CARROLL COUNTY, Ind. — Richard Allen reportedly made “incriminating statements to both inmates and guards” during his time in prison awaiting his double-murder trial. His attorneys want these so-called “confessions” suppressed due to claiming Allen was “in a state of psychosis.”
Allen is accused of killing 13-year-old Abby Williams and 14-year-old Libby German near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi in February 2017. The high-profile murder trial is currently scheduled to begin on May 13.
Previous reports have detailed how Allen reportedly admitted to killing the girls during a prison phone call to his wife, but his attorneys have repeatedly claimed Allen was under physical and mental duress at the time and his statements couldn’t be trusted.
But this wasn’t the only time Allen made “incriminating statements.” A new filing reveals that Allen also reportedly made further “confessions” to guards and inmates during his stay at Westville Correction Facility.
Allen’s attorneys are pushing for these “confessions” to be suppressed, however, stating in their latest motion that the poor conditions Allen was kept in compounded his deteriorating mental health state. The defense attorneys said these so-called “confessions” were the result of “psychological and mental coercion illegally directed against the Defendant” and therefore were “involuntarily given.”
Allen’s attorneys said their client was kept on “suicide watch” during the majority of his stay at Westville prison and that he was exposed to “some of the harshest conditions that even the most heinous of convicted offenders have not endured.”
It should be noted that a judge felt that Allen was being treated better than most inmates during his stay at Westville.
The Carroll County Prosecutor’s Office also previously pushed back against claims of Allen’s mental health duress by stating that Allen didn’t begin acting strangely — such as eating paper — until after his alleged confession to his wife.
Allen’s attorneys go on to claim that inmates were stationed outside Allen’s door to spy on him and keep logs of all his actions, statements and behaviors. The attorneys say at some point these prisoners were pulled and replaced by guards.
The allegedly poor conditions he was kept in exacerbated Allen’s mental health conditions, according to his attorneys. According to them, Allen has “battled depression throughout most of his adult life.”
During his stay in prison, the attorneys claim Allen’s medications were administered “in a less than consistent fashion” as well. The attorneys also further pushed their claim of inmates and prison guards being in the prison tied to Odinism. This claim is tied into the attorneys’ alternative cult killing theory.
Due to all of these compounding factors, Allen’s attorneys argued that any “confessions” their client made were not voluntary due to the toll his captivity had on his mental health.
“Already suffering from a bona fide mental health disorder, and then having been cut off from the moral support of his wife, mother, and daughter, Allen was weakened to the point where he slipped into a state of psychosis plagued with grossly disorganized, delusional, paranoid and highly dysfunctional behavior. These behaviors were manifested through verbal confessions that he may have been drugged, verbal confessions to the double homicide (inconsistent with known facts about the crime scene) periods of not sleeping for days, paranoia, stripping off his clothes, drinking toilet water, covering himself with and eating his own feces, and many other socially unacceptable behaviors.”
Bradley Rozzi, attorney for Richard Allen
According to Allen’s attorneys, one of these reported “confessions” includes Allen telling an inmate that he molested Abby and Libby before shooting them in the back. The attorneys point out how this isn’t supported by the autopsy of the victims; the girls’ cause of death being related to a “sharp object”, not gunshot wounds.
Allen also reportedly expressed sorrow to another inmate over “molesting Abby, Libby and others which he specifically named.” Again the attorneys pointed out the alleged falsities of this “confession” by stating the autopsy of the girls was “absence of any evidence” that either of the girls were sexually assaulted near or before their deaths.
If Special Judge Fran Gull approves the motion to suppress, any so-called confessions made by Allen during his time in prison would not be able to be presented as evidence during his trial.
