Girls killed in Delphi murders were sacrificed in pagan cult ritual, defense claims
WARNING: GRAPHIC
Nearly three months after Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen allegedly confessed to killing the two girls at the center of the double-homicide case in recorded jailhouse calls, his defense team is claiming the girls' deaths were part of a ritualistic sacrifice performed by members of a pagan cult.
Authorities arrested Allen, a 50-year-old father and CVS employee, in October 2022 in the Feb. 14, 2017, killings of Liberty "Libby" German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, who disappeared from a popular trail in Delphi, Indiana, Feb. 13, 2017, before they turned up dead in the woods the next day.
"Overwhelming evidence in this case supports the following … Members of a pagan Norse religion, called Odinism, hijacked by white nationalists, ritualistically sacrificed Abigail Williams and Liberty German," Allen's attorneys, Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi, said in a 136-page memorandum.
It was filed Monday in support of a Franks hearing, or a court proceeding in which a judge must determine whether a law enforcement officer lied in an effort to obtain a search warrant.
DELPHI MURDERS SUSPECT RICHARD ALLEN CONFESSED TO KILLING 2 GIRLS IN JAIL CALLS: COURT DOCS
On Feb. 14, 2017, Libby German, 14, and Abby Williams, 13, were killed while biking on trails near Delphi, about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis. (Indiana State Police)
The lengthy memo details a new narrative to the public in the Delphi murders case. Up until Monday, the public only knew of allegations against Allen and other potential suspects that had been previously tied to the case before they were ruled out.
Allen "has admitted that he committed the offenses that he is charged with no less than five times while talking to his wife and his mother on the public jail phones available at the Indiana Department of Corrections," prosecutors said in a June filing.
"[T]he Defense is not inventing, fabricating, or exaggerating these facts no matter how crazy those facts may appear."
— Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi
The defense said the evidence backing the details in their memo "was found scattered over no less than 10 hard drives and several flash drives provided by the prosecution, meaning that the Defense is not making wild accusations, but rather primarily relaying facts and information that is backed up by the prosecutor’s own discovery, even discovery that the prosecution just provided to the Defense as late as September 8, 2023."
Officers transport murder suspect Richard Allen during a hearing regarding sealed documents Nov. 22, 2022, at Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi, Ind. (Alex Martin/Journal and Courier/USA Today Network)
Áine Cain and attorney Kevin Greenlee, who co-host "The Murder Sheet" podcast and have been closely covering the Delphi murders case, said Monday's filing is an effort by Allen's defense team to prove his innocence in the case and get the original search warrant filed against Allen thrown out.
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"They're saying, 'No, he's completely innocent, and it was actually a cult of Odinists who committed the crimes.' … We're also seeing some strategic moves being made by them to try to get certain evidence suppressed so that they can have a better chance in the trial."
Cult accusations
Allen's attorneys go on to name five Indiana men who they say should be considered suspects in the Delphi murders.
Baldwin and Rozzi tied one of the men to the murders due to his social media posts, which they say appear to replicate details of the crime scene that have not been revealed to the public. They also say his son "dated" Abby. The defense claims one of the men admitted to his sister that he murdered the two girls, and that another man drunkenly admitted to killing the girls. They included the other two men in the group of possible suspects due to their ties to the other three.
Grainy cellphone video footage and a sketch of a prime suspect in the murder of Delphi girls Abigail Williams and Liberty German on the office wall of Tobe Leazenby, sheriff of Carroll County. (Robert Scheer/IndyStar/USA Today Network)
The defense also claims that all five men are part of the Odinist cult that allegedly plotted to kill Libby and Abby.
"The Court will learn in the body of this memorandum that Holder was connected to the crimes, the crime scene and to other men who had confessed to the crime. The evidence of those connections will be provided in the body of the memorandum, including copies of the images found on Holder’s Facebook page at the time of the investigation which link Holder to the crime scene," the memo states.
INDIANA PROSECUTORS SAY DELPHI MURDER SUSPECT RICHARD ALLEN SHOULD NOT BE RELEASED ON BAIL
The memo refers to one of the men, Brad Holder, who has taken to social media to defend himself, saying he would "sue" Allen's attorneys for their allegations against him if he had the "money" to do so.
Baldwin and Rozzi also claim that Allen, who is not a cult member, has been threatened and intimidated by the Odinist followers in jail.
Richard Allen's attorneys included two photos of the murder suspect taken a year apart to show a difference in appearance and possibly weight since his arrest. (FOX 59 Indianapolis)
"Not coincidentally, members (Odinists) of this same pagan cult are employed as corrections officers for the Indiana Department of Corrections at Westville Correctional Facility. It is inside of the cold, concrete walls of the maximum-security unit of this dilapidated ‘reformatory’ that Richard Allen is being threatened, intimidated, and mentally abused," Allen's attorneys wrote.
Crime scene details
Monday's court filing includes extensive details about the "ghoulish" crime scene that were previously unknown to the public. Allen's attorneys are arguing that the crime scene included disturbing signs of a "ritualistic sacrifice."
Investigators found Abby and Libby's bodies in a wooded area not far from the Monon High Bridge Trail Feb. 14, 2017, a day after they were reported missing from their hike. Police located a .40-caliber unspent bullet at the crime scene.
Attorneys say Libby "was found at the base of a tree with four tree branches of varying sizes intentionally placed in a very specific and arranged pattern on her naked body." The 14-year-old was "positioned flat on her back, with her left arm stretched above her head touching the base of the large tree" and her right arm positioned along the side of her body. Both of her hands were "covered in blood," and there were "blood spots" all over her body, the memo states.
The filing continues to detail the placement of various tree branches surrounding Libby's body and one tree branch partially covering her neck.
"[I]t appeared likely that Libby had been killed at a nearby tree and then dragged to her final resting place where she was then positioned before having the tree limbs placed on her in a very specific pattern," the memo states.
"The murderers treated Abby very differently."
— Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi
"Abby was not found at the base of a tree. Abby was fully clothed. In fact, Abby was dressed in Libby’s sweatshirt and jeans. No blood appeared on Abby’s clothing, meaning that she was likely murdered while naked and then dressed by the murderers after she expired and after the blood had stopped spilling from her neck. Abby’s hands were clean. No blood. Abby’s feet were clean. No blood. Other than blood found around Abby’s neck area where the murderers had inflicted the fatal wound, very little (if any) blood was found anywhere else on Abby’s body or clothing," the memo says.
Authorities have said that, based on their investigation, they "believe a firearm was involved in the abduction and murder of Abigail Williams and Liberty German because an unspent .40-caliber round was found between the bodies of Abigail Williams and Liberty German." (Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket )
Abby's arms and legs were also positioned differently around her body than Libby's were, the attorneys wrote.
Authorities have stated that, based on their investigation, they "believe a firearm was involved in the abduction and murder of Abigail Williams and Liberty German because an unspent .40-caliber round was found between the bodies of Abigail Williams and Liberty German."
Investigators also "believe a knife was used in the murder of Abigail Williams and Liberty German."
DELPHI MURDERS" KNIFE LIKELY USED IN KILLING OF 2 GIRLS ON HIKING TRAIL, DOCS REVEAL
A medical examiner determined the girls died by homicide and had wounds caused by a "sharp object," court documents state.
"We, as the public, you know, cannot view any crime scene photos and don't really have any firsthand view of that," Cain said. "But I'll be curious if this is a situation … like a Rorschach test, where the defense is saying, 'We're seeing runes,' and whatnot …. and the prosecution's saying, 'No, that's not what we're seeing.' So, it'll be a kind of battle between the two narratives of how do you interpret the crime scene and ultimately the one that is more compelling will win out with the jury."
Fodder for internet sleuths
Police recovered Libby's cellphone beneath her body Feb. 14, 2017. The phone had a 43-second video showing Abigail walking on the Monon High Bridge toward Libby while a man wearing a dark jacket and jeans walks behind her. The man can be heard ordering the girls "down the hill," according to an affidavit.
Libby captured the video at 2:13 p.m., less than 25 minutes after she and Abigail's family members dropped them off at the trail.
Police recovered Libby's cellphone beneath her body on Feb. 14, 2017. The phone had a 43-second video showing Abigail walking on the Monon High Bridge toward Libby while a man wearing a dark jacket and jeans walks behind her. The man can be heard ordering the girls "down the hill," according to an affidavit. (Indiana State Police)
Investigators executed a search warrant at Allen's home in Delphi Oct. 13, 2022, and they recovered a blue Carhartt jacket, a SIG Sauer P226 .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun and a .40-caliber S&W cartridge in a "wooden keepsake box" from a dresser between two closets in Allen's bedroom.
The handgun recovered at Allen's home was consistent with the .40-caliber unspent bullet police located at the site of the murders in 2017.
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Monday's filing has diverted attention away from Allen's connection to the murders and toward a new theory and a new group of potential suspects.
If the Odinist allegations are true, "and the judge finds that [law enforcement] did mislead the judge about what these witnesses said in order to get a warrant, then it would be possible that she could choose to throw out that warrant," Greenlee explained. "And if she throws out that warrant, that means then they lose … the gun ties Allen — to the bullet found at the crime scene. That's really the heart of their case."
Richard Allen, 50, was arrested in October 2022 for the 2017 murders of 14-year-old Liberty German and 13-year-old Abigail Williams. (Indiana State Police)
The defense team's latest claims have also opened up a new layer of discussion among internet sleuths, people who have been trying to solve the case from their computers since the murders happened more than six years ago.
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"I think people prefer the more interesting story," Cain said. "There's a lot of people, I think, who were pretty disappointed that when someone was arrested, it was somebody that none of us had ever heard of before at all. There was no solve-the-mystery-yourself angle to it."
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