Judge orders Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen to court
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The judge has ordered Richard Allen, the suspect in the 2017 Delphi murders of two teen girls, to appear in person in the courtroom on Tuesday.
I-Team 8 expects to get at least a partial glimpse into the Delphi murders investigation if the judge releases the probable cause to the public after a Tuesday court hearing.
Richard Allen, 50, was arrested on Oct. 28, and the announcement of charges was made on Oct. 31. He’s been charged in connection to the murders of 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams and 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German on Feb. 13, 2017.
I-Team had asked the judge to open the courtroom to allow cameras during the Tuesday hearing. On Friday, that request was denied.
I-Team 8 recently interviewed Doug Carter, superintendent of Indiana State Police, about the release of the probable cause that led to Allen’s arrest. Carter was quite clear on when the probable cause should be released.
I-Team 8: “You released three seconds of video with some audio I think in ’19. Is the voice that we hear from Libby’s phone. Is that Richard Allen?”
Carter: “Time will tell again, I think that once the probable-cause affidavit was signed by the judge that changes things for the investigative team, and I don’t profess to be a part of that investigative team, Richard, so it would be inappropriate for us to speculate or talk about what we know until the right time, which is going to be in a court.”
I-Team 8: “Will it answer all of our questions?
Carter: “Oh, no. Remember this case is 2,100 days old, and the facts in their totality will come out at the trial and not until then. I can appreciate the desire for our citizens to have these questions answered, and my response to that is it will come when it will come, but if any of us said anything that would be detrimental to the prosecution of the person or persons that killed Abby and Libby and I was responsible, you should hold me accountable, too.”
This week, Allen was assigned two court-appointed attorneys, Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi.
I-Team 8 had obtained a copy of a handwritten letter from Allen to the judge. In the letter, Allen pleaded for a public defender. Both of Allen’s attorneys have said they will be in court Tuesday.
- Judge cites ‘blood lust’ for info, recuses self in Delphi murders case
A Carroll County judge who’d cited the “public’s blood lust for information” in the Delphi murders case has recused himself from the case, the Indiana Supreme Court said.
The special judge in the case, Frances Gull of Allen County, has signed a transport order for this case. I-Team 8 was told that Allen was transported from a county jail for his safety to a state Department of Correction facility. The judge, though, has ordered Allen be in court on Tuesday.
Allen told a state conservation officer he was in the area on the day of the killings, but his report may have been considered unfounded because he said he didn’t see anything, a police source has told I-Team 8. But, after five years and countless interviews, investigators had become frustrated and ordered a review of tips and case files; that was when Allen became a suspect.
Indiana State Police has said tips about the Delphi murders continue to come in, and the arrest of Richard did not mean the case was done.