Allen in court Wednesday for second day of Delphi murder pre-trial hearings

 

CARROLL COUNTY, Ind. -- Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen appeared in court on Wednesday for the second day of pre-trial hearings that will conclude on Thursday.

Watch as ABC57's Annie Kate covers all the details from the second day of pre-trial hearings.

Allen, looking thin, sported a buzz cut and stubble while wearing an orange jumpsuit in the courtroom. In the past, Allen‘s hands were bound to his chest, but this week, his right hand is free for note taking.

Wednesday's hearing is addressing a motion from the defense to suppress incriminating statements made by Allen. The defense team had originally filed two motions to suppress, but in a surprising move, withdrew the second motion at the start of Wednesday's hearings. 

The prosecution stated there are 61 statements made over two months that Allen's team is trying to suppress altogether. The prosecution tried to dismiss the motion, but Judge Fran Gull took that under advisement and let the hearing continue.

Defense attorney Brad Rossi first argued that Allen is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty but, because of his safekeeping, he’s been in an eight-and-a-half- by 12-and-a-half-foot maximum security prison cell for over a year.

For much of that time, he was on suicide watch and constantly monitored on video cameras.

A former warden at Westville correctional testified Wednesday that he heard Allen confess at his cell door.

He went on to share details about Allen’s bizarre behavior in prison, saying “he was covering himself in feces, washing himself in the toilet.”

The former warden also testified that Allen made multiple requests for an interview with investigators.

The prosecution says these were requests to confess.

A second witness, the lead investigator at Westville, was questioned about staff with Odinist patches on their vests, and about the systems used to store inmate information.

The defense, called Westville Correctional Lead Psychologist Monica Wala, and questioned her about Allen’s psychosis in prison. It was about March 2023, she stated, that his mental health started to deteriorate, eventually leading to brief psychotic disorder.

He confessed to Wala, and to his mother in front of Wala, around the time his mental health had dipped.

The defense, also seemingly trying to discredit Wala, probed about her personal attention to the case via blogs, YouTube and podcasts, saying that it created a conflict of interest.

But the final witness of the day was an ISP investigator called by the prosecution, who shared how he monitored Allen’s prison phone calls and other recordings.

He testified Allen asked his mom and wife if they would still love him if he did it, and that he seemingly found God and wanted to then confess in earnest.
But Allen remained with his defense team in Carroll Circuit Court, trying to defend his innocence.

ISP Detective Jerry Holeman testified that Allen claimed he used a box cutter to murder the girls.

That’s information that hadn’t been released to the public yet.

The hearing ran well past 6pm and picks up again Thursday Aug. 1.