Delphi Suspect's Lawyers Abruptly Withdraw From Case

UPDATE Oct 20, 2023 1:00 AM CDT

The lawyers for the Indiana man charged with the 2017 Delphi murders of two teen girls are abruptly withdrawing from the case. The judge said one defense attorney made a motion to withdraw Thursday afternoon, and the second is expected to do the same within days, the AP reports. It's not exactly clear why they're withdrawing, but their reasoning appears to involve concerns over the security of evidence in the case. The judge said the trial date, previously set for January 8, would likely need to be pushed back. A new public defender will be appointed to the case, and the next hearing is currently scheduled for October 31.

Jun 29, 2023 12:30 AM CDT

Newly unsealed court documents in the 2017 murders of two girls in Delphi, Indiana, reveal that, according to prosecutors, the suspect charged with the murders has confessed multiple times to killing Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14. Prosecutors say that during an April 2023 phone call with his wife from the jail phones, Richard Allen admitted "several times" he committed the slayings, and that he also did so during a phone call from jail to his mother. Allen's lawyers say the alleged confessions aren't reliable due to the physical and mental "duress" he's under while behind bars, Fox 59 reports.

The documents also reveal for the first time publicly how investigators believe the girls were killed: with a knife. "Autopsies of the girls ruled their deaths as homicides and their wounds were caused by sharp object," the documents say. They also reveal what police seized from Allen's home about two weeks prior to his arrest last year, CBS 4 reports. Those items include a gun, ammunition, several knives, boots and other articles of clothing, laptops, cellphones, and hard drives, among other things. The hundreds of pages of previously sealed filings have also been posted online, the Indianapolis Star reports. They can be viewed here. (More Delphi stories.)