A judge released more than 1,200 pages of exhibits from Delphi murderer Richard Allen’s case on Monday, then sealed the exhibits, which signals that Allen’s appeal is about a month from being filed.
Monday’s filing appears to comply with an Oct. 22 appeals court order to produce the missing exhibits from earlier motions in the trial case.
If Monday’s filing complies with the Indiana Appeals Court’s order, Allen’s appellate attorneys have 30 days from Nov. 10 to file his appeal brief.
The exhibits might hint at what Allen’s attorneys plan to challenge. Special Judge Frances Gull’s rulings that barred Allen’s trial attorneys from presenting evidence that other people might be responsible for the Feb. 13, 2017, killings of Abby Williams and Libby German. It also might argue that Gull should have vacated the verdicts.
Several news outlets published the exhibits, which have since been blocked from public inspection. The Journal & Courier downloaded the file from Fort Wayne’s WANE 15 website on Tuesday and verified the filing of 1,201 pages of exhibits on Wednesday through sealed court records that detailed the number of pages. The specific content, however, was no longer accessible to the public.
Among the exhibits are an affidavit from Todd Click, a former Rushville assistant police chief, who investigated the possible involvement in the killings of Odinists in the eastern part of Indiana.
In September 2023, Allen’s attorneys presented a lengthy memorandum about how the girls’ killings might have been human sacrifices by people who worship Odin, an ancient Nordic pagan religion that today is often associated today with white supremacy cultures.
Gull refused to allow Allen’s attorneys to introduce evidence of Odinism or that the girls might have been human sacrifices in a pagan ritual.
The exhibits also include transcriptions of Indiana State Police interviews with Kathy Allen, Richard’s wife.
Among the exhibits are also transcribed depositions of Indiana State Police Lt. Jerry Holeman and Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett.
After Allen’s arrest on Oct. 26, 2022, he was ordered to be housed in the Westville Correctional Facility, where at least two guards wore patches on their uniforms that tied them to Odinism, according to the exhibits.
Max Baker, who worked for Allen’s defense team, filed an affidavit stating that he witnessed the Odinist patches on prison guards’ uniforms, as well as one patch that read, “I hate people.”
Allen told his attorneys that those people were going to kill him, according to Baker’s affidavit, which noted that up until then, the defense team had never heard of Odinism.
Baker also reviewed video images recorded by prison guards that showed Allen, who was in Westville prison for safekeeping, had been badly beaten and had two black eyes.
Matthew Hoffman, another employee working with Allen’s defense attorney, filed an affidavit included in Monday’s release of exhibits. In his affidavit, Hoffman recounts how Allen pleaded with his guards not to hurt him.
“I heard Richard Allen unprompted multiple times implore the guards to not ‘shock’ him or variations of that request,” Hoffman wrote in his affidavit. “This was both asked in question form (‘Are you going to shock me?’) and also in statement form (‘don’t shock me’).
“These statements/questions that Richard Allen made concerning being shocked were made in front of several guards and several members of Richard’s defense team,” Hoffman wrote. “In response to Richard asking if they were going to shock him, one guard said ‘Maybe. I don’t know.’ (A)s if it was a joke.”
Jurors were selected in Allen County in October 2024 and were sequestered in Lafayette during Allen’s four-week trial.
On Nov. 11, 2024, jurors convicted Allen of four counts of murder. He was sentenced Dec. 20, 2024, to 130 years in prison for two counts of murder. It was the maximum sentence.
A deposition in the exhibits also challenge the prosecutor’s timeline of the events before and after the girls were killed, which might be a part of the appeal.
In January, Allen’s trial attorneys filed a motion for Gull to correct errors or vacate the verdicts. That motion indicated the defense uncovered evidence that contradicts prosecutors’ theories and the state’s timeline of events.
The exhibits also explored how police investigated other potential suspects, including Ron Logan’s possible involvement in the killings. Libby and Abby were found on Logan’s property north of the Deer Creek.
In a transcript of Liggett’s deposition, he is questioned about Logan.
An FBI agent presented a probable cause affidavit for a search warrant for Logan’s house, which was searched March 17, 2017. In that affidavit, the FBI agent presents evidence that Logan created an alibi as to where he was in the time frame of the killings. This alibi was created before the girls’ bodies were even discovered on his property, according to the affidavit.
The exhibits filed Monday include documents detailing theories of Odinists in Delphi and Logansport, suggesting that they might be involved, along with the Odinists on the east side of the state. It included questions in depositions about police investigation of — and dismissal of — the theory that the branches and limbs, as well as the positioning of the bodies and the “F” painted on a tree with Libby’s blood, all tied back to Odinism.
The exhibits also challenge the investigators’ dismissals of potential suspects. The exhibit included a document created by conservation officer Capt. Dan Dulin, who questioned Allen on Feb. 16, 2017.
Allen was excluded as a suspect after Dulin questioned him, according to a page in the exhibits. However, a self-reported tip sheet from Allen was discovered in a desk drawer in October 2022. On that tip sheet, Allen said he was on the trails the day of the killings.
That self-reported tip sheet focused investigators on Allen, who was questioned by police and his house searched in October 2022.
Police matched ejection markings from an unfired bullet found at the murder scene to ejection markings from Allen’s pistol. This resulted in his Oct. 26, 2022, arrest and his charges of murder.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Filing of missing exhibits suggest Delphi murderer’s appeal is weeks from being submitted
Reporting by Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
