Newly released court documents in the murder case of two Delphi, Indiana, girls are providing new details, including what investigators discovered at the crime scene and a supposed confession from Richard M. Allen, the man who is charged with the girls’ murder.
Documents unsealed Wednesday alleged that, Allen, who is charged with the 2017 killings of Abby Williams and Libby German, confessed during an April 3 phone call to his wife.
The call came from the Westville Correctional Facility, where Allen is being held as he awaits trail.
According to court records:
“On April 3, 2023, Richard M. Allen made a phone call to his wife Kathy Allen,” the record states. “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.”
The court records went on to state that Allen’s wife abruptly ended the phone call.
In another document, one of 118 court documents released by the court Wednesday, Allen’s defense attorneys alleged that the day after that phone call, they visited him in jail and that he appeared to be suffering from various “psychotic symptoms” which they described as “schizophrenic and delusional.” They also allege he has suffered “memory loss.”
In their filings, Allen’s defense attorneys included photos of Allen showing his supposed deterioration from the time before his arrest to this spring, after he had spent months in an Indiana correctional facility.
Defense attorneys have also sought to inspect the Westville Correctional facility where Allen is staying.
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They allege his mental capacity has deteriorated from his time there and that he’s being treated worse than other inmates.
The records also allege that at one point, the warden of the facility told investigators that Allen had been “wetting down paperwork he had gotten from his attorneys and eating it.” He was also “refusing to eat and sleep.”
Allen’s attorneys have filed motions to suppress certain evidence in the case, including his mental health records, any interviews he had done while in jail and records related to his work.
The newly released documents also include a note that investigators believe both a gun and knife were involved in the murders of the two girls and that clothing items, including underwear and socks, were missing from the crime scene.
Investigators had previously released an audio recording of a person saying “down the hill” which was captured on one of the girl’s cell phones.
The records state that authorities later connected Allen to the crime scene through various means, including in 2017 when he told a conservation officer that he had been on the trail the same day the girls went missing.
Investigators say they later matched an unspent round found near the girls’ bodies. According to the records, Allen could not explain why an unspent round would’ve been found there.
Allen’s attorneys, though, have challenged and tried to suppress ballistic testing on the Sig-Sauer firearm that belonged to Allen.
Despite the court releasing many documents, several of them remain sealed, including some records that detail names of juvenile witnesses and transport orders that will remain sealed for security purposes.
NBC 5 Investigates did reach out to Mr. Allen’s attorneys Wednesday afternoon. We have not yet heard back.
Allen’s trial date is currently set for January 2024.
