Delphi Murders trial: Day 14 live blog
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Saturday is Day 14 in the trial of Delphi Murders suspect Richard Allen began 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 13 in the Delphi Murders trial (Friday), 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.
10:53 a.m.: Jury views video of Richard Allen while in Westville
Richard Allen entered court at 8:46 a.m. News 8’s Kyla Russell noted he was mouthing words with his family. His wife, Kathy Allen, wasn’t present. Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter was also present in full uniform.
The courtroom TV was moved and positioned so no one in the gallery could see, according to Russell. State prosecutor Nick McLeland objected to video of Richard Allen while at Westville be admitted, while defense attorney Brad Rozzi requested the video only be shown to the jury for “dignity of multiple people involved” due to explicit material.
Russell noted Kathy Allen still hadn’t arrived, mentioning that she left court during Friday’s session before videos were viewed, as well.
After the jury entered, the defense called Max Baker, IU graduate and defense intern, back to the stand. Baker testified Friday that he was asked to compile videos of Allen while in Westville, and prepared another flash drive of video Saturday morning.
The defense shared two exhibits – camcorder video and a master sheet for the video. The master sheet included a “contains nudity” category for the video.
Gull admitted the videos, despite objection. The prosecution had to pull up chairs to watch the video. Richard Allen cannot see the videos.
The 10 videos were taken during April 2023. One of the videos, referred to as Video #7, was nearly 30 minutes long, but Rozzi sped it up, according to Russell.
While watching the videos, Russell noted that one of the jurors raised their brows and looked at Allen. Several jurors were taking notes. The juror with a background as a psychologist appeared “extremely interested.”
Allen looked down at a coffee mug at one point. Libby German’s family appeared “exasperated” while the videos played, while McLeland seemed exhausted.
Several jurors frowned during Video #7. One juror took notes, wrote something on his notepad, and showed it to the juror next to him. During Video #9, multiple jurors looked toward Allen.
The last video was 52 minutes long. Rozzi told the jury he would be advancing through certain parts.
Defense attorney Jennifer Auger appeared deeply concerned watching Video #10, Russell observed. At one point, Auger held her head in her hand, and covered her mouth during another. Eventually, she looked away.
Of the jurors, Russell said one of the alternate jurors wore a sour look, while the school counselor appeared shocked.
It wasn’t clear to the media and public what was in the videos as the TV faced away from them.
The court recessed for a short break at 10:46 a.m.
9 a.m.: Court resumes for Saturday session
News 8’s Kyla Russell is back in Delphi for continuing coverage of the double murder trial of Richard Allen.
Brief summary of Day 12 in the Delphi Murders trial
Friday in court was filled with long testimonies from multiple defense witnesses. The defense’s first witness was Ofc. Christopher Gootee. He is a police officer in Hammond, Indiana, with a background as an EMT. He was also with an FBI gang response task force that focused on kidnappings, also known as GRIT.
Following a 9-minute long sidebar by the state, Gootee explained to the jury the importance of interviewing witnesses and suspects, and said GRIT helped in the Delphi investigation for over a week. He said he interviewed Brad Weber about where he went after work on Feb. 13, 2017. The defense asked Gootee what an FBI 302 was, which is a report from an interview, but Gootee said he didn’t know what Weber said despite viewing the report in court.
Next called to the stand was Dr. Deanna Dwenger, oversees the Department of Behavioral Health at the Indiana Department of Corrections. Her main job is to oversee the IDOC’s contract with the contractor who actually staffs IDOC’s behavioral team.
Dwenger said she generally knew who Richard Allen was, but did not personally know him, and didn’t know who transferred him out of Westville Correctional Facility or knows who did. She also confirmed Dr. Monica Wala, the assigned psychologist for Allen, told her after she was assigned to Allen that she had a special interest in his case. Dwenger also knew Wala listened to podcasts that discussed the Delphi Murders and knew Wala had visited the Monon High Bridge, which she told the jury she thought was unusual.
Note: Allen was placed in Westville Correctional Facility in late 2022 and transferred December 2023. He was in solitary confinement for 13 months.
She said she was familiar with Dr. Martin, Allen’s psychiatrist at Westville, and said Allen was assigned a “D” code in mental health. A “D” code means a person would benefit from a specific and personal therapy treatment plan. Dwenger told the jury she didn’t know why Allen was in Westville, and said during her cross-examination by the state that Allen was not severely mentally ill until he was in Westville.
She said she was first contacted about Allen in April 2023, when Wala asked her if Allen could meet with his wife. Dwenger also said Wala told her Allen was “faking it.” Eventually, Dwenger said Allen’s condition got to a point where it didn’t matter if he was faking being “gravely ill,” and they had to intervene. Dwenger explained Haldol shots to the jury, which help with psychosis symptoms. “Gravelly ill” is a symptom of psychosis.
Defense attorney Brad Rozzi objected, saying that was a leading question, and the state asked for a sidebar. News 8’s Kyla Russell noted Special Judge Fran Gull appeared frustrated by this. The state objected again after Rozzi asked another question. After they finished, the jury asked questions about mental illness treatment in DOC, Allen’s condition, and if a person could slip in truth of a confession even when faking it. Court recessed for a quick break.
After the break, an immediate sidebar took place before the jury entered. The defense’s next witness was Max Baker, an IU graduate and intern with the defense who’s worked on the case since 2022. He hold the jury he heard Master Trooper Brian Harshman’s testimony, and also reviewed most of Allen’s phone calls and videos from Westville. Baker said he was asked to compile video of Allen at Westville and put it on a flash drive.
The prosecution was continually objecting by this point.
Baker explained he gave the video to the state as part of the discovery, and said there were two main video formats: Camcorder video and security camera video. The camcorder has sound and was outside Allen’s cell while the security camera was inside and didn’t record audio. Camcorder video didn’t have a timestamp, Baker said, and added the security camera footage was from the 15th of every month Allen was in Westville. This is excluding April to July 2023, where there was more video than just on the 15th.
The defense asked to admit the video, and the prosecution objected. There was another sidebar, then court recessed briefly. Upon returning, the defense immediately asked for a sidebar. The sidebar lasted 10 minutes before the jury returned to the courtroom.
Baker then told the court there was an issue with the videos of Allen because the prosecution provided them to the defense without the needed timestamps.
Judge Gull then told the jury they would break for lunch until 1 p.m.
During the break, the defense requested an FBI Special Agent Adam Pohl be allowed to testify remotely. Pohl, currently working in San Antonio, Texas, was previously assigned to Indiana.
Court returned at 1:05 p.m., with Brad Heath coming to the stand to testify. Heath, 70, worked for Reliable Exterminators before retiring in 2019. He described doing a job at a company called Anderson’s on Feb. 13, 2017. Rozzi handed Heath a report that showed what Heath while at that stop. The report referred to Heath that morning seeing a vehicle half-way down the road parked off the street near the CPS building by the Monon Trail. According to Heath, the vehicle was still there that afternoon.
He said the car looked old and out-of-place, which prompted him to speak to law enforcement a week after the murders.
After Heath left the stand, David McCain stepped in. McCain has lived in Delphi for 20 years and was a project manager for the Monon High Bridge Trail.
McCain said he was on the trail around 2 or 3 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2017, adding that he saw no other cars there. He used a camera to take photos while he walked, and said he only saw a few people on the trail. He left just before 4 p.m., noting he was surprised by the amount of people at the Mears entrance. He said someone asked him if he’d seen the girls as he was leaving. After learning the girls were missing, he called the sheriff’s office to say he was at the bridge that day. Two FBI agents and an ISP agent interviewed him at his house, and he said he gave them the pictures and SIM card from his camera.
After brief cross-examination, the defense’s 8th witness testified. Delphi Fire Chief Darrell Sterrett has been a firefighter for 36 years, and was the chief on Feb. 13, 2017. He described learning the girls were missing and helping direct the search through dispatch. He said six volunteer firefighters were on the bridge searching that night. He was on the scene searching until 2:30 a.m. Feb. 14.
Sterrett said he ordered a search north, south, east and west of the bridge. In a deposition he said there may have been higher intensity lights from vehicles, but he was not sure. He said that he could hear people during the search but never heard shouting. He later told the jury he didn’t personally search the area southeast of the cemetery.
The final three testimonies of Friday were from Steve Mullin, former Delphi police chief, and Tobe Leasenby, former Carroll County sheriff. Both men were involved in the 2017 investigation.
Mullin’s first question from the defense: How important would you say it is to preserve evidence?
Mullin said it was important to everyone, prompting the defense to ask if it was important to notify the defense if there was missing evidence. This led to an objection and sidebar of the prosecution and defense at Judge Gull’s bench.
After they returned to questioning, Mullin said he admitted dozens of interviews, but learned in August that videos were lost and later recovered without audio. Questioning then focused on Brad Weber, who owns the property where the girls were killed. Mullin said he met with Weber in August 2024 but didn’t record the interview. “I could have but I didn’t,” Mullin said.
Weber had testified Wednesday (Day 11) that he worked the first shift at Subaru near Lafayette and was at work on Feb. 13, 2017, the day of the murders. Weber said he was at work from 5:41 a.m. to 2:02 p.m., and his drive home was approximately 20-25 minutes.
Mullin admitted there were some inconsistencies with Weber’s interview. He also said he only believed one person was involved in the murders since Allen was arrested, adding that “it didn’t matter” if he thought there were more.
Later, Mullin was asked about a camera at the trail, which was west of where the girls were found. The former police chief said the camera recorded video but no audio. On Feb. 14, 2017, in the “wee hours,” Mullin said, “It showed that there was someone in front of the camera on the day that the search was taking place. The person was in front of the trail cam.”
He answered other questions about his thoughts on the case and if Allen confessed to the killings before moving to Westville. Mullin said Allen didn’t. After questions from the jury, Tobe Leasenby took the stand.
Leasenby testified he’s always thought only one person was involved in the girl’s deaths. Defense attorney Baldwin, however, noted Leasenby’s August 2023 deposition, and Leasenby replied, “Trial information was multiple or at least two.”
Baldwin asked Leasenby, “You felt 10 months after his (Allen’s) arrest that at least two people were involved?”
That drew three objections from the prosecution team. Special Judge Fran Gull overruled the last objection.
Leasenby said Detective Tony Liggett, who is the current Carroll County sheriff, believed more than one killer was involved, based on a 2017 conversation.
“Why did they think that?” Baldwin asked.
“It was based upon the totality of the information provided to investigators at that time period,” Leasenby said. He later affirmed Liggett didn’t have the details.
Motions addressed Friday
Next came a motion from the defense to have inmates in Indiana Department of Correction facilities to be transported. The defense also noted its latest motion to admit evidence of Odinism, a modern pagan religion and an Old Norse religion. A third motion asked for a witness, an FBI special agent who is out of state on assignment, to appear remotely.
The judge granted a motion for inmate Jesse James to be transported to the courtroom in Delphi.
She denied the motion to allow testimony about Odinism.
Gull also denied any witnesses via videoconferencing.