Prosecutor calls Odinism filing in Delphi murders defense ‘dramatic,’ ‘fanciful’
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The prosecutor in the Delphi murders called the defense attorneys’ claim that the murders of teens Abby Williams and Libby German were a ritualistic sacrifice “a fanciful claim made for social media to devour” in a new court filing.
In the filing, Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland flatly rejects the idea that the 2017 murders of the teens in Delphi were part of a ritual connected to Odinism, a religion connected to paganism.
He specifically labels the defense theory as “colorful, dramatic, and highly unprofessional, and it is not completely true.”
Richard Allen‘s attorneys pushed the Odinism angle as a way to get evidence against him thrown out of court. Kevin Greenlee, co-host of The Murder Sheet podcast, says that the defense adding Odinism to the defense was a way to “season” it.
“In this reply, Prosecutor McLeland saw no need to discuss the Odin material. He just talked about what was supposed to be arguing about whether or not the probable cause for the search warrant was valid,” Greenlee said.
The hosts of the podcast say McLeland could choose to challenge the Odinism claims by the defense if there is a hearing to determine if law enforcement lied to the judge to get the search warrant on Allen’s house.
“He may be saving that for the hearing itself rather than putting it all in the filing,” said Aine Cain, co-host of the podcast.
The prosecution also wants to block cameras from Allen’s trial. Among the reasons is trying to avoid a circus atmosphere at the Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi.
“The prosecutor in these documents is saying that if we have cameras in the courtroom, the defense attorneys are going to be grandstanding, they’re going to be behaving irresponsibly, and evidence of that is we’ve already seen them do that in court filings,” Greenlee said.
Something noticeably missing from the new court filings: any response to the defense claim that Odinist guards are watching Allen and told him to confess to the murders.
Cain and Greenlee said the prosecutor could challenge those allegations when they respond to the defense’s motion to have Allen moved from the Westville correctional facility.