Delphi murderer Richard Allen’s appellate attorneys faced a Friday deadline to explain what precisely he is appealing in his murder trial, convictions and sentencing, but that deadline was moved Tuesday to Oct. 6.
Allen’s attorneys filed a motion on Aug. 28 asking for an extension to file the brief, noting they are going over the court records for a 25-day trial. That trial ended Nov. 11 with Allen’s convictions on two counts of murder for the Feb. 13, 2017, killings of Libby German and Abby Williams.
The appeals court order signed Tuesday noted this is the final extension for Allen’s attorneys.
“The transcripts consist of 22 volumes and approximately 5,076 pages,” Allen’s attorneys noted in their latest motion. “There were multiple pretrial hearings, including one that lasted three days.
“The trial was one month. The exhibits consist of 15 volumes and have approximately 3,581 pages.
“Additionally, there are two supplemental exhibit volumes that contain approximately 198 media files and 40 document files,” the motion states. “In short, the matter under appeal is so complex that an adequate brief cannot reasonably be prepared by the date the brief is due.”
On Dec. 20, Special Judge Frances Gull sentenced Allen to 130 years in prison, the maximum penalty for two counts of murder.
Allen forced the teenagers off the Monon High Bridge east of Delphi and made them ford the creek to the north banks, where he killed them by slashing their throats, the jury found.
The girls’ killings went unsolved for nearly six years, until a clerk found a piece of information that Allen had self-reported in the days after the killings that he had been on the trails that afternoon.
Police arrested Allen on Oct. 26, 2022, after a tool-markings expert determined an unfired bullet at the scene of the murders was ejected from Allen’s sidearm.
Allen’s case was punctuated by public spats between his attorneys and Gull and Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland.
Earlier this year, Indiana Department of Correction transferred Allen from the Pendleton Correctional Facility in Madison County, Indiana, to the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Correction.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Delphi murderer given until Oct. 6 to file appeals brief in final extension
Reporting by Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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