Delphi murder suspect's defense claims key evidence destroyed, wants charges dropped
DELPHI, Ind. — Video and audio recordings of possible suspects in the killings of Abby Williams and Libby German were erased, and Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen wants his charges dismissed because of it.
Allen's attorneys filed that motion Wednesday asking that the charges be dismissed because of the destruction of video and audio interviews with two suspected Odinists, who Allen's attorneys allege might be the girls' killers.
Also filed Wednesday was Special Judge Frances Gull's order denying Allen's request that she disqualify herself from the case. Gull denied the motion without a hearing, "as the Indiana Supreme Court unanimously denied Defendant's previous request on January 18, 2024."
As for the motion to dismiss, Allen's attorneys stated they received some of the state's evidence last week as part of the typical exchange with the defense. But recordings of the two Odinists interviewed Feb. 17 and Feb. 19, 2017, were not in the discovery.
"Due to a DVR program error discovered 9-20-2017 all recordings up to February 20th, 2017, were recorded over. There is no detectible audio found on this driver," the motion to dismiss stated, citing a note from the prosecutor's team.
That erasing amounts to destroying the audio or video recordings made in interviews during the first week of the investigation after the two Delphi teenagers were killed on Feb. 13, 2017.
In a 136-page memorandum filed Sept. 18, 2023, Allen's attorneys theorize that Libby and Abby were killed in a ritual sacrifice by Odinists, not by Allen.
"The destruction of material interviews of key suspects, early in the investigation, demonstrates negligence, if not intentional conduct on the part of the State," the motion states.
Allen's attorneys argue in the motion that the interviews with the two suspected Odinists amounts to destroying evidence that might prove Allen's innocence.
Allen's attorney also note in the motion that an 85-page report from a Rushville police officer's investigation into Odinists was not turned over for more than four months, and it wasn't given to Allen's attorneys until the prosecution team learned that the defense was aware of a possible tie to Odinism.
"This failure to disclose on the part of the Prosecutor, if not entirely intentional, rises to the level of an untimely failure of disclosure of potentially exculpatory evidence," Allen's attorneys wrote in their motion. "The failure to disclose sheds further suspicion on the absences of the ... (two suspected Odinists) interviews referenced herein."
In other filings inside Richard Allen's file:
Gull has not ruled on the defense motions to reschedule Monday's hearing. During the hearing, she'll hear arguments on whether to allow Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland's filing of four additional charges against Allen. She'll also consider whether — at McLeland's request — Allen's attorneys, Brad Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin, should be held in contempt for how they have represented Allen.
On Tuesday, attorneys filed a limited appearance to represent Rozzi and Baldwin during the contempt of court hearing.
Gull set 9 a.m. Monday as the time for the hearing, which will be in Fort Wayne, where she is a presiding superior court judge, not in Carroll County, where Allen's charges are filed.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Richard Allen's defense: Evidence in Delphi murders case destroyed
