Leaked group chat reveals defense team strategies in Delphi murders case
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Leaked conversations between attorneys close to the Delphi murders case and YouTube true crime podcasters appear to reveal the defense team’s strategies going into the suspect’s October trial.
The cohosts of “The Murder Sheet Podcast” told I-Team 8 they were given thousands of messages from the group chat that spanned several months.
‘”We were quite surprised to see that people closely affiliated with the defense team were in such extensive contact with internet sleuths because previously this case was derailed by a leak,” said cohost Aine Cain said.
Richard 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.
According to screenshots obtained by Cain and cohost Kevin Greenlee, the group chat was called “Due Process Gang.” It consisted of Cara Wieneke, a lawyer who represented Allen in the fight to keep his attorneys on the case, an attorney representing Allen’s attorneys, and several YouTubers who talk about true crime cases that include the Delphi murders.
Cain said, “The reason our source did this is because he became very concerned about the level of contact between internet folks and people who are affiliated with the defense team.”
Wieneke told I-Team 8 that the group chat was filled with people who love true crime as she does. They talked about cases happening across the country. She claims the screenshots were obtained illegally.
Wieneke shared a statement with I-Team 8.
“Recently, out of revenge a person who knew the password of one of my friends accessed her X account and copied all of her private conversations. He gave those conversations to Murder Sheet, who read some of them aloud on recent episodes. The conversations were blended together, and the messages were read out of order and out of context. Their purpose? To make it seem like we were “hired” by Allen’s defense team to sway public opinion. We were not.”
Cain and Greenlee said some of the messages in the group chat bring up ethical concerns of potential jury tampering, particularly when Wieneke and the others talk about giving YouTube internet sleuths surveys filled out by potential jurors so they can do background investigations on them.
Cain said, “Where this becomes uncomfortable is when you’re bringing in internet sleuths who are not even from Indiana to do this with zero training. I think even if they’re signing things like NDAs (nondisclosure agreements), that should give people pause because, in the Delphi case especially, internet sleuths do not have the best reputation as far as ethics or not harassing people.”
Wieneke said, “I expressed doubt that the defense would have time to vet hundreds of jurors before the May trial date. A friend offered her help. I said I would let the defense team know. I did. They said no. That is not jury tampering.”
“The Murder Sheet Podcast” told I-Team 8 that the group chat also revealed the strategy of the defense team by talking specifically about how they plan to discredit the ballistics expert who matched the bullet found at the scene with Allen’s gun.
Wineke pushed back on that assessment as well. “I did not reveal that strategy; the defense revealed it on page 2 of their press release before the gag order. They revealed it again in their ballistics motion. They revealed it repeatedly in their court filings.”
Allen was scheduled to be back in court beginning July 30 for three days of hearings.