings today in the case of Richard Allen, charged in the 2017 murders of Delphi teens Abby Williams and Libby German.
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Heads up: Only after we’re out of the hearing. No phones, no electronics powered up in courthouse on this case.
Lunch break takeaways in Delphi … 1/
Defense team argued that arrangements have been made to move Richard Allen from Wabash Valley prison to Cass County Jail, modifying safekeeping order from Nov 2022. Carroll sheriff says he’s ok w/that, as long as Allen isn’t returned to jail in Delphi. 2/
Judge Gull takes safekeeping motion under advisement. 3/
Next: Defense asks to compel prosecutor to hand over evidence w/better organization of 26TB of case files. Prosecutor says he’s giving Allen’s attys what they need, even ‘spoon feeding’ them, but they want things prosecutors don’t have. Judge takes that under advisement, too 4/
After lunch schedule: A motion from Allen’s team to dismiss. Later this week: motions to suppress statements Allen made, prosecution’s list of words and phrases that should be banned from the trial in the murders of Abby Williams and Libby German. 5/
Of note: This morning’s hearing, scheduled to start at 10 am, was delayed until after 11 am. Judge Gull said she didn’t anticipate the construction between Fort Wayne and Delphi.
Court session resumes at 1:30 pm.
Also of note: No phones/cameras/electronics at all allowed 6/
Cx: session resumes at 1:20 pm
Afternoon session...
Here’s an afternoon wrap from Delphi, in the first of three days of pretrial hearings on murder charges against Richard Allen, charged in 2017 murders of Delphi teens Libby German and Abby Williams 1/
Allens attorneys argued to dismiss the case, building off what they called intentional efforts ignore a trail that led to involvement, they say, by a local man who was involved in ritualistic killings in name of Odin. 2/
Atty Andrew Baldwin called it ‘an extreme remedy, but that Allen was saddled with charges that should have aimed to someone else who police didn’t adequately investigate before clearing. Prosecutor: no evidence to back those claims, warrant dismissal. 2/
Judge Fran Gull took matter under advisement. Hearings continue in murder case Wednesday. Richard Allen, dressed in prison orange, didn’t speak during today’s hearings. He mouthed, ‘I love you,’ to his wife and mother in the gallery on the way out. 3/
More details later at
http://basedinlafayette.com 4/
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July 31, 2024, Day 2 pretrial hearing
Day 2 of 3 of pretrial hearings in the Delphi murders case.
A lunch break summary. 1/
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The day is devoted to a motion to suppress statements and confessions Richard Allen made to inmates, prison staff and his family while in custody, since being charged in Oct 2022 in the 2017 murders of Abby Williams and Libby German. 2/
Defense case revolves around Allen’s conditions at Westville Correctional Facility, a prison where he was sent for safekeeping shortly after his arrest. Attys are lining up an argument that the move kept Allen from due process, right to counsel, 5th amendment rights. 2/
During two hours on the stand, former warden at Westville testified that Allen confessed to him, saying he’d murdered the girls, calling them by name. Prosecution suggests that the situation involves 61 incriminating statements over two months offered by Allen. 3/
Judge Fran Gull takes under advisement a motion from the prosecution to dismiss the effort to suppress Allen’s statements. She expresses concern about defense arguments that ‘state actors’ were involved in generating statements, particularly when made to his wife and family. 4/
Hearing resumes at 1 pm. 5/
At one point, Richard Allen found Jesus and tried to make things right with God by confessing more than 60 times to the Delphi murders of Abby & Libby, an Indiana State Police detective testified today.
Allen's defense team looks to toss it all Details:
Details:
https://basedinlafayette.com/p/isp-detective-allen-confessed-60 r=2fe&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Long day wraps in Carroll Circuit Court. Among the highlights in motion to suppress statements made by Richard Allen about the murders of Abby Williams and Libby German. A few highlights: 1/
An ISP detective says Allen, in phone calls and video from his prison cell, confessed to family, guards and inmates “60-plus times … and that’s being conservative.”Says two-month string of confessions came in 2023 after Allen says he found Jesus. 2/
Defense attys press questions about how confessions were inconsistent and came during terrible conditions in Westville Correctional Facility unit where Allen was held in ‘a prison inside a prison.’ Said conditions made him crack physically, mentally. 3/
Final arguments come Thursday morning to start Day 3 of pretrial hearings in the case.
More tonight at
http://basedinlafayette.com 4/
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August 1, 2024, Day 3 pretrial hearing
Back for Day 3 of pretrial hearings in the Delphi murders case.
Here’s a look at the arguments from Day 2: ISP detective: Allen confessed ’60-plus’ times to Delphi murders.
Defense looks to toss it all:
https://basedinlafayette.com/p/isp-detective-allen-confessed-60
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Today’s hearings concentrate on prosecution motion to ban some words and phrases, mainly tied to the defense team’s third party theory of a Norse pagan ritualistic sacrifice. Testimony this morning includes an expert who called the scene “textbook.” 2/
Prosecutor claps back, saying the expert on ritualistic murders was working only with info spoon fed to her by Richard Allen’s attys. Expected this afternoon: what detectives know, and testimony of ex-wife of one man the defense says might have played a role in Odinist plot. 3/
Long day, 11 1/2 hours, in court just ended in Carroll County.A few highlights for now … 4/
Judge Gull ended session siding w/defense, agreeing to vacate a safekeeping order that had Richard Allen in a state prison since November 2022. Back in custody of Carroll County. Sheriff says tonight he’s not ready to say where Allen is going. Cass Co Jail past few days. 5/
Much of the day was given to prosecution’s effort to limit certain phrases from the trial, mainly revolving around defense’s third party, Odinist suspects theory. In play: more data from Libby German’s cellphone, alibis and brutal blood pattern descriptions from the scene. 6/
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More later tonight (it’ll be late, friends) at
http://basedinlafayette.com
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@davebangert
