Indiana's Special Judge Fran Gull talked about two different issues on Monday regarding the Delphi murder case against Richard Allen, including a request by Allen's legal team to remove the murder charges.
At the court hearing on Monday in Fort Wayne, Allen's lawyer, Andrew Baldwin, argued that the murder charges should be dropped against his client, stating that police never looked into a different theory in the killings of Abby Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14.
Baldwin asked former Rushville Police Chief Todd Click to testify. according to FOX 59, who suggested the involvement of Carroll County Odinists in the killings.
Specifically, Allen's lawyers previously said that "members of a pagan Norse religion, called Odinism, hijacked by white nationalists, [who] ritualistically sacrificed Abigail Williams and Liberty German."
Gull ruled that the two murder charges would stay but chose to dismiss two kidnapping charges.against Allen. Richard Allen/Police Handout; Libby & Abby/Handout
Authorities think that Allen's lawyers may be responsible for putting sensitive images on social media groups that focused on the killings.
Gull first reprimanded Allen's lawyers in December 2022 after they publicly released a statement denouncing the charges against Allen only weeks after they took the case themselves.
Delphi Motion Defense Costs
As CrimeOnline previously reported by Leigh Egan
, Baldwin and Rozzi stepped down from the case last year after Gull called for their removal over the October 2023 leak. The lawyers took the case to the Indiana Supreme Court and were reinstated in February.Flowers are placed at the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Ind., Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, near where Liberty German and Abigail Williams were last seen and where the bodies were discovered. The Indiana State Police announced an arrest in the murders of the two teenage girls killed during a 2017 hiking trip in northern Indiana. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
The victims were found murdered near the Monon High Bridge on February 14, 2017, after taking an outing to the bridge the day prior. The outing was only meant for a few hours, and when the girls failed to return, family members contacted police.
Following his arrest, investigators searched Allen's residence and found:
A .40 caliber pistol
- Additional firearms
- Boots
- Knives
- The Indiana State Police Laboratory examined a bullet found at the crime scene. It determined that the bullet came from a gun registered to Allen, and "forensically determined" that the bullet cycled through his gun.
Allen claimed he never let anyone else use his gun, but he had no explanation when investigators told him a bullet from his firearm was found at the crime scene.
The process of choosing a jury will begin on May 13 in Fort Wayne for Allen’s trial, and then move to the Carroll County Courthouse.
Please come back later for updates.
[Featured image: FILE – A temporary memorial to Liberty German and Abigail Williams near the place they were last seen and where their bodies were found stands along the Monon Trail leading to the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Ind., Oct. 31, 2022. Jurors for the trial of Richard Matthew Allen, an Indiana man accused of killing the two teenage girls, will be brought from Allen County, including the city of Fort Wayne, as decided by a judge in the case on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)]
Indiana’s Special Judge Fran Gull addressed two different matters on Monday related to the Delphi murder case against Richard Allen, including a request by Allen’s legal team to dismiss the murder charges. During the court session on Monday in Fort Wayne, Allen’s lawyer, Andrew Baldwin, argued that his client should not be charged with murder, claiming that the police …