FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WISH) — Richard Allen, the man accused in the 2017 Delphi murders, is expected at a Thursday status hearing in Fort Wayne.

The special judge, Frances Gull from Allen County, will for the first time allow cameras inside her courtroom during Allen’s status hearing. News 8 will be allowed to stream video of the hearing 30 minutes after it begins and national coverage of Allen’s hearing is expected.

“The Delphi case generated substantial public interest and cameras will help ensure its integrity,” Gull, who was part of a pilot project that eventually led the state to allow cameras in the courtroom, said.

Prosecutors in court in January said Allen confessed to the murders of 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German. Their bodies were found on Feb. 14, 2017, in an area near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi.

Allen and his attorneys hope to convince the judge on Thursday to throw out some evidence and order his immediate release from the Indiana Department of Correction’s Westville Correctional Facility, where he’s been held since November 2022. 

The legal team for Allen recently filed court documents alleging they have evidence that the girls were sacrificed in a ritual for Odinism. The defense also argues that a video from the prison shows a guard wearing patches on their uniform that read, “In Odin We Trust.”

The status hearing is set to start at 2 p.m. at the Allen County Courthouse in downtown Fort Wayne.