Indiana Supreme Court reinstates defense team for Delphi murder suspect; prosecutors file new charges
DELPHI, Ind. (CBS) -- The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Richard Allen – the man charged in the murder of two teenage girls near Delphi, Indiana in 2017 – may have his original defense attorneys reinstated to the case.
Prosecutors also filed new charges against Allen Thursday.
Allen was charged in the murders of 13-year-old Abby Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German. Their bodies were found in the woods near the Delphi historic trail on Valentine's Day coming up on seven years ago.
Allen's trial was initially set for January 2024, but at a hearing on Oct. 19, Judge Fran Gull announced defense attorneys Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi were withdrawing from the case.
According to CBS 4 Indy, Bradley and Rozzi were removed by Judge Gull following an evidence leak – in which the judge called them "grossly negligent." Allen's new attorneys filed a motion to delay the trial, arguing it would be impossible to meet that January date.
Allen's trial was pushed back until Oct. 15, 2024.
The state Supreme Court declined to remove Judge Gull from the case, or to order the trial to begin within 70 days.
Liberty and Abigail were found stabbed to death on a hiking trail near an abandoned railroad bridge. Allen was arrested in October 2022.
Prosecutors have said Allen confessed in prison phone calls to his wife. His attorneys have blamed four other people for the murders.
Police have said Libby snapped a photo of the killer and recorded his voice on her cell phone before she died. Authorities also have released a series of sketches of the suspect.
Allen is a Delphi resident and lived in the town the whole time the case was under investigation before he was charged. There are fewer than 3,000 people residing in the entire town of Delphi.
Also Thursday, Carroll County, Indiana prosecutors filed two more counts of murder, and two kidnapping charges against Allen. He was originally charged with just two counts of murder.