The State submitted a response to the motion to transfer filed by the attorneys for Richard Allen, the suspect charged with the murders of Libby German and Abby Williams in 2017 in Delphi, on Oct. 10, an order was issued for the State to turn over evidence to the defense on Oct. 10, and a status hearing was set for Oct. 19 to prepare for the upcoming hearing on Oct. 31 for the case.
The State filed court documents on Oct. 10 to address the defense’s motion for immediate transfer of Allen from the Westville Correctional Facility to the Cass County Jail, which was filed in September. The defense team’s initial emergency motion to modify the safekeeping order was denied on April 5, and the motion to reconsider was denied on May 3.
On Sept. 18, the defense attorneys, Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi, filed documents claiming that the murders in 2017 were “ritualistic sacrifices” in connection with Odinism, a pagan Norse religion with ties to white nationalist ideals. In the filing, the attorneys claimed that Allen was threatened by officers at the Westville Correctional Facility who wore patches depicting the phrase “In Odin We Trust” among other patches the defense claimed were associated with Odinism. The attorneys submitted an emergency request for the transfer of Allen from the Westville Correctional Facility to the Cass County Jail as a result of the claims.
According to the documents filed on Oct. 10, the State entertained conversations with two of the correctional officers at the Westville Correctional Facility that were identified in the defense team’s claims as being involved with Odinism. The court documents revealed that the correctional officers denied practicing Odinism. However, both officers admitted to wearing patches that could be associated with the religion, but they claimed that when they wore the patches without the intent of connecting to Odinism according to the State. The officers claimed that they removed the patches last month when they were asked to remove them, which was substantiated by an affadavit from Westville Correctional Facility Warden John Galipeau. The officers continued to claim that they never threatened Allen and never held a conversation with Allen regarding Odinism.
One of the officers interviewed by the State continued to address the claims that they threatened Allen by claiming that he went “above and beyond to not use any kind of force on (Allen), even though there have been times when use of force was justified by standard operating procedures.”
Based upon the interviews, the State responded to the defense’s motion to transfer Allen by claiming that the two correctional officers did not enact “unjust and inhuman” treatment against Allen, which was the main claim for transfer in the defense filings in September. According to the State, Allen would be placed in the same conditions he experiences in Westville Correctional Facility if he was moved to the Cass County Jail and that the Indiana Department of Correction is more equipped to transport Allen to and from court dates to maintain his safety.
Special Judge Frances Gull will be tasked with considering the motion to transfer and the State’s response to formulate a decision.
Following claims in the September documents that discovery information related to Odinist investigations was withheld from the defense, Gull issued an order on Oct. 10 to require the State to produce all discovery to the defense by Nov. 1. The State did not issue an objection.
An order was issued on Oct. 12 to set a status hearing for Oct. 19 at 2 p.m. in the Allen Superior Court. The status hearing is intended to allow the State, defense and Gull to discuss the upcoming hearing on Oct. 31 as well as matters that have recently arisen. The court will prepare a transport order to have Allen appear for the hearing.
According to court documents, the jury trial is set to begin Jan. 8, 2024 and continue through Jan. 26, 2024 on weekdays.