Delphi Murders trial: Day 13 live blog
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Day 13 in the trial of Delphi Murders suspect Richard Allen began Friday morning at the Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi.
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 first investigated in 2017 and again in October 2022. After a second police interview, he was taken into custody.
The trial began Oct. 18 and was expected to continue through mid-November. Originally, 16 Allen County residents sat as the jury on the case, but one juror was dismissed on Oct. 25.
Tune into News 8 and follow our live blog throughout the day for the latest developments.
NOTE: The times listed in the blog headers are the times which the entries were added. Specific times for courtroom events will be listed in the entries if available. These notes are compiled from photographs of written notes provided by reporters in courtroom and emailed to the WISH-TV news desk.
For a brief summary of Day 12 in the Delphi Murders trial (Thursday), scroll to the bottom of the page.
To view all of our previous trial coverage, click here, and follow News 8’s Kyla Russell on X as she covers the trial live from Delphi.
12:41 p.m. Defense request for witness to appear remotely.
The defense has filed a motion today requesting an FBI Special Agent be allowed to testify remotely. They want Adam Pohl, who is currently working in San Antonio Texas to testify. They say he is a necessary witness for the defense and that his testimony and his testimony will only take 30 minutes.
Pohl is currently the election crime coordinator for the FBI San Antonio, Texas division.
The defense says it is extremely difficult for Pohl to appear in person given his current job responsibilities pertinent to the November 5th election. He was previously assigned to Indiana.
That motion can be viewed below.
12:25 P.M. Court in session, more discussion of surveillance videos.
At 11:31 a.m. court is back in session. Defense intern Max Baker is back on the stand. The defense immediately requests a sidebar. The sidebar lasts 10 minutes before the jury is back in the courtroom.
Baker tells the jury there is an issue with the security and camcorder videos of Allen because the prosecution provided them to the defense without the needed time stamps.
Rozzi says “we are dealing with what we were given by the state.”
Judge Gull tells the jury that they will break for lunch until 1 p.m.
Court is in recess at 11:52 a.m.
11:31 a.m. Court back in session, discussion of surveillance videos of Allen.
At 10:40, court is back in session. There is an immediate sidebar, then the jury enters.
At 10:46 the defense calls Max Baker, who is an intern who works for the defense. He is a graduate of IU and has worked on the case since Nov. 2022.
He tells the jury he heard Harsman’s testimony. Reporter notes that at this point Allen’s wife Kathy leaves the courtroom with three others.
Baker testifies that he has reviewed most of Allen’s phone calls and videos from Westville. He says he was asked to compile video of Allen at Westville and put it on a flash drive. The prosecution is continually objecting.
Baker says the video was given to the prosecution as part of the discovery. He says there are two main video formats, camcorder video and security camera video. The camcorder video is video outside of Allen’s cell and the security video is inside Allen’s cell. The camcorder video has sound, the security video does not.
Baker tells the jury the camcorder video did not have a time stamp, it was just put in folders with general timeline information. He says he tried to piece it together as best as possible.
He explains that the in-cell video on the flash drive is from the 15th of every month from Nov. 2022 to Dec. 2023, aside from April to July of 2023 where there is more video than just on the 15th.
The defense asks to admit the video. The also show spreadsheets that explain the videos by date and time the video was taken.
The prosecution objects and there is another sidebar.
Court is in recess at 11:10 a.m.
10:35 A.M: Court is in session for Friday.
At 9:01 a.m. the jury entered the courtroom and court is back in session. Judge gull tells defense attorney Brad Rozzi that they will chat about his motions he’s filed on transports during the lunch break.
Gull says the jury has once again had supervised contact with their electronic devices.
The defense calls Christopher Gootee and the state immediately calls for a sidebar. The sidebar lasts 9 minutes.
Gootee tells the jury he is a Hammond, Ind. police officer and has background as an EMT. He says he has training in interviewing witnesses and suspects.
Defense attorney Jennifer Auger asks him about the importance of correctly documenting interviews. Gootee says he was with an FBI gang response task force or GRIT. They focused on kidnappings.
Gootee tells the jury that GRIT assisted with the Delphi investigation by canvassing neighborhoods and conducting interviews. He says he worked on the investigation for over a week.
Gootee says he spoke to Brad Weber during the investigation. Auger asks Gootee what Weber said about where he went after work on February 13, 2017.
Auger asks Gootee what an FBI 302 is, Gootee says it is a report from an interview. Auger shows him an exhibit, which is an FBI 302 report from his interview with Weber.
Gootee says he spoke to Weber on Feb. 19, 2017. He tells the jury that he doesn’t know what Weber said, despite looking at his own report. Auger finishes her questions, the state does not cross-examine.
At 9:27 a.m. the defense calls Dr. Deanna Dwenger. Dwenger tells the jury that she oversees the Department of Behavioral Health at the Indiana Department of Corrections. She says she has been director of the department since 2021.
Dwenger says that her main job is to oversee the IDOC’s contract with the contractor who actually does the employing for the IDOC’s behavioral staff.
Dwenger tells the jury that she generally knows who Richard Allen is. She confirms that Allen was transferred out of the Westville Correctional Facility. She says the solitary units at Westville and the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility are similar.
She says she has not personally met Allen and did not make the decision to move him and does not know who did.
Dwenger says that Dr. Monica Wala, the assigned psychologist for Allen, told her after she was assigned to Allen that she had a special interest.
Dwenger tells the jury that Wala told her about listening to Delphi podcasts and recommended it to her in early 2023. Reporter note: (Allen went to Westville at the end of 2022.)
Dwenger says she knew that Wala had visited the Monon High Bridge, but says it was before being assigned to Allen.
Dwenger tells the jury she thought it was unusual to visit the crime scene of someone you work with, but said that Wala talked to her direct supervisor about the issue more.
The state requests another sidebar about the use of the words “crime scene.”
Dwenger tells the jury she is familiar with Dr. Martin and that he is a psychiatrist and administers medication. She says Dr. Martin is no longer working at the IDOC.
She says Allen was assessed in Indianapolis and was assigned a “D” code in mental health. She explains that a “D” code means a person that would benefit from a specific and personal therapy treatment plan.
Dwenger tells the jury she doesn’t know if there’s ever been safekeepers in either Westville or Wabash Valley. She says she doesn’t know why he was assigned there. She says she knew there was video (cameras) in his cell and that worried her. She said she recommend the video be removed, but it didn’t happen.
Dwenger tells the jury that solitary confinement can impact mental health and that it is not unreasonable to think being in solitary would have a negative impact over time.
She says 30 or more days of solitary happens only if the inmate is severely mentally ill. She tells the jury the 30-day rule exists to keep people from being in there too long.
Dwenger tells the jury that Allen was “gravely disabled.”
She explains the difference between mental health monitoring and mental health treatment. She says treatment is more focused on actual therapeutics. She says that the therapeutic setting at Westville was not idea.
Dwenger confirms she was on a team that discussed Allen’s care, though was not directly treating him. She described herself as a “sounding board” for those who were.
The state requests another sidebar after Rozzi asks Dwenger about solitary confinement for mentally ill patients.
At 9:56 Rozzi ends his questioning and prosecution attorney Stacey Diener begins her cross-examination of Dwenger.
Dwenger confirms Allen was not severely mentally ill and “began to decompensate” until he was in the Westville Correctional Unit. She says he was first contacted about Allen in April of 2023. She says that’s when his core team was formed.
The first contact she describes was coming from Dr. Wala asking if Allen could have a meeting with his wife. Dwenger tells the jury that at that point Wala told her that Allen was faking it.
Dwenger tells the jury the team was called an MDT, a multi-disciplinary team. She explains that “gravely ill” means you aren’t able to take care of yourself.
She says it got to the point where it didn’t matter if he was “faking it,” and they needed to intervene.
Dwenger explains Haldol shots to the jury. She says it helps with psychosis symptoms and being “gravely ill” is a symptom of psychosis.
Rozzi objects and says it was a leading question.
At 10:04 a.m. Diener ender her cross-examination and Rozzi begins his re-direct.
Diener asks for a sidebar. Reporter notes Judge looks frustrated. State objects again after Rozzi asks another question. Both end and the jury asks questions.
Question 1: Does the DOC every place safekeepers in general population? Dwenger says yes.
Question 2: Could it be possible Allen was faking so he would not be moved to general population? Dwenger says it was possible but don’t know for Allen.
Question 3: Did you hear threats to Allen from other inmates yourself? Dwenger says no.
Question 4: Could a person slip in truth of a confession, even when faking it? Dwenger says it is hard to tell but yes. She says you can tell if people are faking it based on the organization of thoughts if the conversation is goal-oriented and chronological. She says Allen was not having delirium.
Question 5: What is the typical process for safekeepers with severe mental illness? Dwenger says the same as general.
Question 6: What is the primary obligation to a safekeeper working with an inmate with severe mental illness? Dwenger says same as general.
At 10:23 a.m. court was in recess.
9 A.M.: Court session begins
News 8’s Kyla Russell is back in Delphi for continuing coverage of the double murder trial of Richard Allen.
The prosecution rested its case just before 5 p.m. Thursday. Allen’s defense team called two witnesses before court adjourned for the day.
The defense said at the end of the day that they were working out exactly how they will move forward on calling witnesses as they wait on Special Judge Frances Gull to rule on a few key motions.
Brief summary of Day 12 in the Delphi Murders trial
Master Trooper Brian Harshman, a 30-year veteran of the Indiana State Police, was the first witness called on Thursday. Harshman said he became involved in the Delphi investigation in April 2020, just over three years after the murders.
Harshman told the court he became “the phone guy,” meaning he monitored Allen’s communication from inside custody to the outside world. He says he monitored calls, video chats, and texts. He says he has listened and relistened to 700 hours of Allen’s calls.
The trooper told the jury he believes the voice in the “Bridge Guy” video is “absolutely Richard Allen’s.”
Harshman testified that Allen either calls his wife or his mother, adding that he makes “incriminating statements.”
The prosecution started by playing several phone calls between Allen and his wife, Kathy, including an outgoing call placed on April 3, 2023:
- R. Allen: I did it. I killed Abby and Libby.
- K. Allen: No, you didn’t. No, you didn’t, dear. Don’t say that. You weren’t feeling well; they messed up your meds.
- K. Allen: Why would you say that?
- R. Allen: Maybe I did (commit the murders)?
- K. Allen: They are messing with your mmind, something is not right. Don’t ever say you did it. I know you didn’t.
- R. Allen: I think I did.
- K. Allen: They’re fooling wiuth you, trying to get you to say things.
Richard Allen then asked his wife to apologize to the girls’ families, to which she replied, “Just don’t talk anymore.”
In many of the calls, both Allen’s wife and mom, Janice, assure him he did not kill the girls, also telling him he was mentally ill.
They asked him at times not to talk about the crimes over the phone. Allen also mentioned in the calls several times that he felt he had lost his mind inside Westville.
The prosecution rested its case just before 5 p.m. and the defense called its first two witnesses.
First up was a woman named Cheyenne Mill. Mill and her best friend were hiking on the Monon High Bridge trails on Feb. 13, 2017, and crossed the bridge around 2:50 that afternoon.
She said she “never” saw anything strange in the woods that day, but recalled she and her friend passed an “overweight” man on the bridge.
She said she took a few Snapchat photos of the afternoon and later told police where she was — she also said she never saw Richard Allen.
The second and final witness to testify Thursday was Teresa Liebert. Liebert lives near the bridge and said she saw someone “strange” near mailboxes close to her house. She also said she reported it to police.
The defense said at the end of the day that they were working out exactly how they will move forward on calling witnesses as they wait on Special Judge Frances Gull to rule on a few key motions.
However, Gull ruled that she will allow jurors to hear about Allen’s Google search history, but denied a request to let the jury see photos of Allen from before his arrest.