Defense attorneys for Richard Allen withdraw representation just before October 19 hearing
UPDATE: Defense attorneys for Richard Allen' recused themselves from representing him just before the October 19 hearing. His next hearing is scheduled for October 31.
ORIGINAL STORY:
It’s been nearly a year since Indiana State Police first announced an arrest in the 2017 murders of 14-year-old Liberty German and 13-year-old Abigail Williams near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi, Indiana.
On Thursday, the suspect in the murders, Richard Allen, has a status hearing in Allen Superior Court.
Here’s what’s happened since the last hearing back in June 2023:
During the June 15 hearing, Allen was given a January 2024 jury trial date. In January 2023, we learned jurors for his trial would not be picked from Carroll County, where the crime took place, but instead from Allen County.
Just over a week after the June hearing, the judge presiding over the case ordered the unsealing of documents related to the case. These documents revealed new information about the murders, with claims that the victims’ fatal wounds were caused by a “sharp object,” that articles of clothing were missing from the scene and that Allen confessed to the murders during a jailhouse call to his wife in April 2023.
Allen’s defense team argued the confession couldn't be taken as truth given Allen’s deteriorating mental and physical health while in prison.
In July, the judge denied the defense team's request to move Allen from the Westville Correctional Facility due to his declining health spurred by poor living conditions there. The court found no evidence that supports Allen’s mistreatment at Westville, saying he’s actually “treated more favorably than other inmates,” according to court documents.
In September, the defense team issued a memorandum claiming members of Odinism, a religious cult, killed the two girls in a ritualistic sacrifice.
His attorneys claim investigators found evidence of Odinism signatures at the crime scene but that they largely ignored the Odinist ties.
In October 2023, the hosts of the podcast “The Murder Sheet” revealed a source sent them graphic crime scene photos leaked from a source close to the defense team.
Thursday morning, just hours before the trial, the defense team filed a new memorandum concerned about a possible disqualification of Allen's attorney Andrew Baldwin.
His attorneys said that since Allen has developed trust with Baldwin, dismissing Baldwin would harm Allen's "right to counsel and a timely trial."
The memorandum seemingly concerns the leaked evidence, as the filing reads:
"Disqualification of counsel is an extreme remedy for any alleged or perceived violation of a court's order. Most if not all cases concerning disqualification of counsel involve conflicts of interest. There is no case allowing disqualification when an individual not part of the attorney's office or staff surreptitiously purloins information from the attorney and disseminates it without permission or the attorney's knowledge." (page 2)
According to the defense team, the information was leaked by people not connected to the defense team, and that Baldwin trusted a friend with his office space but was ultimately betrayed. The filing says three people distributed the information. Read the full document below.
The judge is allowing cameras into the courtroom on Thursday by way of pool cameras.
ABC57 News will have coverage of the hearing starting at 5 p.m. on air and online at abc57.com.