Judge pushes Delphi murders trial to October 2024
DELPHI, Ind. (WISH) — The trial for Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen has been delayed.
Allen filed the motion to delay his trial from January Tuesday morning as he appeared in a Carroll County courtroom. Judge Frances Gull approved the motion, delaying the trial until Oct. 15, 2024.
Allen was set to go on trial in January for two counts of murder in the deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German, who were found stabbed to death in February of 2017 near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi.
Allen was arrested in October of 2022, more than five years after the deaths. He has maintained his innocence in the case.
Tuesday’s hearing comes after Allen’s new attorneys requested an Allen County judge to unseal more than 100 documents in the docket, including a theory that the murders of Williams and German were part of a ritualistic sacrifice.
His attorneys filed the motion with Indiana’s highest court on Monday, arguing that the Carroll County prosecutor violated Indiana’s open records rules for court proceedings.
Gull has also allowed Allen’s original defense team to rejoin the case. Judge Gull had previously ordered Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi removed from the case, saying they had withdrawn.
Baldwin and Rozzi claimed the judge carried out a “pre-meditated ambush” and “coerced” the withdrawals. They have asked that she step down from the Allen trial or be removed.
The pair will now serve Allen pro-bono, meaning they will not be paid, and will work alongside his new court-appointed attorneys.