Religion professor breaks down Odinism and its connection to the Delphi murders
INDIANAPOLIS — What exactly is Odinism? Richard Allen’s defense attorneys thrust it into the heart of the Delphi murder case in a 136-page court filing on Monday.
A professor with a Ph.D. in World Religions told I-Team 8 that Odinism is a Pagan-based religion with its roots in the Nordic region of Europe.
“For Odinists, this is sort of the religion of their blood,” Jefferson Calico, a professor at the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky, said.
Calico says Odinism is a “racially-based form of heathenry or Germanic Paganism.”
“These would be the people who see (Odinism) as like a white man’s religion – a racist form of religion,” he added.
It is followers of Odinism that Richard Allen’s attorneys say killed Abby Williams and Libby German in the woods near Delphi, Indiana, in February 2017.
The attorneys also describe the murders as part of a ritualistic sacrifice, with the girls’ bodies positioned and covered by sticks resembling Pagan symbols.
“(In) ancient, ancient, Norse religion, there has been mention of human sacrifice,” Calico said.
Modern-day people wanting to bring back that old way of doing things would be called a reconstructionist. “Every reconstructionist I’ve talked to has been pretty explicit in rejecting human sacrifice as something not appropriate for contemporary people,” Calico said.
He does not completely rule out the possibility of Odinists partaking in ritual human sacrifice, because as Calico says, “There are crazy people everywhere.”
Richard Allen’s defense team is pointing their fingers at several people they claim are Odinists who may have killed Abby and Libby.
Their names have not been mentioned as they have not been charged with a crime.
I-Team 8 reached out to one of the people mentioned in the court filing over Facebook.
The man replied, saying, “The only statement I wish to make is to ask for help from a pro bono lawyer who would help me go after the defense for slandering my name and my child’s.”
Calico says modern-day Odinists have been linked to violence, mainly in prisons and against minority groups or people who practice other religions.