Indianapolis News and HeadlinesDelphi Murders

Actions

Judge unseals more than 100 documents related to Delphi Murders Trial, including Richard Allen's 'admissions'

Docs provide insight into incriminating statements from Allen, mention manner of death
Richard Allen Court Appearance 61523
Posted at 2:10 PM, Jun 28, 2023
and last updated 2023-09-01 13:23:55-04

DELPHI — This afternoon, Special Judge Fran Gull, who is overseeing the Delphi Murders trial of Richard Allen, unsealed more than 100 documents relating to the case. 

Allen is currently charged with murder in relation to the February 2017 deaths of Libby German and Abby Williams near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi.

READ MORE | Richard Allen made 'admissions of guilt' to multiple people, according to Carroll Co. prosecutor

During Allen's most recent hearing, Gull explained she would be unsealing documents to the public that were previously sealed. However, she did not explicitly say which documents and what for.

On Wednesday, Gull issued an order unsealing 118 documents. 19 documents remain under seal.

Below is a summary of the findings in those documents.

Allen's "admission of guilt"

In those documents is Motion for leave of court to subpoena third-party records, which they claim contain a possible admission from Allen to his wife during a phone call he made while in jail.

The motion states:

"On April 3, 2023, Richard M Allen made a phone call to his wife Kathy Allen. In that phone call, Richard M Allen admits several times that he killed Abby and Libby. Investigators had the phone call transcribed and the transcription confirms that Richard M Allen admits that he committed the murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German. He admits several times within the phone call that he committed the offenses (sic) as charged. His wife, Kathy Allen, ends the phone call abruptly."

The documents also contains multiple mentions of instances where Allen was acting different while being locked up, including times where he was eating paper from his attorneys.

"Richard M Allen was wetting down and paperwork he had gotten from his attorneys and eating it, he was refusing to eat and refusing to sleep. He would go days of refusing to sleep. He further broke the tablet that he used for text messages and phone calls. He went from making up to two phone calls a day as of April 3, 2023 to not making any phone calls at all.”

That motion can be viewed directly below this line:

According to documents, Allen has admitted to the crime at least five times on phone calls to his wife, Kathy Allen, and his mother.

Motion to move Allen to new facility

Among the vast number of documents are also multiple references from Allen's attorneys on why he should be moved from the Westville Correctional Facility.

They also include a letter written by a fellow inmate of Allen's at Westville who claimed Allen was being "abused and mis-treated" by the staff.

In the letter, which was filed as evidence in the defense's motion to move Allen to a new facility for safekeeping, the inmate says Allen is often called "kid killer" by jail staff and told to "kill himself" by other inmates. The court documents allege jail staff also teasing Allen that his family is there to visit when they are in fact not there.

Inmate Letter

Other findings

Documents also share for the first time that Abby and Libby died by homicide by "sharp object".

There were also multiple pieces of clothing missing from the scene, including underwear and a sock. There is no mention of those items being recovered in any searches of property.

During searches of Allen's property, numerous firearms, electronic devices and knives were seized as evidence.

WRTV is making all of the newly released documents available. Click HERE to view them.
They are in their original form as released from the judge's office on June 28.
WARNING: Some of the documents contain content that may be disturbing to some viewers.