Defense attorneys for the man accused of killing two Delphi, Indiana, teenagers back in 2017 say newly obtained cellphone data suggests someone other than their client committed the crimes.
Richard Allen was charged with kidnapping and murdering 13-year-old Abby Williams and 14-year-old Libby German on a Delphi hiking trail. His defense attorneys say the prosecution’s timeline of the crime no longer points to their client, WTHR reported.
Defense attorneys Brad Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin wrote in their fourth request to throw out evidence found during a search of Allen’s home that cellphone evidence they obtained on Friday points to another suspect. The cellphone data, according to the attorneys, shows that German’s cellphone was connecting with a cell tower near the hiking trail on February 13, the day the girls were killed, but stopped connecting at 5:44 p.m.
In court records, the defense said police believed “the information which they were receiving from AT&T indicated that the cellphone was no longer in the area or no longer in working condition.”
But at 4:33 a.m., the cellphone again made contact with the tower, eight hours before the girls’ bodies were found. This, according to the defense, suggests someone else had to have killed the girls because if the prosecution’s theory is true, the phone never would have moved or made additional contact with the tower.
“That’s so important because at this juncture, Richard Allen is the only person charged with these murders,” defense attorney and former deputy prosecutor Katie Jackson-Lindsay told WTHR. “Richard Allen is the only one alleged to have committed the crime at all. He’s not charged under a theory of conspiracy, and we’ve not heard of any other even potential suspects.”
The new timeline comes at the same time defense attorneys are again accusing prosecutors of withholding critical evidence, the Journal & Courier reported. Allen’s attorneys called for sanctions against Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland, whom they accuse of “convoluted, disorganized and often untimely discovery dumps.”
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The defense team has claimed to have received critical evidence late or not at all.
And McLeland has lodged contempt allegations against the defense attorneys, accusing them of violating a gag order.
The contempt claims came in a filing from McLeland on January 29. Baldwin and Rozzi’s attorney, David Hennessy, filed a motion in February asking for clarification on the allegations, saying the claims suffered from “insufficiencies.”
In one example, Hennessy noted that McLeland accused his clients of violating the court’s order regarding statements about the case. He cited a news release from November 2022 – which was before the court issued a gag order. Hennessy said McLeland has not explained how this amounted to contempt of court.
Allen’s trial is scheduled to begin on May 13.