Delphi Murder Trial: Jury Resumes Friday in Richard Allen Case

CNN
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Jury deliberations will continue on Friday. in the highly publicized double murder trial of Richard Allen, who is accused of killing two teenage girls and leaving their bodies near a hiking trail in the small town of Delphi, Indiana, more than seven years ago.

Allen has pleaded not guilty to two murder charges and two criminal homicide charges in connection with the 2017 deaths of 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” Herman and 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams. If convicted, Allen could be sentenced to up to 130 years in prison. all charges, Associated Press reported.

The 12-member jury began deliberations Thursday and will return Friday morning. They will deliberate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday, until they reach a verdict, according to the CNN affiliate. WTHR. Last month, 16 Allen County residents were selected to serve on the jury, including four as alternates. WTHR.

Allen County Superior Court Judge Frances Gall gave final instructions to jurors Thursday morning and urged them to “consider the facts” before Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLelland made closing arguments, walking jurors through the evidence and testimony presented during the trial, WTHR reported.

“I think the evidence is overwhelming that Richard Allen is the bridge guy and he killed Abby and Libby,” McLelland told the jury.

McLelland showed jurors graphic photos of the girls’ bodies, a video of the suspect taken on Libby’s smartphone that he said captured the girls’ final moments, and a recording of Allen allegedly confessing to his wife during a phone call.

“I did it,” Allen was heard telling his wife. “I killed Abby and Libby.”

Defense attorney Brad Rozzi said in closing arguments that time violations, false confessions and a lack of DNA or weapons evidence should lead to an acquittal.

“The defense believes that what you have heard over the past few weeks is more important than what you hear today,” Rozzi told jurors Thursday.

The defense further argued that there was no physical evidence linking Allen to the murders and said confessions he made in the past were “involuntary” and were prompted by months in solitary confinement.

The Delphi murder case dates back to February 13, 2017, when “Abby” and “Libby” went for a walk across the Monon High Bridge in Delphi. Both girls were reported missing after they failed to meet Libby’s father that day. Their bodies were found the next day, both dead from cuts to their throats, partially covered with sticks.

The case gained public attention in part because of a photo and audio recording of the suspect taken on Libby’s smartphone. The image shows a man walking across a bridge with his hands in his pockets, and the audio recording features a muffled male voice saying, “Guys, get down the hill.” Although police released a photo and audio recording just days after the murders and named “Bridge Boy” as their prime suspect, the case remained cold for more than five years until Allen was arrested in 2022.

Allen apparently evaded police attention by staying in the small town of Delphi and working at the local CVS pharmacy until Tips for Digitizing a Clerk In connection with the investigation in September 2022, he was noticed to be at the crime scene. Just days after the bodies were discovered, Allen told police he was following the trail at the time the girls were believed to have been killed.

Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett said despite the tip, Allen “fell through the cracks.” According to CNN affiliate WLFI. About a month after the nozzle was rediscovered, Allen was arrested after police compared an unspent cartridge found between the girls’ bodies to a gun found in his home during a police search.

Following Allen’s arrest on October 26, 2022, he was charged with two counts of murder in the commission or attempt to commit a kidnapping five days later. Prosecutors later amended the charges to include two more counts of murder.

Particular attention was paid to Allen’s mental state and confessions.

During the trial, which began Oct. 18, the prosecution emphasized Allen’s case. dozens of confessions While incarcerated: Prosecutors say he confessed to the crime more than 60 times, including to his wife, mother, the psychologist who treated him, the warden and other prison staff and inmates. They played audio recordings of some of the confessions for the jury.

Monica Vala, a former lead psychologist at the Westville Correctional Facility where Allen was held, testified that he initially told her he was innocent but began confessing to crimes in April 2023, around the time he was again placed on suicide watch.

Vala testified that Allen told her, “I killed Abby and Libby. I’m sorry,” according to CNN affiliate WTHR. He said he initially planned to rape the victims but ran away when he saw a van nearby, and that he slit the girls’ throats and lined their bodies with sticks, she testified.

The defense sought to paint a portrait of Allen as a mentally ill man whose fragile mental state was exacerbated by months spent in solitary confinement, including during the time period when he confessed to the crimes. While in prison, he was placed on suicide watch twice, exhibited strange behavior such as eating his own feces and banging his head, and was at one time diagnosed with “brief psychotic disorder,” according to Vala’s testimony.

Testifying for the defense, Dina Dwenger, a clinical psychologist who worked for the Indiana Department of Corrections Behavioral Health, testified that Allen was diagnosed with a serious mental illness in April 2023 and that a team of mental health professionals concluded that he had “serious disability” According to CNN affiliate WRTV.

The defense had originally hoped to present a so-called “Odinism” defense: the theory that the murders were committed by followers of Odinism, a Scandinavian pagan religion recently adopted by white supremacists. But Judge Gall has repeatedly denied motions to present that theory.

Audio recording and bullet evidence were key

Despite Allen’s confessions, there is very little physical evidence linking him to the case: a DNA expert testifying on behalf of the State did not find any of Allen’s DNA at the crime scene, and Libby’s or Abby’s DNA was not found on items found at the crime scene. his house.

Prosecutors turned their attention to an unspent .40-caliber cartridge found among the girls’ bodies, which a prosecution expert testified matched Allen’s gun. According to WRTV, the defense questioned the evidence of the bullet, questioning why additional pictures of the cartridge were not taken and suggesting the bullet could have been fired from a law enforcement officer’s weapon.

The prosecution also tried to match Allen with video and audio recordings of “Bridge Guy” taken on Libby’s cell phone. Indiana State Police Chief Brian Harshman, who said he listened to more than 700 of Allen’s prison phone calls, testified for the prosecution that he believed “the voice of the ‘Bridge Guy’ is the voice of Richard Allen.” According to WRTV.

“Richard Allen is the bridge guy,” McLelland told the jury. “He kidnapped them and then killed them.”

In response, Rozzi said witnesses did not identify Allen as the person who was on the hiking trail or bridge when the teens went missing. He also noted that Allen was still living in Delphi more than five years after the girls were killed.

“He had every chance to run, but he didn’t because he didn’t do it,” Rozzi told jurors.