Accused double murderer Richard Allen has “confessed five or six times” in recent months to killing two teens on a hiking trail in Delphi, Ind. in 2017, according to prosecutors.
“He made multiple confessions to multiple people,” Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland said.
Allen’s legal team did not dispute the claims, but instead suggested the admissions were unreliable given their client’s deteriorating physical health and mental state. They have requested he be moved out of Westville Correctional Facility to a county jail for his own well-being.
Back in April, the defense filed an emergency motion, citing a “dramatic change in Mr. Allen’s condition, including his change in demeanor, change in appearance and change in his overall mental status.” They alleged he has been treated more stringently than other inmates at the jail, including in surveillance and restraint measures.
Judge Fran Gull, tasked with mulling the request, did not make an immediate decision during the hearing on Thursday.
Allen has been in custody since his arrest in October 2022. He’s facing two counts of murder in the killings of 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German. The bodies of both girls were discovered near the Monon High Bridge Trail — which is part of the Delphi Historic Trails in Delphi — a day after Abigail’s older sister dropped them off in the area on Feb. 13, 2017 around 1:35 p.m.
Less than an hour later, Libby shared a photo of Abby strolling across a bridge. Police later found another video clip on Libby’s phone, which investigators said showed a man walking towards them on the same narrow bridge.
An unspent .40 caliber round discovered near the girls’ bodies was later traced to a gun owned by Allen, police said.