Delphi murder suspect confessed to crimes in prison

CNN
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“I did it. I killed Abby and Libby.

Jurors heard Richard Allen say this in an audio recording of a phone call from prison to his wife.

Phone call from Allen, who is on trial in Indiana murder of two young people He is the only one of five men whose murders he confessed to his wife in prison in 2017. According to CNN affiliate WTHR.

Prosecutors say Allen actually confessed more than 60 times The murders committed in prison, his wife, his mother, his family members, the prison warden, the psychologist who treated him in prison, other prison employees and other prisoners. Jurors spent more than two weeks in the trial. The prosecution rested its case on Thursday after 40 witnesses were presented.

13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams and 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German disappeared after going for a hike on the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Indiana, on February 13, 2017. Their bodies were found the next day near the trail, with both throats slit.

Despite the confessions, many questions remain about the case, including Allen’s mental state and the lack of DNA evidence linking him to the crimes. Allen arrested in October 2022 A clue long ignored It was discovered while placing it at the scene of the crime.

The jury on Thursday heard recordings of seven jailhouse phone calls Allen made to his wife and mother, according to WTHR.

When he called his wife on April 3, 2023, he said, “Honey, I did it. I killed Abby and Libby. His wife told him not to say that, but he kept repeating the claim, WTHR reported. Then, in a call on May 10, 2023, he told his wife, “I want you to know that I did this,” according to the affiliate. He said to his wife, “I think I’ve lost my mind.”

Here’s what we learned about the murders in the second full week of the trial.

The confessions are part of the state’s evidence in the case against Allen, who worked at a CVS pharmacy in the small town of Delphi. The prosecution built its case without DNA evidence or a gun linking Allen to the crimes.

Jurors heard testimony that an unspent bullet was found at the scene. A firearms examiner testified that he tested the same type of bullet as Allen’s gun, and the results showed that the bullet found at the scene came from Allen’s gun. Defense attorneys questioned the science of trying to match an unfired bullet to a fired bullet.

Prison psychologist Monica Wala, who treated Allen at Westville Prison, said that he confessed to the crimes many times on behalf of the prosecution, and once confessed in great detail: According to WTHR.

“I killed Abby and Libby. “I’m sorry,” he told her during a hearing on April 5, 2023, WTHR reported.

“I just want to sign my confession,” he said during another session on May 9, 2023, according to Wala. Wala said he also talked about wanting to go back, change his actions and apologize to the families.

On May 2, 2023, he confessed to the murders again, telling Wala: “I killed Abby and Libby. I will kill everyone,” he testified, according to WTHR.

Allen told Wala that he cut the girls’ necks and covered their bodies with branches. After the May 3 meeting, he diagnosed her with a brief psychotic disorder with disorganized speech and behavior, but no delusions or catatonic behavior, according to WTHR.

In addition, Wala testified that she thought Allen sometimes mimicked some of the mental health behaviors he presented in prison, describing his behavior as “defiant” rather than “psychotic” at times. According to CNN affiliate WRTV. Wala stated that after he received information about the evidence that the prosecution would present against him at the hearing, some of his symptoms increased and he began to confess.

The prosecution also called former Westville Correctional Institution Warden John Galipeau, who testified that Allen asked to speak to him to confess to the murders. According to WTHR. Galipeau testified that Allen told her he killed the girls with a box cutter and threw them in the dumpster at CVS.

Several prison guards also testified for the state about murder confessions Allen made while incarcerated. Correctional officer Michael Clemons, who served as Allen’s suicide watch buddy, showed recordings of Allen saying: “I, Richard Matthew Allen, killed Abby and Libby by myself. Nobody helped me.”

While the prosecution highlighted Allen’s repeated confessions, the defense noted during cross-examination his fragile mental health at the time he confessed to the murders.

Allen had been held in solitary confinement for a total of 13 months, and the defense attempted to place the confessions in the context of the mental health crisis Allen suffered while incarcerated. He was placed on suicide watch multiple times, exhibited strange behavior, and was once diagnosed with a “brief psychotic disorder,” according to Wala, the psychologist who treated Allen.

On Friday, the defense called Deanna Dwenger, a clinical psychologist with the Indiana Department of Corrections’ Office of Behavioral Health. According to CNN affiliate WRTV. He testified that he was diagnosed with a serious mental illness in April 2023 and that a team of mental health experts concluded that he had a “severe disability.”

Defense attorney Brad Rozzi repeatedly asked Wala about Allen’s difficult conditions during solitary confinement and his mental health diagnoses. According to WTHR. Wala testified during cross-examination that he has a serious mental health history and suffers from both major depressive disorder and anxiety disorder.

Allen was placed on suicide watch in November 2022 and April 2023. Wala said he exhibited some strange behavior in prison, such as refusing to wear clothes, hitting his head and eating his own feces.

The same day he made one of his confessions, Allen also made rambling statements to Wala, including telling him he “killed myself, my family, and my best friend,” WTHR reported.

In a major blow to the defense, Judge Frances Gull ruled on Friday that Allen’s defense team could not present the theory of Odinism. According to WTHRHE Followers of OdinismA pagan Norse religion with connections to white supremacist groups committed the murders. Gull ruled that the defense team did not show enough connection between other potential suspects and the murders.

The defense hoped to use both the bloody mark on a tree near where the bodies were found and the sticks placed on the girls’ bodies as evidence that followers of Odinism were behind the murders.

The defense also called witnesses whose testimony contradicted the state’s version of the killings. On Friday, former Carroll County Sheriff Tobe Leazenby testified that he believes at least two people killed the girls by August 2023. WTHR reported. Former Delphi Fire Chief Darrell Sterrett testified for the defense that he did not see any clothing in the creek during the initial search. According to WTHR. Abby’s jeans, jacket, and Libby’s T-shirt were later found in the nearby river. According to WRTV.

A state DNA expert testified on Oct. 28 that Allen’s DNA was not found at the scene. According to WTHR.

Stacy Bozinovski told the jury that he tested items at the scene, including Abby and Libby’s clothing, skin cells under their fingertips, blood taken from the scene and unspent bullet found among the victims’ bodies. While most crime scene samples found DNA from both girls, there was no DNA from Allen.

DNA from an unknown male was found at the crime scene; However, Bozinovski stated that this was not unusual and may have come from the environment the girls were in. He testified that there was no DNA evidence of sexual assault, according to WTHR.

He also tested items from Allen’s home and vehicle, including his blue Carhartt jacket, carpet in his car, and knives. No DNA belonging to Abby or Libby was found on any of the items taken from Allen’s home, WTHR reported.

Asked about the hair samples found at the scene, Bozinovski said the state is not testing them at this time.

“But now is the time,” said defense attorney Jennifer Auger. “Richard Allen is currently on trial!”