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Delphi murder trial jurors hear from psychologist about Richard Allen
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Delphi murder trial jurors hear from psychologist about Richard Allen

The court continues Friday in Delphi, Indiana, the trial against Richard Allen.

Allen, 52, is accused of killing two teenagers who went missing on Feb. 13, 2017, and were found dead the next day. He was arrested in 2022 and faces two counts of murder and two counts of murder during the kidnapping for the death of Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German.

Jurors have now heard recordings of Allen’s voice in which he tells his relatives that killed both teenagers. Prosecutors presented the audio along with testimony from an Indiana State Police master trooper, who identified Allen’s voice as belonging to the man in the infamous “Bridge Guy” video.

journalists of the Indianapolis Star and the Lafayette’s Diary and Courier will cover the case as it moves through the court system.

This story will be updated throughout the day.

Special Judge Frances Gull denied another request by Allen’s lawyers to present evidence related to his theory that Odinists, members of a Norse pagan religion hijacked by white nationalists, killed Abby and Libby during a sacrificial ritual in the forest.

Gull previously ruled that evidence related to Odinism is not admissible, but left the door open for reconsideration during the trial. defense lawyers I recently made several requests to allow them to present their theory to jurors, saying that recent testimony from state witnesses has opened the door for them to present evidence.

The defense team called three more witnesses this afternoon, one of whom is a 70-year-old man who reported seeing an older model vehicle near the former Child Protective Services building on County Road West 300 North.

Bradley Heath testified that the vehicle was parked in the area from 8:45 a.m. until about 1:45 p.m. on February 13, 2017. It was halfway up the road and was parked several feet from the road, he said Heath. The vehicle, which Heath described as “maybe dark blue,” was an older model and reminded him of a car he saw in a Tommy Lee Jones movie. “He seemed out of place” in the area, Heath said.

During brief questioning by Stacey Diener, Heath said the car was not parked in the CPS parking lot. Police have alleged in a probable cause affidavit that Allen parked his 2016 Ford Focus at the former CPS building on Feb. 13, 2017.

David McCainwho frequents the Monon High Bridge Trail, testified that he was there between 2 and 4 p.m. on February 13, 2017 and walked across the high bridge to take photographs. When he went to his car at the Mears driveway along County Road West 300 North, he said he was surprised to see several cars there.

“Someone yelled at me, ‘Have you seen two girls?'” McCain, 79, said, adding that he yelled “No” at the man who asked.

Darrell Sterrett, who was chief of the Delphi volunteer fire department, said he and his crew arrived at the trail around 9:30 p.m. on February 17, 2013, to help find Abby and Libby. Sterrett, 57, testified that he ordered a “hasty search” of the area south of the bridge.

“I wanted boots on the ground… It was February… I thought they were crouched down, cold and scared, they didn’t know where they were and they were waiting for us to find them,” Sterrett said.

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At Delphi Murders Trial, Expert Speaks About Richard Allen’s Mental State

Richard Allen was held in solitary confinement for a little over a year at the Westville Correctional Facility.

Dr. Deanna Dwengerexecutive director of Mental Health Services for the Indiana Department of Corrections, testified Friday that Allen arrived at Westville Correctional Facility with depression and anxiety disorder. In April 2023, when Allen began confessing to killing Abby and Libby, he was severely mentally ill, Dwenger told jurors.

Dwenger, the fourth defense witness to take the stand, also said that prolonged isolation and segregation aggravated Allen’s mental condition. Allen was held in solitary confinement for a little more than a year in Westville, where his attorneys said he was fed through a door. The lights in his small cell were never turned off and he was constantly monitored by a camera.

Allen was brought to Westville in November 2022, about a month after his arrest. In the spring of 2023, he told his relatives that he had found God and began confessing to the crimes in several phone calls to his wife and mother. Allen too confessed to the prison guards who were assigned to monitor him while he is on suicide watch and to keep a time-stamped record of his behavior. Coinciding with his confessions it was a series of strange behaviorslike flushing a Bible down the toilet and eating your own feces.

Dr. Monica WalaAllen therapist in Westville, testified earlier this week who believed Allen was faking his strange behavior.

Dwenger, who supervises contract employees like Wala, said Westville mental health staff also diagnosed Allen as “severely disabled.” Allen’s severe disability was not specified.

During cross-examination by Stacey Diener, Dwenger said Allen was not diagnosed with a serious mental illness until It began its decline in April 2023. At that point, Westville mental health staff determined that Allen was deteriorating enough to need intervention, regardless of whether his symptoms were false or genuine, Dwenger said.

One juror asked whether a person who feigns mental illness slips truths into a confession. Dwenger said that if a person’s story is organized, that person is probably faking psychosis, Dwenger said. If a person’s story is disjointed, they are more likely to be psychotic or delusional.

Only one other witness testified Friday morning. Christopher Gootee, an officer of the Hammond Police Department who helped with the Delphi investigation, testified that he interviewed Brad Weber, a Delphi resident who lives near the Monon High Bridge trail.

Weber testified earlier this week who left work around 2 pm on February 13, 2017 and drove 20 to 25 minutes home. The defense noted during Weber’s testimony that his earlier statement to police was different: that he stopped somewhere before returning home.

But when questioned by the defense, Gootee said he did not remember what Weber told him in the interview, even after he was shown a report of that conversation. Gootee did not write the report.

Weber’s timing is important because that day he was driving a pickup truck toward a property near the crime scene. In one of his prison confessions, Allen said a van scared him.

He The state rested its case Thursday.after almost two weeks of testimony.