Delphi murder suspect allegedly admitted to killing Abby Williams, Libby German in jailhouse call

DELPHI, Ind. (TCD) -- An Allen County judge unsealed over 250 pages of court documents this week related to court proceedings for Richard Allen, the man accused of killing Abby Williams and Libby German on Feb. 13, 2017.

The plethora of documents include various petitions, subpoenas, photos, motions to suppress, and other orders of the court relating to Allen’s case. Allen was arrested in October 2022, five years after 14-year-old Libby and 13-year-old Abby went missing and were later found dead near the Monon High Bridge in Carroll County. For years, police searched for a man in a blue outfit seen in surveillance video walking near the girls. Video taken from one of their phones also recorded a male voice saying, "Down the hill."

In the probable cause affidavit, prosecutors allege evidence found at the crime scene, including shell casings, matched a gun that Allen owned.

Other documents in the newly released information include photos of Allen before his incarceration and more recently, which show a major weight loss.

He is being held in the Westville Correctional Facility and is reportedly "in the segregation unit for his protection," according to a motion to subpoena third-party records (page 154). He was initially placed on suicide watch, but the court document says his "mental health improved to the point that he was taken off of 'suicide watch.'"

A Carroll County Sheriff's Department detective wrote in the document that on April 3, Allen called his wife and allegedly "admits several times that he killed Abby and Libby."

His wife reportedly "abruptly" ended the call.

After the call, his attorneys filed an emergency motion to move him to a different detention facility, arguing his "mental health has declined to the point where Richard M. Allen has been deprived of his constitutional rights to assist in his defense of this case."

At one point, Allen allegedly wet paper sent by his attorneys and ate it. He reportedly refused to sleep and eat and has not made a phone call since April 3. He met with psychiatrists April 14, and. they reportedly determined Allen did not need to move facilities or be put on involuntary medication.

Another inmate at the same detention center wrote a letter to the court claiming Allen "is being abused and mistreated along with other inmates."

The letter alleges officers at the jail call him a "kid killer" (page 190).

WXIN-TV reports the court documents also note that Abby and Libby died from sharp force injuries, which is the first time their cause of death was publicly shared.

Nineteen other documents, however, remain under seal.

MORE:

• State of Indiana v. Richard M. Allen
• Richard Allen unsealed documents - WXIN
• Delphi documents: Richard Allen told wife he killed girls; investigators believe knife used in murders - WXIN
• New Indiana court documents shed light on Abby Williams and Libby German slayings, 12/1/2022 - TCD
• Delphi man charged with murder 5 years after deaths of teens Abby Williams and Libby German, 10/31/2022 - TCD