Westville inmate claims 'corrupt officers' have mistreated Richard Allen

DELPHI, Ind. — Delphi teenagers Libby German and Abby Williams' accused killer, Richard Allen, allegedly suffered abuse at the hands of the guards and inmates during his pretrial detention in the Westville prison, according to a letter from an inmate.

It was one of the 118 formerly sealed documents released Wednesday in Allen's docket.

The Journal & Courier phoned and emailed the Indiana Department of Corrections spokeswoman for comment on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. She has not responded.

More: Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen documents unsealed and posted online

Allen is charged with two counts of murder. He's accused of killing Libby German and Abby Williams the afternoon of Feb. 13, 2017, about a quarter of a mile east of the Monon High Bridge in Delphi.

Their bodies were found the morning of Feb. 14, 2017, on the north banks of the Deer Creek.

Prison inmate alleges Allen is being tormented by guard and inmates

"Richard Allen is being abused and mistreated along with other inmates in the Westville Control Restrictive Unit Restrictive Housing," the inmate, Robert P. Baston, wrote in a letter to the court.

"There are corrupt officers and ranking officers calling Richard Allen a kid killer, teasing him that he has a visit from his family, phone is ringing on his GTL-table ...," Baston wrote.

Other inmates in nearby cells threatened to kill Allen and tell him to kill himself, he wrote.

Baston, a convicted child molester serving a 40-year sentence handed down in July 2010, alleges that the Warden, John Galipeau, and ranking officers and prison officers have witnessed other inmates threatening to kill Allen and have not taken steps to stop the threats.

The Journal & Courier left a message for Galipeau asking for comments about Baston's allegations. He has not responded.

Galipeau and a supervising captain testified earlier this month during Allen's hearing in Carroll Circuit Court that Allen received the same treatment as convicts housed in the prison's isolation unit.

"The staff has recorded on camera these inmates making these threats and suggestions to kill himself and has done nothing to stop it," according to Baston, whose online court records indicate he was sentenced July 19, 2010, to 40 years in prison for sex crimes.

Baston admits in the letter to trying to kill himself and alleged he has not received mental health treatment. In April 2018, Baston filed a motion in his post-conviction relief petition to die by lethal injection. Baston's motion was denied. He later dropped the request for post-conviction relief, which might have shortened his sentence.

Baston was not called earlier this month to testify under oath to any of the allegations he made in his letter to the court.

Richard Allen's admission to killing Libby and Abby

Buried at the bottom of a April 20 motion for leave of court to subpoena third party records, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland wrote, "On April 3, 2023, Richard M. Allen made a phone call to his wife Kathy Allen.

"In that phone call, Richard M Allen admits several times that he killed Abby and Libby," McLeland wrote. "Investigators had the phone call transcribed and the transcription confirms that Richard M. Allen admits that he committed the murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German.

"He admits several times within the phone call that he committed the offenses as charged. His wife, Kathy Allen, ends the phone call abruptly," McLeland states in the motion.

"Soon after, attorneys for Richard M. Allen filed an Emergency Motion to Modify Safekeeping Order. In that motion, the Defense states that Richard M. Allen 's mental state has declined because Westville Correctional Facility is unfit and that he should be moved," McLeland wrote. "Defense also makes allegations that his mental health has declined to the point where Richard M. Allen has been deprived of his constitutional right to assist in his defense of this case."

McLeland, who opposed during a June 15 hearing moving Allen from the Westville prison, documented Allen's odd behavior over the past two months.

"Richard M. Allen was wetting down paperwork he had gotten from his attorneys and eating it, he was refusing to eat and refusing to sleep," McLeland wrote.

"He would go days on end refusing to sleep," McLeland wrote. "He further, broke the tablet that he used for text messages and phone calls.

"He went from making up to 2 phone calls a day as of April 3, 2023 to not making any phone calls atall," McLeland wrote in the April 20 motion. "To date, Richard M. Allen still has not made a phone call since April 3, 2023."

Prison psychiatrists and a psychologist evaluated Allen and discussed where there is a need to move Allen or put him on involuntary medication.

"(I)t was determined that Richard M. Allen did not need involuntary medication and that he did not need to be moved to another facility," McLeland wrote.

"Since that meeting, Richard M. Allen has began to eat again and has begun to sleep," he wrote. "He behavior has began to return to what it was prior to making the admission on April 3, 2023."

McLeland's April 20 motion was for jail records and video evidence to rebut Allen's attorney's arguments to move Allen to either Cass or White county jails until his trial.

"The evidence is also necessary to refute the allegations of diminished mental capacity and/or other possible defenses," McLeland wrote. "It may also be important as the State introduces additional evidence gathered, including admissions made by Richard M. Allen himself.

Evidence was presented in the June 15 hearing to modify the safe-keeping order, which has Allen, a pretrial detainee, incarcerated in a prison for convicts.

Allen's motion to modify the safe-keeping order and move him a county jail pending the outcome of his trial was taken under advisement at the conclusion of the June 15 hearing. Gull has not yet ruled on the request.

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

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Richard Allen court documents include letter from Westville inmate