DELPHI, Ind. — UPDATE: The trial for Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen has been moved from May 13-31 to Oct. 14-Nov. 15.
It's been more than 2,600 days since the bodies of Abby Williams and Libby German were found near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi. The man accused of killing the two teenagers is about to stand trial.
13 Investigates reporter Bob Segall spoke with 13News legal analyst Katie Jackson-Lindsay about the upcoming legal proceedings.
“It probably has been and will continue to be one of the most unique cases in the history of our state, and to watch it play out now, I think the world will be watching,” Jackson-Lindsay said.
Jackson-Lindsay, who has tried both sides of murder cases as a former deputy prosecutor and as a criminal defense attorney, said jurors will hear very different versions of what happened in Delphi. She discussed what to expect and the key themes to watch for during the highly anticipated Delphi murders trial.
Jury selection
Starting Monday, May 13, the trial will begin by selecting a jury. Judge Frances Gull has set aside three full days to select 16 members of the jury (12 jurors and four alternates).
The Allen County clerk sent jury questionnaires to 600 potential jurors who have been summoned to appear for jury selection at the Allen County Courthouse. Once all jurors have been chosen, they will be sworn in on Thursday, May 16, and they will then be transported to a hotel closer to Delphi. The jury will be sequestered for the entirety of the trial, with opening statements by the prosecutor and defense team scheduled to take place on Friday, May 17.
Lindsay-Jackson said selecting a jury for such a high-profile case will have its challenges due to pre-trial publicity, due to finding individuals who do not have an inherent bias against defendants charged with crimes against children, and due to the expected length of the trial that will require jurors to be away from their families and jobs.
“There aren’t many people who can shut down their lives for three weeks and commit to hearing a jury trial, and so I think there will be people who will have a hardship,” she said.
The crime scene
When the Carroll County prosecutor presents the state’s case to the jury, Jackson-Lindsay said the early focus will be on painting a picture of the crime scene.
“We don’t know every single piece of evidence that was collected. They’re not required to put that in the probable cause affidavit. We don’t know how significant every piece of that evidence is, and so learning more about the crime scene itself and educating this jury on that is going be really important for the prosecution,” she explained. The evidence will also include a detailed explanation and description of the victims’ manner of death.
Establishing that Richard Allen was actually at the scene of the crimes will be crucial for the state if prosecutors want to convince a jury of Allen’s guilt, according to Jackson-Lindsay.
“That’s so important because at this juncture, Richard Allen is the only person charged with these murders. Richard Allen is the only one alleged to have committed the crime at all,” she said. “They have to be able to put Richard Allen there, I think, to have credibility with this jury.”
Allen denies having anything to do with the murders, but police say he did admit to investigators that he was on the walking trails near the Monon High Bridge – not far from the crime scene – on the day of the murders. And the jury will hear that.
“The state’s going to use that as a very burning piece of evidence to, first and foremost, at least put him in the area and give him opportunity, and so that will be challenging for the defense to overcome because it puts him there,” Jackson-Lindsay said. “But on the other hand, that can also cut both ways. Because if he truly committed these crimes, why would he admit that? That’s what the defense will argue.”
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Based on the state’s court filings, 13News also expects the prosecutor to tell jurors about a bullet found at the crime scene. Even though court records suggest the girls’ deaths were not caused by a firearm, investigators say forensic testing conducted on an unfired bullet found near the girls’ bodies show it matches a gun that belonged to Richard Allen.
“It’s a pretty critical piece of evidence for the prosecution because it’s the single piece of physical evidence, as I understand it, that links Richard Allen to the scene,” said Jackson-Lindsay.
Attacking the evidence
The 13News legal analyst says the defense team will challenge each piece of evidence presented by the state, including the controversial science of linking an unfired bullet to a specific gun.
And when the state tells the jury that Richard Allen allegedly confessed to the murders while in prison, his defense team will push back on that, too.
“As the state’s presenting this evidence, we’re going to watch the defense challenge every single one of these witnesses in cross examination,” Jackson-Lindsay said.
She said cross examination is when the defense team will try to undermine the credibility of police, how they investigated the murders, and how they singled out Allen while, according to the defense team, downplaying compelling evidence that points to other possible suspects.
And the defense wants the jury to hear an alternate theory about the murders: their claim that Abby and Libby were murdered not by Richard Allen, but by people who were conducting a pagan ritual sacrifice.
“We’re going into this trial with a roadmap of the entire defense strategy. And that is that someone else, some other guy other than Richard Allen, committed this crime,” explained Jackson-Lindsay.
What will the judge allow?
One of the big questions lingering before the trial is whether Judge Gull will allow the defense to call their own witnesses to back up that story, or if she will instead rule their theory is not credible enough to allow those witnesses to testify before the jury. A pre-trial hearing scheduled for Tuesday could help answer that question.
But Jackson-Lindsay said even if Gull decides that Allen’s public defenders cannot present their alternate theory witnesses to the jury, they may still be able to call the witnesses to testify during the trial after the jury is instructed to leave the courtroom. That would happen if the defense requests the judge allow an “offer to prove” that their defense witnesses have valuable information that is relevant. That legal strategy would allow the defense to preserve the witness testimony in the court record in the event that Allen is convicted and wishes to file an appeal.
How long the Delphi murders trial will last has also taken center stage in the weeks leading up to the trial. The judge has allowed three weeks for jury selection, arguments by both sides and jury deliberations. The defense believes the trial could take significantly longer for both the prosecutor and defense to present their cases. The have asked Gull to allow more time.
Also worth watching is the interactions between the judge and the defense lawyers. Both have claimed the other is incompetent and should be removed from the case, requiring the Indiana Supreme Court to intervene in the dispute. (Justices decided both should remain.) The defense and prosecutor have also been engaged in a public dispute over the way in which evidence was handled. Jackson-Lindsay says it is important that all of the parties set aside their animosity to ensure a fair trial.
“At the end of the day, even if it wasn’t Richard Allen, someone did this. Someone has caused this horrific harm to these families,” she said. “There’s a lot at stake, and so the idea of individual or personal tension with another party or feeling that you’re not getting a fair shot from a judge, it just really increases the anxiety, and it makes it a harder trial for everyone.”
Motive for murder
So far, the prosecution has not publicly discussed a possible motive for the murders since Allen was arrested 18 months ago. The state does not have to establish or prove a motive to convict someone in a murder trial.
But Jackson-Lindsay said jurors are naturally curious about motives.
“This jury will want to know why this seemingly normal guy woke up on that morning and decided to commit this crime,” she said. “So while [the prosecutor] does not have to prove motive, I think it would be helpful for a jury to wrap their mind around why he would do such a thing.”
The jury will be asked to determine whether they believe beyond a reasonable doubt that Allen committed the murders of the two teenagers.
No cameras or electronic devices will be allowed inside the trial, and the court has indicated Gull will likely limit the number of reporters permitted inside the courtroom.
13News will be at the Allen County Courthouse for jury selection and at the Carroll County Courthouse for the trial to bring you coverage each day of the trial.