Families of Delphi murder victims furious after court ruling ‘protected alleged killer’s dignity’

Family and friends of Liberty German and Abigail Williams are outraged by an Indiana court’s decision to shield open prison video footage from the public out of ‘respect’ for the ‘dignity’ of the man accused of killing the Delphi teenagers.

Jurors in Carroll County Court were the only members of the public allowed to view nearly two hours of video recordings made by Richard Allen during the 13 months he was held at the Westville Correctional Facility in Westville, about 45 miles outside Delphi.

Expressing her disappointment outside the Chamber courtroom where the trial was held, Libby’s grandmother, Becky Patty, said it was “ridiculous” to “hide” Allen while the court showed the girls at their worst in the face of horrific events. and publicly released crime and autopsy photographs.

Libby, 14, and Abby, 13, were killed outside their hometown of Delphi, Indiana, in February 2017.

Richard Allen denies killing Liberty and Abby, who were killed while hiking in their hometown of Delphi, Indiana

Family members of Liberty German and Abigail Williams listen as Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter announces the arrest of Richard Allen, 50, in the murders of two teenage girls killed in 2017 during a press conference in Delphi, Indiana, on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022. During a hiking trip in Indiana

Allen, 52, faces four charges in the murders of her best friends, Libby, 14, and Abby, 13, who disappeared after going for a walk along the Monon High Bridge trail on Feb. 13, 2017.

He is charged with capital murder for the murder of both girls, which means the murder was committed during the course of another criminal act, in which case the other act would be kidnapping.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 130 years in prison.

Today, his defense continued to make its case, admitting as evidence nearly two hours of footage taken from cameras used by guards who constantly monitored and filmed Allen throughout the 13 months he spent in solitary confinement and suicide watch.

At the beginning of Saturday morning, Judge Frances Gull announced that she would release the exhibit due to the ‘fairly explicit scenes’ in the 15 videos, meaning the videos could be viewed, but only to the jury.

Bradely Rozzi, one of Allen’s legal team, thanked Judge Gull for his decision, saying: ‘Out of respect for the various parties, including my client and his reputation, this is the most professional way to handle this situation.’

The photos show both girls lying on their backs on the morgue table, with extensive neck wounds. Both were 5 ft 4 in height, Abby weighed 95 lbs and Libby weighed 200 lbs

The abandoned Monon High Bridge outside Delphi, Indiana, where Abby and Libby were killed

The large screen on which evidence was presented to jurors was moved away from the public gallery, while videos without sound were played in a silent courtroom.

Some members of the media are visible from their seats in the gallery, while others show Allen naked, fully handcuffed or otherwise restrained.

In one of them, he kneels naked, facing a wall, while two police officers soap and wash him, dry him and put a black ‘spit cap’ on his head.

In the other, Allen, still bearded at the time, is getting a haircut, sitting seemingly passively, his hands cuffed behind his back. At one point, she is dragged down a corridor by two guards who hold both of her arms.

In another, he appears to be lying as guards try to lift him up.

Another video shows Allen naked and positioned in a white spit hood.

Another photo shows him being transported to the prison’s medical unit, strapped to a chair and examined. Allen received involuntary injections of the antipsychotic drug Haldol several times during his time in Westville.

The ‘action videos’ were all filmed as Allen entered and exited his cell and were filmed between April and June 2023, compiled from hundreds of hours of footage reviewed by the defense team.

The jury is expected to be shown cell video next week.

The road where 13-year-old Abby Williams and 14-year-old Libby German were killed in Delphi, Indiana

Richard Allen was thin, skinny, with short hair and barely five feet tall, although witness Breann Wilber described ‘Bridge Guy’ as tall and muscular.

They depict what the defense presented as the peak of the “serious mental illness” and psychotic breakdown that Allen claimed he suffered from constant surveillance and prolonged solitary confinement in Westville’s most secure unit.

Jurors watched the footage intently, sometimes with one clasping his hand over his mouth, but they were visibly less impressed than Allen’s own attorneys.

Jennifer Auger watched with great discomfort as her colleague Rozzi presented each clip. At one point, Andrew Baldwin appeared to burst into tears, his arm wrapped around the back of the chair he was sitting next to Allen.

Yesterday the court heard Allen was “severely mentally ill” when he made a series of prison confessions to killing Libby and Abby.

This statement comes from Dr. Dr., a psychologist who oversees mental health services at the Indiana Department of Corrections. It came with the expert testimony of Deanna Dweinger.

Under questioning from Rozzi, Dweinger told the court that the conditions in which Allen was held during his 13-month stay at Westville would have been “toxic” for a man already suffering from depression and anxiety.