Delphi Murders trial: Day 1 live blog
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Seven years, eight months and 5 days since Abby Williams and Libby German went missing in Delphi, the trial for accused killer Richard Allen is about to begin.
Allen, 52, is charged with murder and murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in the deaths of 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams and 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German. The girls’ bodies were found near the Monon High Bridge near Delphi on Feb. 14, 2017, a day after they went missing. Allen was arrested in October 2022.
Follow this blog throughout the day and stay tuned to News 8 for the very latest.
12:48 PM
According to News 8’s Kyla Russell, the defense has said that the composite sketches will NOT be allowed as evidence in the trial.
12:30 PM
The media entered the courtroom at 8:35 a.m., at least 23 people from the public were turned away. Richard Allen entered the courtroom around 8:49 wearing a pink/mauve button-down shirt with khaki pants and glasses.
The prosecution handed the German family a box of tissues. Allen spoke to his attorneys as the judge entered the courtroom.
The judge tells the courtroom that two media outlets were ‘filming jurors’ and confiscated a camera from NBC network and 5 cameras from the Associated Press. The judge says the batteries and SD cards were removed. The judge re-read the decorum order and excludes them from the trial.
At 9:25 Judge Gull read instructions about the process to the jury, explaining reasonable doubt and the meaning of murder and kidnapping.
Prosecution Opening Statement
At 9:42 prosecutor Nick McLeland began his opening statement. He describes the events of February 13, 2017 that it was a ‘nice summer day in the middle of winter’ and that the girls were laughing and joking at the park. McLeland says he will refer to the girls as Abby and Libby. He then describes the Monon High Bridge and how dangerous it can be and how it is a ‘rite of passage’ for kids to cross it. McLeland says Libby posted photos of the bridge with Abby and noticed a man following them. Libby was on Snapchat and her video cuts off after the man says ‘girls, down the hill.’
McLeland warns the jury that they are going to see photos of the scene and describes them in graphic terms. He describes an unspent bullet at the scene and how the girls were dressed.
McLeland tells the jury about all the witnesses that he plans to call to testify and that Allen admitted he was on the trail that day. Allen shakes his head ‘furiously’ when McLeland speaks about guns and his alleged admission. Allen’s wife, seated in the courtroom, shook her head when McLeland said Allen told her he killed the girls.
McLeland concluded after speaking to the jury for 13 minutes.
Defense Opening Statement
Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin begins his opening statement with “Richard Allen is an innocent man.” He tells the jury the investigation was ‘messed up from the beginning, middle even the last couple of days.’ Baldwin says the state of Indiana kicked out the FBI and that a strand of hair was found around Abby’s fingers. He says DNA from the family has never been provided and that they just need to test the girls’ mothers to see if the hair is from a family member or not.
Baldwin tells the jury that the prosecution’s theory is that at 4 p.m. that day, the girls were deceased, and for the next several hours the bodies didn’t move and that the phone that was found never moved.
Baldwin tells the jury about the CPS parking lot near the trails and that the state’s theory of Allen’s parking does not make sense. He says the defense’s theory is that Allen was never on the trail at the same time as the girls and Allen was gone by 1:30 p.m. that day.
Baldwin tells the jury that witnesses will testify that they did not see Allen’s car and that the man seen on the bridge may not have ever said ‘girls, down the hill.’
9:05 AM
Allen’s defense has filed a response to the prosecution’s Motion in Limine Regarding Composite Sketches. Judge Francis Gull is expected to rule on this motion today.
After the prosecution argued that the sketches are inadmissible due to the fact that they were intended as an ‘investigative tool to generate leads,’ and are irrelevant. The defense is arguing that the sketches are composites of persons witnesses saw on the bridge the day of the murders, and do not look like Richard Allen, therefore they are highly relevant.
That document can be viewed here:
8:30 AM
The public started lining up Thursday night for the chance to get into the Carroll County Courthouse for Day 1 of the trial.