The defense in the Delphi murder trial rests its case after testimony from a cell phone forensic expert and a psychiatrist

CNN
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The defense of Richard Allen, the man accused of killing two teenagers in Delphi, Indiana, in 2017, rested its case Wednesday after several days of calling witnesses, including a cell phone forensic expert and a psychiatrist , according to CNN affiliate WTHR.

After prosecutors called back witnesses, the trial now moves to closing arguments, jury instructions and deliberations, WTHR reports.

Allen, 52, is accused of killing Liberty “Libby” German, 14, and Abigail “Abby.” Williams, 13, lived in Delphi — a small town about an hour northwest of Indianapolis.

He has pleaded not guilty to four charges, including two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated murder, court records show.

According to the Associated Press, the trial began three weeks ago when prosecutors accused Allen of committing the murders, citing ballistics evidence and his own confessions.

“I did it. “I killed Abby and Libby,” Allen said in an audio recording played in court.

However, the defense argued that there was no DNA or weapons evidence linking him to the murders, saying that these “confessions” were “involuntary” and resulted from months of solitary confinement.

On Tuesday, a cell phone forensic expert testified that data from Libby’s cell phone shows someone inserted a headphone cord into the phone the night the girls went missing and then removed it five hours later, according to WTHR.

In addition, a psychiatrist testified about how people in solitary confinement can become confused and insane, and a forensic scientist took the stand criticizing how government investigators handled the examination of an unspent cartridge found near the girls’ bodies, WTHR reported.

Allen did not testify in his own defense.

On February 13, 2017, the two eighth-grade girls went hiking on a day off from school near the Monon High Bridge, an abandoned railroad bridge along the 10-mile Delphi Historic Trail, but were unable to meet Libby’s father at the agreed time. Indiana State Police said.

The next day, their bodies were found in a wooded area about a half-mile from the bridge, police said. But the case went cold.

Over the years, authorities released sketches and portions of a video recorded on Libby’s cellphone in hopes of finding a suspect. The video shows a man in a dark jacket and jeans walking behind the girls and then telling them, “Guys, down the hill,” according to an affidavit for Allen’s arrest.

A pathologist who performed the girls’ autopsies said they both had wounds on their necks that appeared to have come from a jagged edge, according to CNN affiliate WLFI. Kohr said the victims’ bodies showed no signs of sexual assault or defensive injuries, according to CNN affiliate WRTV.

Allen was arrested in 2022 after investigators discovered that an unspent .40-caliber cartridge found between the two victims matched a handgun he owned, the affidavit said.

When Allen first spoke to police in 2017, he admitted he was on the trail for about two hours the day the girls were killed, the affidavit said. In a subsequent interview in October 2022, Allen told authorities he went there to “watch fish,” the affidavit said.

CNN previously reported that Allen, who was employed at the local CVS, helped the aunt of one of the victims print funeral photos at the store.

After his arrest, Allen was held in solitary confinement for 13 months, and the defense has tried to place the confessions in the context of Allen’s mental health crisis while incarcerated.

He was on suicide watch several times, exhibited bizarre behavior and was once diagnosed with a “brief psychotic disorder,” according to testimony from Monica Wala, the prison psychologist who treated Allen at Westville Correctional Facility.

Allen was placed on suicide watch in November 2022 and April 2023. He exhibited some strange behavior in prison, including refusing to wear clothes, hitting his head and eating his own feces, Wala said.