Experts react to Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen’s request to change prisons
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Richard Allen on Wednesday was being held in the Westville Correctional Facility instead of the Carroll County jail after the sheriff petitioned a judge to have the Delphi murders suspect put in a state-run prison after he was arrested in 2022.
Allen, 50, of Delphi, was arrested on Oct. 28 for the February 2017 murders of 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams and 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi.
Allen’s lawyers were not appointed at that point, but now have challenged the judge’s decision, petitioning to have him moved to the Cass County jail, a more standard facility to be held before a trial.
Doug Kouns, a former FBI special agent and the chief executive officer of Veracity IIR, said of Allen’s incarceration in a state prison, “Yes, it is rare but it’s not unheard of.”
“In a case like this where Mr. Allen would probably be a target of the general population, it’s likely for his safety,” Kouns said.
It’s “very unproductive in that setting and it just wears on you,” Kouns added.
Westville Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison.
Bradley Rozzi, one of Richard Allen’s attorneys who filed the petition, said his client has been continuously held in a maximum-security segregation unit, more commonly known as solitary confinement.
The petition said the prison conditions have caused Allen to deteriorate to the point he cannot participate in his own defense.
Kevin Greenlee, the attorney on the Murder Sheet Podcast, also commented about the situation. “According to what is alleged in this filing, the people at the prison are not even transmitting to Mr. Allen discovery documents the defense wants him to see so he can help them figure out what it all means.”
Allen’s attorneys said they spend hours driving to Westville each time they need to securely communicate with their client.
In his petition, Rozzi said he found space for Allen in the Cass County jail, which is across the street from his office and 20 minutes from the Carroll County Courthouse, where the trial will be held.
Allen’s attorneys are court-appointed, so the bill for driving time comes back on the taxpayers.
Áine Cain, the journalist on the Murder Sheet podcast, said, “If he’s closer, it cuts out the driving time. It makes it more convenient for (Rozzi) and Mr. Baldwin, and for Allen’s family, and it also makes it more convenient and friendly to the taxpayers of Carroll County.”
The petition said Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland does not object to moving Allen to a closer jail, but the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office does. It is unclear why.
