News of the Delphi murders as Richard Allen trial continues November 6, 2024

Richard Allen’s defense team unexpectedly abandoned its case just after the hearing began Wednesday at the Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi.

Hours later, around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday, prosecutors finished questioning their final rebuttal witness and the trial was adjourned for that day so both sides could prepare closing arguments. Starting at 9 a.m. Thursday, lawyers for the state and then Allen will spend hours piecing together all the evidence they have presented before the jury begins deliberations to reach a verdict.

Allen, 52, is accused of killing two teenagers who went missing on Feb. 13, 2017, and were found dead the next day. He was arrested in 2022 and faces two counts of murder and two counts of murder during a kidnapping in the deaths of Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” Herman.

Journalists from Indianapolis Star And Lafayette Journal and Courier will cover the case as it makes its way through the court system.

This story will be updated throughout the day.

During cross-examination of the final Indiana witness, defense attorney Bradley Rozzi showed a portion of the video that showed Allen motionless and strapped into a wheelchair for a medical examination.

The video, which Rozzi previously withheld from the public in the courtroom to protect Allen’s dignity, was filmed on June 20, 2023, a month after Dr. John Martin of Westville Correctional Facility said Allen appeared to be emerging from psychosis. Martin said that during a meeting earlier in the day, Allen was communicative and spontaneously told Martin that he wanted to apologize to Abby and Libby’s families.

But even Martin doubted that Allen, shown in the video at 10:52, which he had not previously watched, had emerged from his psychotic state.

Rebuttal witnesses in Richard Allen’s Delphi murders trial take a stand

On Wednesday, Richard Allen’s defense team abandoned its case.

Dressed in a white T-shirt and bright orange pants, a frail-looking Allen is strapped to a wheelchair as guards and doctors surround him in the examination room. As doctors take his blood pressure and scan him with a stethoscope, Allen stares ahead and barely moves. Alarmingly, Allen lost 50 pounds in prison, Martin said.

In the courtroom, Allen couldn’t look at his past self. He covered his eyes with his hands and craned his head to look over his right shoulder at his family sitting in the first row of seats. His wife, sister and mother lowered their heads to avoid watching the video and cried quietly. Allen himself began to tremble, and his eyes filled with tears. Allen’s lawyer, Andrew Baldwin, squeezed his client’s bicep and then threw his arm over his chair.

“Does this video cast doubt on your diagnosis that Mr. Allen was no longer psychotic on June 20, 2023?” – Rozzi asked Martin.

“Yes,” said Martin.

However, Martin told prosecutor Stacey Diener that the video did not cause him to doubt his recollection of the conversation with Allen that day.

In a transcript of Martin’s June 20 conversation with Allen, the doctor wrote that Allen had several self-inflicted bruises on his face. He wrote that Allen “claims to be suicidal” but “overall his condition has improved significantly and he does not appear psychotic.”

During the session, Allen decided to wear only a T-shirt and boxers, despite his prison uniform. Allen’s eye contact was poor and his voice soft, but he “was coherent and spoke without free association or flights of ideas,” Martin wrote. “He focused on the person, the place, the time of day and the situation.” He got enough sleep and ate most of his food.

But Allen still didn’t say much. However, he said he was worried about his wife and “wants to apologize to the families of his victims,” according to Martin.

Martin argued that Allen entered prison with underlying conditions of depression and anxiety. By May 2023, he believed Allen had recovered from the psychosis that began in April with the help of antipsychotic medications and had returned to his baseline level of depression. He gave Allen three monthly doses in April, May and June to ensure he didn’t relapse.

“I continued to monitor him,” Martin said, “and for seven weeks there was no sign of psychosis.”

In response to a question from the jury, Martin said it was possible to go into psychosis and come out of it on the same day. Jurors also asked Martin whether the video led him to believe Allen may have been faking his condition, as suggested in earlier testimony from Dr. Monica Vala, a therapist Allen saw in prison.

“No,” said Martin, “I don’t think so.”

Prosecutors sought to refute the defense’s position that Allen was suffering from long periods of psychosis when he confessed to killing Abby and Libby.

Their rebuttal centered on two witnesses whose testimony is intended to refute the horrific conditions defense lawyers described to the jury and establish that Allen’s psychosis was not consistent.

Brian HarshmanA senior Indiana police officer who listened to hundreds of Allen’s calls from prison testified that Allen had been in solitary confinement for most of the last two years since his arrest. IN Westville Correctional Facilityhe was allowed rest and the opportunity to communicate with his neighbors from his cell. The conditions of his detention were similar Wabash Valley Correctional Facilitywhere he was transferred about a year later in Westville.

At the Cass County Jail, where he is being held during his trial, he has a small lounge and a desk.

Dr. John Martin, a Westville psychiatrist, was also called to determine that although Allen showed signs of psychosis, the symptoms eventually subsided after he was given antipsychotic medication. Allen also admitted to crimes during some periods of apparent sanity.

Martin testified that he first saw signs of psychosis on April 13, 2023, when Allen was found lying naked in his cell with feces smeared on his body. Allen was later given antipsychotic drugs.

By April 25, 2023, Martin stated that he noticed an improvement in Allen’s mental state. By May 2, 2023, there were no signs of psychosis, Martin said. Psychotic symptoms reappeared on May 8 and 9, 2023, but soon resolved. Martin said when he met with Allen on May 23, 2023, and again a week later, he saw no signs of psychosis.

On June 20, 2023, Martin stated that he decided to stop giving Allen antipsychotic medication after meeting with him again and finding no signs of psychosis.

“He told me that day,” Martin testified, “that I would like to apologize to Abby and Libby’s families.”

Seven minutes into proceedings Wednesday morning, Richard Allen’s defense abandoned its case.

The unexpected turn of events came less than a week after the defense began calling witnesses, somewhat stung by special judge Frances Gall’s refusal to allow them to present their alternative theory that the girls were killed by Odinists during a sacrificial ritual.

The trial will now move to jury instructions when a 12-member panel drawn from Allen County reaches a verdict.

At 9:15 a.m., the jury was excused as the state and defense discussed panel instructions. The contentious issue was whether Allen would testify, as well as his “previous conflicting statements.” Gall said her instructions to the jury included that Allen would not testify.

After deliberating for half an hour outside the courtroom, prosecutors returned and said they had no problem with the instructions.

Brad Rozzi, one of Allen’s lawyers, asked by the end of the day to come up with a proposal for how jurors should evaluate Allen’s “incriminating statements.” Gall gave them until the end of the working day.

Closing arguments will last between two and two and a half hours.

A new set of rules was announced at the start of Wednesday’s hearing.

People will no longer be allowed to line up for courtroom seats before 7 a.m. The case has attracted international attention from the media and true crime fanatics, including YouTube and podcast personalities. Many were either lining up or asking people to wait in line until midnight in hopes of getting a spot.

Members of the media were moved to the back of the courtroom after they were accused of talking during the trial. The courtroom was warned that speakers would be removed.

Richard Allen’s family now sits where the media were, in the front row of the courtroom, prompting Becky Patty, Libby German’s grandmother, to say, “This is nonsense…”

Libby’s family remains seated in the second row.

The number of seats available to the public has also been reduced from 24 to 18.