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Indiana prosecutors say that Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen has already confessed to killing teenage best friends Libby German and Abby Williams 60 times in the 22 months since he has been held behind bars.
They allege he admitted to killing the victims with a boxcutter he then threw in a dumpster at the local CVS where he worked — and where the teens’ families recall him serving them after the murders.
But, Allen’s attorneys insist the crime is actually a “textbook ritual murder” carried out by a group of local Odinists who continue to walk free to this day.
It was these opposing arguments that sat at the center of a marathon, three-day hearing this week ahead of Allen’s high-profile trial in October.
Allen, a 51-year-old married father, is accused of brutally murdering Libby and Abby on 13 February 13, 2017. That day, the teens had set off on a walk along the Monon High Bridge trail in Delphi, with 14-year-old Libby posting a final Snapchat photo of her 13-year-old best friend on the old railroad track.
The following day, their bodies were discovered in a wooded area close to the trail. Both of their throats had been slit.
Investigators discovered a video on Libby’s cellphone showing a man – known as “bridge guy” – on the trail, saying: “Guys, down the hill.”
Despite the footage believed to show the killer, for five years, no arrests were made.
In October 2022, Allen was suddenly arrested and charged with the murders, having been tied to the killings through a bullet found at the crime scene.
Since then, the case has been plagued by delays, controversies, shocking accusations and evidence leaks.
This week, the families of both the victims and the suspected killer returned to court to hear graphic testimony as Judge Fran Gull – who is also facing calls from Allen’s legal team to be removed from the case – weighs arguments on a string of motions, including what evidence can be presented at trial and whether the case against Allen should be dismissed altogether.
In the bombshell hearings, new details emerged about Allen’s multiple confessions about the murders.
Indiana State Police Detective Brian Harshman testified that Allen has confessed to the murders more than 60 times since his arrest, mostly in jailhouse phone calls to his wife or mother.
Allen first began to confess in late March 2023 when he had an apparent “come to Jesus” moment, said the officer – who had reviewed around 150 hours of calls.
In the confessions, Harshman said Allen spoke “very specifically” about some of the details of the crime including his alleged motivations.
Indiana State Police Lt. Jerry Holeman also gave damning testimony about Allen’s alleged confessions, telling the court a fellow inmate had come forward to claim that Allen had not only confessed – but had revealed his chosen murder weapon.
Allen allegedly claimed he killed Libby and Abby with a boxcutter and disposed of it by throwing it in a dumpster outside CVS.
Allen’s defense has long argued that his confessions were the result of his poor mental health after being treated like a “prisoner of war” in state prison while awaiting trial.
They are fighting to have Allen’s own incriminating words dismissed as evidence.
And instead, they are fighting to be able to argue at trial that other suspects are actually behind the murders.
In a stunning move last year, Allen’s attorneys named four individuals as potential suspects in the killings.
The individuals, they claim, are Odinist cult members who carried out the murders as part of a group ritual.
On Thursday, the ex-wife of one of these alternate suspects gave testimony supporting this argument, claiming she once heard her ex-husband name one of the other three men as Abby’s killer.
The ex-husband – the father of Abby’s boyfriend – then warned her “to keep my mouth shut and if I didn’t, they’d kill me,” she testified.
The woman also offered an alternative theory about the murder weapon, testifying that her ex-husband had a dedicated knife that he used to cut his hands during an Odinist ritual.
Former police officers who worked on the case also testified that they believed more than one person was behind the killings, with former Rushville Police Officer Todd Click sharing his theory that Libby and Abby were murdered because they stumbled upon an Odinistic ritual on the trail that day. He added that he was “shocked and confused” when he learned that Allen, and not one of the alternate suspects, had been arrested in the case.
Dr. Dawn Perlmutter, an expert in ritualistic crimes, also testified that “this crime scene is a textbook for ritualistic murder.”
However, the witnesses admitted under cross-examination that there is no physical evidence tying these alternate suspects to the crime scene.
Gull is yet to rule on the various motions and arguments heard in court this week, expect for one: She granted the defense’s request to move Allen out of the state penitentiary to a county facility while he awaits trial.
