Richard Allen's attorneys allege more inconsistencies from investigators

DELPHI, Ind. — Libby German and Abby Williams' accused killer, Richard Allen, continues to file documents that cast doubt upon the investigators' truthfulness in an attempt to get a hearing.

On Sept. 18, Allen's attorneys asked for a hearing to present evidence that investigators withheld and misled Carroll Circuit Judge Benjamin Diener to get a search warrant for Allen's house.

Allen is accused of killing the teenage girls on Feb. 13, 2017, at a clearing on the north banks of the Deer Creek about a quarter-mile from the Monon High Bridge. He was arrested Oct. 26 and formally charged Oct. 28. His trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 8.

On Sept. 18, Allen's attorneys filed a 136-page memorandum in support of a Franks hearing to challenge the truthfulness of the testimony and affidavit used to get the search warrant for Allen's house last year.

In a Franks hearing, a defendant must first make a substantial showing that a false statement, knowingly or intentionally, or with reckless disregard for the truth, was included by the affiant in the warrant affidavit, and the allegedly false statement was necessary to a finding of probable cause, according to Office of Justice’s website.

That lengthy memorandum alleged that Libby and Abby's killings were part of an Odinist ritual sacrifice, and it names at least four suspects who were questioned, but never pursued in the investigation. One of the defense suspects had knowledge of the crime scene not known by the public and confessed his involvement in the killings to relatives, according to the memorandum.

That memorandum noted that information about the state's investigation into Odinists had been discontinued after an unknown Purdue professor said the branches covering the girl's bodies were not Germanic letters used as part of an Odin sacrifice.

A filing last week now casts further doubts on that.

"... (Indiana State Police) Sgt. Jerry Holeman swore under oath at his August 10, 2023, deposition that the Purdue professor said that the sticks found on the girls did not represent 'Odinism or any type of cult worshipping or any type a group that would have conducted the crime.'"

"… Tony Liggett swore under oath at his August 8, 2023, deposition that a Purdue professor did not believe that the sticks found on Abby's and Libby's bodies consisted of 'runes,'" the defense's Oct. 3 filing states.

As late as Sept. 18, no one knew the name of the Purdue professor, according to the defense filings.

But Sept. 19 — the day after the 136-page memorandum became national news, according to Allen's defense — the Purdue professor was identified as Jeffrey Turco, and Holeman went to interview him again, according to last week's filing in support of the Franks hearing.

"Dr. Turco stated that after viewing the pattern of the sticks on the girls that 'it was a given' that someone was trying to replicate a Germanic runic script," the defense's Oct. 3 filing states.

Turco's claims were affirmed by a Harvard professor, too, according to Allen's defense filing.

Allen's attorneys claimed in the 136-page memorandum that Allen has no ties to Odinism, but cited several people, including at least one Delphi man, who does have ties to Odinism.

Allen's attorneys and Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland both agreed that there needed to be a deadline set for discovery so that both sides can be prepared for the Jan. 8 trial.

Special Judge Frances Gull published an order Tuesday setting Nov. 1 as that deadline.

Gull has not yet set a Franks hearing to consider Allen's evidence that law enforcement lied during presentations to get the search warrant for Allen's house, and she has not ruled on whether to suppress evidence gathered from that search.

Late last month, McLeland filed motions requesting subpoenas for the Westville prison, where Allen is incarcerated, to produce Allen's medical records.

Allen's defense objected to those subpoenas in filings on Tuesday.

Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Richard Allen's attorneys allege inconsistencies from investigators