For a refresher on the Delphi murders trial and what will be discussed in the hearings, see the “RECAP” section of the live blog.

Follow along here for a live observation of the hearing — in and outside of the courthouse.

8:50 p.m.

Dueling theories of the case are on full display from the prosecution and the defense. 

According to I-Team 8’s Kody Fisher, prosecutors called a blood spatter expert to refute defenses claims that the blood on tree was a painted rune. The blood was a transfer stain and not painted, but the expert couldn’t say exactly who (Libby or the killer) was responsible for transferring the blood to the tree.

The defense’s expert in ritualistic killings firmly believes the mark on the tree was a rune, and the sticks on the bodies represented a rune. 

Prosecutors argued that the sticks were in an effort to cover up the bodies. 

The defense continued to point the finger at several third-party suspects, but none of the law enforcement witnesses could place those suspects at the scene with hard evidence like DNA.

The defense also tried to blow up the prosecutions timeline of when the girls were killed so they could open up the possibility of a third-party suspect committing the murders.

Allen got a win at the end. Gull removed the safekeeping order and gave Allen to the custody of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office. The Carroll County sheriff would not say where he would be housed, but earlier this week, he said he’d talked with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office about housing him in Cass County.

1:50 p.m.

The court is in recess.

In the first part of Thursday’s trial, the defense laid out their entire case in what Kody Fisher described as “a mini trial without a jury.” The prosecution is trying to limit Allen’s attorneys from bringing up any third party suspects at the trial.

The defense argued that there were flaws with the prosecution’s timeline of events, which they say would open up the possibility that someone else committed the murders. They said that before Allen was arrested, law enforcement believed multiple people were involved in the killings.

The court heard testimony by a doctor who the U.S. government says is a subject matter expert in ritualistic killings. She testified that there is “no doubt in her mind” that it was a ritualistic Odinistic killing and that images of runes from the Facebook page of a third party suspect are basically identical to the crime scene. 

The defense questioned the doctor’s credibility because she told Court TV in 2023 that she read the court filings and believe it was a ritualistic killing, but she didn’t actually review the evidence firsthand until this spring.

8:30 a.m.

Special Judge Frances Gull has arrived at the Carroll County Courthouse.

I-Team 8’s Kody Fisher and News 8 photojournalist Kevin Stinson will be live from the Carroll County courthouse throughout the day to provide updates on Thursday’s motions hearing.

8 a.m.

Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen has arrived at the Carroll County Courthouse for the third day of motions hearings before Special Judge Frances Gull.

7:15 a.m.

I-Team 8’s Kody Fisher and News 8 photojournalist Kevin Stinson will be live from the Carroll County courthouse throughout the day to provide updates on Thursday’s motions hearing.

RECAP

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Richard Allen, the man accused in the 2017 Delphi murders, is expected at a Thursday motions hearing at the Carroll County Courthouse.

Thursday is the third day of hearings in the Delphi murders case. State prosecutors and Allen’s defense team will discuss whether certain topics should be withheld from the trial when it begins in October.

The hearings “could forever change the outcome of the case — and decide what information the jury can be told,” according to I-Team 8 investigative reporter Kody Fisher.

On Wednesday, Special Judge Frances Gull heard arguments on Richard Allen’s mental health and whether a jury can be told about the multiple confessions Allen has made while in solitary confinement at Westville Prison.

An Indiana State Police detective who listened to all of Allen’s phone calls from prison said he started confessing to the murders in April 2023 while on the phone with his family.

His family initially didn’t believe him and later told him, “They’re messing with you. They’re messing with your mind.” 

The detective said that Allen confessed to the Delphi murders more than 60 times with specific details about what he did and why he did it, making statements like, “I killed those two girls.”

The detective also told Judge Gull that Allen at one point said he committed the murders with a box cutter that he tossed into a CVS dumpster.

The detective told Judge Gull that Allen told the guards he was innocent but at one point said he committed the murders with a box cutter that he tossed

Allen’s attorneys argued that the confessions coincided with a decline in his mental health. They claimed that Allen was “coerced” into confessing while in Westville, saying his 5th, 6th, 8th, and 14th Amendment rights were violated. 

The prosecution refuted the defense’s claims that the inmates and prison guards were “actors” and forced Allen to confess. They say that Allen was never interrogated and that his confessions, both verbal and written, were of his own accord.

Because of Allen’s “voluntary confessions,” the prosecution argued the motion to suppress should be thrown out altogether.

Allen, 51, of Delphi, was arrested on Oct. 28, 2022, 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 trial has already been pushed back several times since his arrest. The most recent trial dates were May 13-31, but the case was pushed to October after the defense told Judge Gull that they needed more time to present their case.

The trial is now set to start Oct. 14 and run through Nov. 15.

Thursday’s hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EDT.

Follow along here for a live observation of the hearing — in and outside of the courthouse.