DELPHI, Ind. – Prosecutor Nick McLeland said in court Thursday that Richard Allen “confessed five or six times” that he killed best friends Abby Williams and Libby German on remote historic trail in Delphi in February 2017.
“He made multiple confessions to multiple people,” McLeland said on Thursday.
Richard Allen’s defense attorney acknowledged “incriminating statements” made by Allen but attributed the comments to his client’s deteriorating mental state.
“He has made incriminating statements implicating himself in the crime,” said Allen’s defense attorney, Bradley Rozzi.
Defense attorneys and prosecutors made arguments in court Thursday about statements previously made by Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen, including the reported “confessions” of the murders.
A trial date was also set for early January 2024.
Allen faces two counts of murder in the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German.
Allen, looking gaunt, appeared in court Thursday in a yellow jumpsuit. During the hearing, defense attorneys indicated that Allen had made self-incriminating statements linking him to the girls’ deaths. Prosecutor Nick McLeland agreed Allen had “made admissions.”
McLeland claimed Allen made “multiple confessions to multiple people.”
Several times during Thursday’s hearing, defense attorneys along with the prosecutor mentioned these reported “confessions” by Allen to the murders of Abby and Libby.
However, Allen’s attorneys argued the statements couldn’t be trusted because of their client’s mental state. They want him moved out of Westville Correctional Facility to a county jail for his mental health and well-being.
His defense team suggested Allen has made “inconsistent” statements since his arrest and attributed them to the stress of his captivity and his increasing difficulty in communicating with his attorneys.
Defense Attorney Brad Rozzi said Allen’s mental and physical well-being has deteriorated since his arrest last fall.
Prosecutors argued that Allen’s treatment is humane.
Allen’s attorneys want him moved to Cass County Jail. A judge took this move under advisement.
Allen’s statements, which he made previously and were revealed for the first time in public, dominated Thursday’s hearing.
The proceedings started at 10 a.m. at the Carroll County courthouse in Delphi. Judge Fran Gull from Allen County has been assigned to the case after Benjamin Diener, a Carroll County judge, recused himself last year.
Gull was expected to hear from defense attorneys and prosecutors regarding several motions. Allen’s defense team had filed a motion to suppress certain evidence from the case.
The probable cause affidavit unsealed in November 2022 indicated that investigators found an unspent round near the girls’ bodies. A forensic expert determined the bullet had been ejected from Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226.
Allen’s attorneys are challenging that evidence, but Gull pushed back a hearing on that specific aspect of the case to a later date.
The judge also indicated that several documents related to the case that have been kept under seal would be made available on a website.
Ultimately, jury selection was scheduled to take place on Jan. 8, 2024, which will kick off the trial into the Delphi murders and determine if Allen is found guilty or innocent of committing the crime. The trial is expected to last three weeks at the Carroll County Courthouse. Jurors will be selected in Allen County and bussed to Delphi.
