Delphi Teen Murders: Jurors Selected As Alleged Killer’s Trial Starts

The jury is set for the high-profile trial of a man charged with killing two teenage girls in Delphi, Indiana, in 2017.

Richard Allen, 52, faces two counts of murder and two counts of felony murder for the killings of Liberty “Libby” German, 14, and Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. If convicted, Allen could face up to 130 years in prison.

Jury selection began Monday in Fort Wayne and ended with 12 jurors and two alternates. However, three jurors were dismissed Tuesday morning, leaving five open spots to be filled.

By 3:35 p.m. Tuesday, 17 jurors were seated but only 16 remain. It is unclear which of the jurors was excused. The rest of the prospective jurors have been excused.

The majority of jurors are women, Fox 55 reports.

During during “mini opening statements” Tuesday, Allen’s defense attorney Andrew Baldwin claimed a hair found on Williams’ hand didn’t match Allen’s DNA.

Prosecutors claimed an unspent bullet at the crime scene is linked to Allen’s gun and highlighted numerous confessions from him. However, Allen’s defense argued the confessions were made under duress, are unreliable, and include inaccurate crime details as well as admissions to crimes that never occurred.

The judge also granted the prosecution’s request to hear a motion regarding a witness on Thursday at 9 a.m. Their motion on not allowing or referencing two widely-circulated police sketches of Allen will also be heard that day. There will be no court on Wednesday.

The trial is anticipated to last at least a month with jurors being transported to Carroll County – more than 100 miles away from where the murders happened – and sequestered throughout the proceedings.

The trial is estimated to cost the state over $4 million.

The Context

In October 2022, Allen, a pharmacy technician from Delphi, was arrested nearly six years after the murders of the teenagers.

A relative dropped the eighth graders off at a hiking trail on February 13, 2017, but they never returned. Their bodies were found the next day in a wooded area near the trail.

Authorities released files from German’s cellphone, which included two blurry photos and an audio clip of a man saying, “down the hill.”

In July 2017, investigators unveiled sketches of the suspect and a brief video showing him on the Monon High Bridge, an abandoned railroad bridge. Allen, who had been interviewed in 2017, told police he was on the trail the day the girls went missing and had seen three females at another bridge.

Following a reinterview on October 13, 2022, police searched Allen’s home, seizing a .40-caliber pistol. Ballistic tests later indicated that an unspent bullet found between the victims’ bodies had been cycled through Allen’s gun.

The case has encountered several delays, stemming from evidence leaks and changes in Allen’s legal representation. The Indiana Supreme Court later reinstated his public defenders after they initially withdrew.

In December 2022, Judge Fran Gull of Allen County Superior Court issued a gag order, preventing public comments on the case, and banned cameras from the courtroom. In August, she permitted prosecutors to introduce evidence of incriminating statements Allen allegedly made to correctional officers, including a recorded phone call in which he reportedly confessed to his wife.

A court filing by Allen’s attorneys claimed the teens’ throats had been cut but prosecutors have not disclosed how they were killed.

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