DELPHI, Ind. — Attorneys for Richard Allen, the suspect in the Delphi killings, want him moved to a new prison immediately, according to a motion filed in court.
Allen has been held at the Westville Correctional Facility since November 2022. His attorneys claim Allen is being treated worse than inmates and their client is still presumed innocent.
According to the motion, Allen is being held in the maximum security segregation unit.
Among his attorneys grievances are:
- Allen's cell being 6 feet by 10 feet in size
- Him sleeping on a pad on a concrete floor
- Only allowed to shower one to two times per week
- Required to wear the same clothes, including underwear, for days that are soiled, stained, tattered and torn
- No opportunity for Allen to visit his wife or family members in the past five months
- The electronic tablet he uses to call family members is monitored by prison officials and the cost of the calls are being borne by Allen and his family
- Allen is afforded very little recreational time
- Information Allen's attorneys provided to him to review as part of his defense on March 24 are yet to be provided to him, as of April 3.
- It is difficult for his attorneys to meet with him given his segregation and isolation, which keeps him from being able to assist in his defense.
His attorneys described Allen's conditions as "akin to those of a prisoner of war." Allen is one of 22 people currently being housed pre-trial with the Indiana Department of Correction.
During a meeting with his attorney on April 3, his attorney described Allen as "suffering from various psychotic symptoms which counsel would describe as schizophrenic and delusional."
In a meeting on April 4, his attorneys claim Allen seemed to be suffering from memory loss and an overall inability to communicate rationally with his attorneys and family members.
Allen's attorneys also submitted images meant to show his "condition is deteriorating rapidly."
His attorneys claim they were able to secure a spot for Allen at the Cass County Jail. They said Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland had no objection to the move, but that the Carroll County Sheriff's Department denied the request to move Allen.
Allen's attorneys also claim that having them have to drive farther to meet with their client is an additional expense for Carroll County taxpayers.
As such, Allen's attorneys asked for him to be moved to the Cass County Jail or a facility near his lawyers and his family.
Allen's next hearing is set for June 15 and is expected to also cover whether he can be released on bond.
Earlier in January, a judge ruled a jury for the Delphi murders case will come from Allen County.
According to court documents, Judge Frances Gull determined the jury will be drawn from the northeastern Indiana county, whose county seat is Fort Wayne, with the trial still taking place in Carroll County.
The gag order issued in the case continues in its current form, Gull said at the initial hearing. Lawyers, police and family members can't talk about the case publicly. Legal teams are only allowed to speak with the media about procedural items.
In December, a redacted version of the probable cause affidavit was released.
NOTE: The probable cause affidavit refers to the girls only as "Victim 1" and "Victim 2" throughout. It references audio and video from Victim 2's cellphone. Investigators previously shared the audio and video released to the public came from Libby German's phone. Therefore, Victim 1 is Abby Williams and Victim 2 is Libby German.
Here are details from the documents:
- In the video recorded from German's phone, one of the victims mentions "gun."
- Investigators spoke with three juveniles, who said they were walking on the Monon High Bridge Trail Feb. 13, 2017 and saw a man walking from Freedom Bridge toward the Monon High Bridge. One of the witnesses described the man as "kind of creepy." One of the witnesses told investigators she said "hi" to the man, but he just glared at them. One of the witnesses said the man had something covering his mouth. One of the witnesses said the man they saw matched the description of the photograph of the man seen on German's phone.
- Another witness said she was on the trails Feb. 13, 2017, with video from the Hoosier Harvestore confirming her vehicle near the entrance at 1:46 p.m. She told investigators she saw four girls walking on the bridge as she was driving underneath on her way to park. The witness said she also saw a man matching the one in German's video. Then, the witness said she saw two girls walking toward Monon High Bridge, believed to be German and Williams. The witness said she didn't see any other adults than the man on the bridge. When she was driving away, she said she saw a vehicle parked in an "odd manner" at the former Child Protective Services building, with the vehicle backed in near the building.
- A witness told investigators he saw a small, dark-colored SUV parked on the side of the old Child Protective Service building Feb. 13, 2017, and believed the vehicle was backed in to conceal the license plate.
- A witness said she was driving east on 300 North on Feb. 13, 2017 when she saw a man wearing a blue-colored jacket and blue jeans, who was muddy and bloody. The witness told investigators it appeared he had gotten into a fight.
- Investigators spoke with Richard Allen in 2017, who said he was on the trail from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2017. He said he parked at the old Farm Bureau building — which was later confirmed to be the former Child Protective Services building — and saw three girls at the Freedom Bridge. Allen told investigators he did not speak with the girls as he walked from the Freedom Bridge to the High Bridge.
- Investigators said the description of the vehicle parked at the former Child Protective Services building was similar to a 2016 black Ford Focus that Allen owned. A vehicle that resembled Allen's 2016 Ford Focus was also seen on video going west on County Road 300 North at 1:27 p.m.
- Allen was again interviewed by investigators on Oct. 13, 2022. He again told them he was on the trail Feb. 13, 2017. Allen said he saw girls on the trails east of Freedom Bridge before he went to the Monon High Bridge to watch the fish.
- Investigators executed a search warrant of Allen's home Oct. 13, 2022, where they found jackets, boots, knives, and guns.
- The Indiana State Police Laboratory performed an analysis on one of Allen's guns, a Sig Sauer Model P226. Investigators confirmed an unspent round found within 2 feet from German's body came from this gun.
- Investigators confirmed Allen purchased the Sig Sauer Model P226 in 2001.
- Allen voluntarily went to the Indiana State Police post Oct. 26, 2022, and told investigators he never allowed anyone to use or borrow the Sig Sauer Model 226. He did not have a reason why the bullet was found between the victims' bodies.
- A Carroll County Sheriff's Department detective, who has been part of the investigation since it started, believes the evidence gathered shows that Allen is the man seen on the video from German's phone who forced the girls down the hill.
- Investigators believe Allen was not seen on the trail after 2:13 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2017, because he was in the woods with German and Williams.