Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen confessed to the 2017 killings: prosecutors
Prosecutors say the man arrested for the 2017 murder of two small-town Indiana teens confessed to the crime multiple times while behind bars — while the defense team scrambled to convince the judge that the alleged statements are unreliable.
Richard Allen, 50, “made multiple confessions to multiple people” about his alleged role in the Feb. 13, 2017, deaths of Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, in Delphi, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicolas McCleland said at a hearing last week, WRTV reported.
Allen’s defense attorney, Bradley Rozzi, acknowledged that his client made “incriminating statements,” but attributed them to the CVS technician’s deteriorating mental condition, FOX59 said.
“He has made incriminating statements implicating himself in the crime,” Rozzi admitted, though he cautioned that the alleged admissions were “inconsistent.”
Allen, who is on suicide watch at Westville Correctional Facility, is under immense stress and is having difficulty communicating with his legal team, Rozzi claimed.
Allen looked gaunt and dazed in court last Thursday. He was handcuffed and wearing a yellow jumpsuit.
His distraught wife was in the crowd during the proceedings, WRTV said.
“He’s my person,” she whispered to a reporter before the hearing started.
Allen was arrested last October in connection with the murders of Liberty and Abigail, who disappeared while hiking the Monon High Bridge Trail on the afternoon of Feb. 13, 2017.
Their bodies were discovered off the trail one day later.
The investigation went cold for almost six years, during which time police released an eerie cellphone video recorded by Liberty shortly before her death that showed an adult male approaching the pair and saying “down the hill.”
Allen was later photographed posing near the suspect sketch based on the footage.
Although authorities have not confirmed how the girls were killed, a probable cause affidavit that was unsealed after Allen’s arrest stated that police found an unspent round near their bodies, according to FOX59.
The bullet was later matched to Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226.
Allen has pleaded not guilty to both murder charges. His lawyers are trying to get the ballistics excluded from the trial, which is scheduled to start on Jan. 8, 2024.
In November, Carroll County prosecutors said they believe Allen is “not the only actor” linked to the killing, though it is unclear if they are still pursuing that line of inquiry.
Earlier this year, Allen’s attorneys filed a request to move him to Cass County Jail, which is closer to his family, WRTV reported.
Special Judge Fran Gull indicated at the hearing that she was taking the filing under advisement.
On Monday, Gull also revealed plans to release some sealed documents related to the case later this week following a request from “The Murder Sheet” podcaster Kevin Greenlee, FOX59 said.
Allen had no criminal record at the time of his arrest, though he was involved in a “domestic incident” in 2015.
His initial jury trial scheduled for March 2022 was postponed due to “voluminous evidence” that had not been shared with the defense.
