DELPHI, Ind. ― Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen’s attorneys want answers from law enforcement officers who refused to answer specific questions in depositions at the advice of Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland.
Allen is accused of killing Libby German and Abby Williams on Feb. 13, 2017, but Allen’s attorneys are challenging the prosecutors’ timeline.
According to a motion to compel that was filed Monday, defense attorneys want a straight yes-or-no answer from Steven Mullin, who was Delphi police chief when Libby and Abby were killed. Mullin now is the investigator for the Carroll County Prosecutor’s Office.
Allen’s attorneys deposed Mullin on Sept. 13, but he didn’t answer questions that the defense want Special Judge Frances Gull to order him to answer. Gull has not yet ruled on the motion.
“Is your timeline and theory of the case fatal to the prosecution’s case against Richard Allen if the person Betsy Blair observed on the bridge is not Richard Allen?” the motion states of a question that Mullin refused to answer during his Sept. 13 deposition. Depositions are sworn statements from witnesses who are likely to testify at trial.
“Is your timeline and theory of the case fatal to the prosecution’s case against Richard Allen if the vehicle Betsy Blair observed at the CPS building was not Richard Allen’s vehicle?” the motion asks. “If Betsy Blair observed one person and Sarah Carbaugh observed an entirely different person, is the prosecution’s timeline and theory of the case as it relates to Richard Allen fatally flawed?
“If neither Betsy Blair, nor Sarah Carbaugh observed Richard Allen on February 13, 2017, is the State’s timeline and theory of the case as it relates to Richard Allen fatally flawed?”
This line of questioning appears to indicate that Allen’s attorneys are pivoting his defense from Odinist human sacrifice to questioning the validity of prosecutor’s timeline of events.
Hours before the motion to compel was filed, Allen’s attorneys filed a motion asking jurors to physically visit the crime scenes witnesses will testify about, including the old Child Protection Services buildings where prosecutors allege Allen’s car was parked between 1:30 and 4 p.m. the day the two teens were killed.
The motion to view the scene includes stops walking from the Freedom Bridge, a refurbished steel-girder bridge spanning the Hoosier Heartland Highway, to the Monon High Bridge, the abandoned wood trestle railroad bridge.
The attorney also asked that jurors visit the killing site on the north banks of the Deek Creek about a quarter-mile east of High Bridge, where the girls’ bodies were found on Feb. 14, 2017.
The motion to compel and the motion to visit the crime scenes both have a time element in them and seem intended to question the prosecutor’s timing of events.
Up until last month, Allen’s defense seemed focused on a third-party defense.
Last year, Allen’s attorneys published a 136-page memorandum accusing worshippers of the pre-Christian Norse god Odin of ritually killing the two Delphi eighth-graders. Earlier this month, Gull ruled that Allen’s attorneys cannot use this defense because of a lack of admissible evidence. However, Gull will allow Allen’s attorneys to present offers to prove that the Odinist evidence should be allowed, outside of the presence of the jury.
Gull also ruled earlier last month that jurors will be allowed to hear Allen’s admissions to the killings that he’s made since his arrest on Oct. 26, 2022.
The motion to compel also asks Gull to order Indiana State Police Lt. Jerry Holeman, former Westville Prison Warden John Galipeau and Westville Prison Guard Sgt. Joshua Robinson to respond to the questions they declined to answer in depositions.
The questions Holeman refused to answer included what Holeman and Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett spoke about in Holeman’s preparation for his Aug. 10, 2023, deposition. Allen’s attorneys also want to know why investigators did not retain a blood spatter expert until April.
Allen’s trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 14 in Fort Wayne, were jurors will be selected. Once the jury is selected and sequestered, the trial will move to Delphi for opening statements, evidence, closing arguments and the verdict. The trial is scheduled to last as long as Nov. 15.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
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