Abby & Libby - The Delphi Murders - Richard Allen Arrested - #209

[arielilane]

@KaitlynReports

The first witness of the day was Christopher Gootee, a Hammond Police Department officer who also had been assigned to the FBI GRIT Taskforce.

He helped interview Brad Weber, a man who lives near the Monon High Bridge trail.

Gootee said he couldn’t remember what Weber said despite seeing the report written by FBI Special Agent Pohl.


7:32 AM · Nov 2, 2024

 

[arielilane]

@KaitlynReports

Defense calls Dr. Deanna Dwenger
- She’s a clinical psychologist who contracts mental health providers to the IDOC.

Dwenger testified she didn’t determine which DOC facility would house Allen, and she did not know who made that determination.

She said Dr. Wala told her of her interest in the Richard Allen case after she was assigned to Allen.

Dwenger said she was aware Allen was always on camera while he was in his cell.

That concerned her. She recommended the cameras be removed from his cell to improve his mental health… but said those cameras were never removed.


7:36 AM · Nov 2, 2024

 

[arielilane]

@KaitlynReports

Dr. Dwenger was asked about solitary confinement, and she told the defense attorney it was not good for mental health.

She also said the Department of Corrections has a mental health policy that someone with SMI should not be in solitary confinement for more than 30 days.Allen was ins solitary for his entire 13 month stay at Westville.

She also stated it is possible that someone left in solitary for a long-term period could suffer additional mental health problems.


7:38 AM · Nov 2, 2024

 

[MassGuy]

#NEW: This morning the jury was shown videos of Richard Allen inside Westville Correctional Facility. The screen was turned almost entirely away from the public, though, for “several people’s privacy,” according to the defense.

The media took as many notes as possible on jury reaction.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1852726441265201631

 

[arielilane]

@KaitlynReports

A team of three mental health professionals discussed whether Allen was feigning mental illness or psychotic behavior in April 2023.

A psychiatrist met with Allen that month. The first report stating Allen was suffering from a “grave disability” was April 13, 2023 when they determined Allen was not able to care for himself.

That team of mental health professionals concluded Allen had deteriorated enough that intervention was required—whether he was faking or genuine.

Dr. Dwenger said Richard Allen was involuntarily given Haldol, a drug that was supposed to help with his symptoms of psychosis.


7:46 AM · Nov 2, 2024

 

[arielilane]

@KaitlynReports

The jury asked Dr. Dwenger how medical professionals know if a patient is faking or if it is a real diagnosis.

Dwenger said they listen closely to the patient’s story. If it is organized, she said the patient is likely faking psychosis. If the story is disorganized, is not easily followed, and is not chronological, it is more likely the patient is suffering from psychosis or is delusional.


7:48 AM · Nov 2, 2024

 

[DianaWW]

Wait…so now he saw a person or a van??

If I recall correctly there was some confusion amongst reporters in court that day, who weren’t sure if he’d said ‘man’ or ‘van’. I believe this has now been cleared up and it was definitely ‘van’, but I’m not certain so I will say JMO.

 

[arielilane]

@KaitlynReports

Max Baker was called next.

He works for the defense team and curated the video taken of Richard Allen while the defendant was in prison.

Among the videos the defense wanted to present were transport videos that showed Richard Allen moving around within the Westville.

The other videos were of Allen in his jail cell. There was a discussion about the admissibility of the videos.

Judge Gull ultimately decided the video would be allowed, but she would not allow the audio from those videos to be heard by the jury.

The defense hit roadblocks Friday morning while it tried to submit the video as evidence. They eventually decided to recess Baker as a witness and hope to call him later as they continue to present their case.


7:57 AM · Nov 2, 2024

 

[arielilane]

@KaitlynReports

Defense calls Brad Heath-

Heath lives outside Delphi, Indiana.

He is now retired, but worked for an exterminator in February 2017 when Abby and Libby disappeared near the Monon High Bridge trail.

Heath testified that he had a customer who lived near the Monon High Bridge and visited their home on 2/13/17.

He testified that he saw a vehicle parked near the trail around 8:45 that morning, and said it was in the same spot when he came back later in the day.

He said it looked out of place and "looked like the Tommy Lee Jones police car.”


8:03 AM · Nov 2, 2024

 

[justtrish]

Wait…so now he saw a person or a van??

No that was different reports from court on what they heard. Some heard man some heard van. It has since been clarified what Dr. Wala said was van. Dr. Wala never said man or van, she said van, but some in the court room wrote down man, others wrote down van. It became clear what was said when the detective took the stand about going back to look into what RA said about seeing a VAN.

 

[arielilane]

@KaitlynReports

Defense calls David McCain-

He testified to being on the trails 2/13/17 from 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. He estimated he was there about an hour, and parked near the Mears entrance.

He did not recall seeing any other cars in the lot. As he was leaving the bridge, he said he saw a couple. He told the court he may have seen some other people in the distance that afternoon, but is certain the only people he passed were the couple.

McCain said before he left, he heard a man shouting, “have you seen 2 girls?” as he was leaving, but he did not hear any unusual sounds while on the trails or on the bridge that afternoon.


8:08 AM · Nov 2, 2024

 

[Salah11]

@KaitlynReports

The first full day of defense witnesses taking the stand in the trial of Richard Allen was overshadowed by Judge Fran Gull's ruling at the end of the court session. The Special Judge ruled against a second defense motion to allow testimony related to Odenism, ritualistic killing, and Norse paganism evidence.


7:29 AM · Nov 2, 2024

Good let’s not let in fictional rubbish with absolutely zero proof.

 

[arielilane]

@KaitlynReports

Defense calls Darrell Sterrett-

He was the Delphi fire chief in 2017.He said he arrived at the Monon High Bridge 2/13/17 around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m.

He took a crew of six people with him to search the trails for the girls. Sterrett called it a "hasty search. Boots to the ground" was their priority that night.

"My thought was they were hunkered down, cold and scared, waiting for us to find them."

He said the search concentrated on the south and west portion of the trails, but they searched "some" on the east as well. He said their search efforts that day lasted until 2:30 a.m.


8:10 AM · Nov 2, 2024

 

[arielilane]

@KaitlynReports

When Sterrett was asked if anyone had looked in the water, he said, "Somebody may have looked in the creek." He added that crews looked in the water as they were searching. He said he could hear others working and exploring in the vicinity.


8:11 AM · Nov 2, 2024

 

[arielilane]

@KaitlynReports

Steve Mullin was called to the stand last-

The defense attacked the investigation sighting a number of interview tapes from early on in the investigation being missing.


8:12 AM · Nov 2, 2024

 

[Kudzuu]

Question: Do a lot of people carry guns around like that? Like one bullet all set to go.

On the BG video isn't there a sound made like a gun - just off the top of my head. For all we know if there was a sound - it could be anything, but if it was a gun I'm sure a person that uses one a lot would know that sound blindfolded.

I'm sure there are some on here that know what a gun sounds like at every point - I most definitely don't.

If say a gun was thought to be heard in the background of Libby's video would that be a gun that is already loaded or not?

Is it something easy to tell or not.


JMO MOO JMT

Barny Fife carried one bullet in his pocket. But he had a revolver and not a semi automatic.

But seriously I don't know of any reason to only have one bullet chambered unless you only have one bullet left in your possession.

IMO that was RA adding information when unnecessary.

 

[BUF]

@KaitlynReports

The first witness of the day was Christopher Gootee, a Hammond Police Department officer who also had been assigned to the FBI GRIT Taskforce.

He helped interview Brad Weber, a man who lives near the Monon High Bridge trail.

Gootee said he couldn’t remember what Weber said despite seeing the report written by FBI Special Agent Pohl.


7:32 AM · Nov 2, 2024

“I think” I heard in the WHTR debrief last night that FBI Pohl would be in court testifying on Monday after the judge denied him testifying by video.

They also said Brad Webber would be called to the stand by the defense on Monday

 

[WildHuncher]

Wait…so now he saw a person or a van??

Is there a reasonable doubt lurking in there somewhere?

That got cleared up yesterday. People in the courtroom had trouble hearing the word. The first two reports I saw were split between “man” and “van.” IIRC the next one I saw mentioned it being hard to tell between “man” and “van.”

The “van”s have owned the day ever since so far as I can tell. That makes more sense. If RA saw a man but BW was in a van, no one would have seen confirmation of guilty knowledge in his description.

 

[Inthedetails]

If I recall correctly there was some confusion amongst reporters in court that day, who weren’t sure if he’d said ‘man’ or ‘van’. I believe this has now been cleared up and it was definitely ‘van’, but I’m not certain so I will say JMO.

Hard to confuse "person" with "van," except on purpose, but easier to mistake "man" for "van."

Sure wish this was broadcast so we could rewind and listen a few times for ourselves.

jmo

 

[SeattleStew]

Does anyone know how the jurors are accommodated to vote in our national election on Tuesday?