Delphi jury selection continues: 14 jurors finalized; 2 alternate positions remain
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — 4:53 p.m. UPDATE: News 8’s Kyla Russell reports that 12 jurors have been finalized for Allen’s trial, with two alternate positions filled, as well.
Two more alternates remain to be selected.
In total, the jury is composed of 8 women and 6 men.
UPDATE: According to News 8’s Kyla Russell, during jury selection, Special Judge Francis Gull asked potential jurors if they had heard about the case and 60-70% of the panel raised their hand.
Also, the state stated they planned to call around 50 witnesses, while the defense said they will call around 120.
Jury selection in the trial of Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen started Monday morning in Allen County.
Allen, 52, is charged with murder and murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in the February 2017 deaths of of 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German. The girls’ bodies were found near the Monon High Bridge near Delphi.
Allen was a pharmacy technician who worked and lived in Delphi, the hometown of Williams and German. He was arrested in October 2022.
Dozens of potential jurors will pack the Allen County Courthouse in Fort Wayne on Monday morning. Twelve of them will be tasked with the decision of whether Richard Allen murdered Williams and German.
Jury selection is expected to last for three days. The trial will begin Friday at the Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi.
Once the 12 jurors and four alternates are selected, they will be transported to Carroll County, which is about 100 miles from Fort Wayne.
The jurors will stay at a hotel near the courthouse in Delphi. Their meals and activities will be paid for by the county, according to News 8’s Kyla Russell.
The jury will be sequestered for the duration of the trial and will not be able to use cell phones or watch news broadcasts.
Jury selection comes roughly five months after Allen’s trial was originally scheduled to begin. According to the Allen County Superior Court, a few hundred jury summons were sent out for the May trial date that did not happen. Those potential jurors were not put back into the jury pool and won’t be for two years, Russell reports.
Special Judge Fran Gull has set aside roughly four weeks for Allen’s trial, with proceedings expected to last until about Nov. 15.