Delphi Murders Trial: Defense Pushes Pagan Ritual Theory in Deaths of 2 Indiana Girls

Accused Indiana child killer Richard Allen’s attorneys have once again pushed to present their argument to the jury that Odinisms are responsible for the deaths of two Delphi girls.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams 13, vanished in February 2017, following a day outing at the Monon High Bridge in Carroll County.

Police arrested Allen, a Delphi resident, five years after the murder.

Court documents submitted Wednesday and obtained by DailyMail indicated that Allen’s legal team contended that new developments paved the way for the evidence previously excluded by Judge Frances Gull due to prior courtroom testimony.

Allen’s lawyers argued that the testimony of Crime Scene Investigator Ryan Olehy, who testified Monday and Tuesday, warranted Judge Gull’s reevaluation of her prior decision to exclude certain evidence about Odinism.

During Olehy’s testimony, jurors saw crime scene images that featured sticks and a branch positioned over one of the girls’ bodies. During cross-examination, Bradley Rozzi urged Olehy to admit that the arrangement of the sticks indicated some form of “intentionality.”

Olehy resisted the attorney’s attempts to depict the crime scene as ‘odd’ or to suggest that the stick placement indicated anything beyond an effort to hide the bodies.

According to the defense’s latest filing, “The State of Indiana has articulated its view of what the sticks signify (concealment of the bodies), and Richard Allen has a Sixth Amendment right to present the jury with his alternative explanation for the arrangement of the sticks.”

Rozzi also tried to extract a concession from Olehy regarding blood found on a tree near the bodies, contending that it was not spatter but a deliberate marking.

He referred to the tree as “the F tree,” implying that the letter was inscribed in blood on the bark.

Olehy argued that it simply appeared to be a blood stain on the tree, approximately four feet off the ground.

At an August hearing, the defense called Dr. Dawn Perlmutter, who has extensive training with ritualistic crime scenes, to testify.

After reviewing the crime scene photographs and other reports, her  testimony indicated that she believed that evidence showed “textbook signs” of a ritualistic murder related to Odinism/Norse Paganism.

The new motion stated that law enforcement investigated potential Odinist involvement starting two days after the girls were discovered, continuing until officer Greg Ferency was killed in an ambush at an FBI office in 2021.

Allen’s attorneys contended that barring their theory would unfairly limit the jury to the state’s explanation.

Judge Gull has yet to rule on the motion.

The trial continues. Check back for updates.

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[Feature Photo:FILE – A makeshift memorial to Liberty German and Abigail Williams near where they were last seen and where the bodies were discovered stands along the Monon Trail leading to the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Ind., Oct. 31, 2022. Jurors for the trial of Richard Matthew Allen, an Indiana man accused of killing the two teenage girls, will be brought from Allen County, which includes the city of Fort Wayne, a judge in the case decided Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)]