An Indiana judge has ruled to restrict how accused Delphi killer Richard Allen’s defense team can present their case to the jury during his trial.
In a 136-page memorandum, Richard Allen’s defense claimed in September 2023 that followers of the pre-Christian Norse religion of Odin killed teens, Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German, on February 13, 2017, as part of a ritual sacrifice.
The defense claimed the girls were killed with a knife, and their bodies were arranged in a manner that suggested an occult sacrifice.
The defense memo also stated the killer used Libby’s blood to write a letter on a tree near the crime scene, and that the killer dressed Abby in Libby’s clothes and used tree branches to form Germanic letters linked to Odin.
However, jurors will not hear the theory, nor will they hear the names of the suspected Odinists the defense believes were involved, according to court documents.
“The Court will not permit the evidence submitted by the defense in support of their arguments regarding third-party perpetrators in the trial of this cause as the probative value of such evidence is greatly outweighed by confusion of the issues and its potential to mislead the jury,” Judge Francis Gull wrote in her order Wednesday, Journal & Courier reports.
Judge Gull ruled that Allen’s defense team failed to present admissible evidence connecting Odinism to the murders, but will be allowed to present arguments during the trial on why evidence should be admitted, outside the jury’s presence.
Wednesday’s ruling followed last week’s decision by Judge Gull allowing Allen’s statements admitting to the killings into evidence, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
This ruling means the defense’s theory about Libby and Abby’s deaths will not be presented to the jury, while Allen’s admissions made in isolation at a maximum-security Indiana prison will be included.
Allen’s trial begins in about six weeks, with jury selection starting in Fort Wayne, Allen County. Once selected and sequestered, the jury will hear the trial in Delphi, scheduled to run through November 15.
Allen is facing four counts of murder of Abby and Libby. The girls vanished while hiking along the Monon High Bridge trail in Delphi. Their bodies were discovered the next day.
Allen, a Delphi resident and pharmacist, was arrested and charged with their murders more than five years later.
The trial is scheduled for October 14. Allen remains behind bars without bail.
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[Feature Photo: Abby and Libby/Handout]
