DELPHI, Ind. ― The words of Richard Allen, a suspect in the Delphi murders, could well condemn him.
While in custody in Indiana prisons, Allen allegedly told people he killed Libby German and Abby Williams on February 13, 2017, along the north bank of Deer Creek, about a quarter mile east of the Monon High Bridge.
Special Judge Frances Gull ruled Thursday that jurors in the October trial will be allowed to hear evidence about Allen’s confessions to the prison therapist, guards, inmates and his family members.
Gull ruled that Allen’s defense team had failed to “clearly identify what specific statements he seeks to suppress, nor what the legal basis for suppressing them is.”
Allen’s lawyers argued that his confinement in a maximum-security prison cell had caused him to suffer a mental health crisis and that he had made his statements under the psychological pressure of those experiences.
“Defendant has failed to demonstrate that any of these statements were the result of a coercive interrogation by the state, or that they were the result of his pretrial detention,” Gull wrote in her order. “The totality of the circumstances of defendant’s pretrial detention were not intended to coerce defendant into confessing. Defendant’s pretrial detention is to protect him from harm.
“The court is not convinced that the arrest induced the suspect to make incriminating statements. Although the suspect suffers from a severe depressive disorder and anxiety, these are not serious mental illnesses that prevent the suspect from making voluntary statements.
“Defendant’s arguments to the contrary concern the weight the jury would attach to such statements, not their admissibility,” Gull ruled.
Allen’s trial is expected to begin Oct. 14 in Fort Wayne, where jury selection will take place.
Once a jury is selected, the jurors will be sequestered and transported to the Delphi area for trial at the Carroll County Courthouse, court records said.
Police arrested Allen on October 26, 2022, after nearly six years of investigation. He is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of murder in connection with kidnapping.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared in the Lafayette Journal & Courier: Delphi murder suspect’s jury will hear testimony about the killings
