Allen
By Áine Cain and Kevin Greenlee | The Murder Sheet
For the Daily Journal
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — After two days of questioning dozens of Allen County citizens, attorneys in the Delphi murders case impaneled a jury of 12 and four alternates for the upcoming trial.
Over the course of Monday and Tuesday, prosecutors and defense attorneys selected 16 men and women — a full jury and four alternates. Several prospective jurors who were originally selected for the jury ultimately dropped out for reasons that the court did not make clear.
Jury selection represented the first important step in a case that has attracted attention and generated controversy both in the state of Indiana and beyond. Richard Allen, 52, is on trial for the double homicides of 14-year-old Liberty German and 13-year-old Abigail Williams. On Feb. 13, 2017, the girls vanished while walking the trails of Delphi. The following day, searchers found two bodies. The girls had been murdered with a sharp-edged weapon.
Before German’s abduction, she managed to capture the image of a man approaching her and Williams on the Monon High Bridge, part of an abandoned rail system. Authorities later released audio — also recorded on German’s phone — of the man ordering the girls around, with the man saying, “Guys, down the hill.”
The case remained unsolved for years, leaving some social media sleuths to pick over the scant public facts and cobble together all manner of possible theories. In 2022, authorities arrested Allen after linking his Sig Sauer gun to an unspent round discovered at the crime scene, between the two bodies.
During the two days of jury selection, lawyers for both sides vetted prospective jurors with questions about their views on the reasonable doubt standard, law enforcement, and the extreme financial or personal hardships they might endure if chosen. Jury selection was finished ahead of schedule Tuesday.
On Monday, a panel of 52 prospective jurors was assembled in an Allen County courtroom. Attorneys then questioned four rounds of 12 prospective jurors and an additional fifth round of four individuals. Downstairs, 52 more prospective jurors waited throughout the process, but were not called. On Tuesday, the process continued for three more rounds.
After Special Judge Frances Gull announced that three jurors had dropped out, attorneys were left with five more spots to fill, for one jurors and four alternates.
Prospective jurors included parents, pharmacists, several people working in public education, a handful of individuals with experience serving on past juries, a Fortune 500 employee, a professor, and a self-proclaimed psychic who volunteered to help out with the case. Numerous prospective jurors raised conflicts about their own ongoing health concerns, as well as care-giving arrangements with elderly, ill, or otherwise dependant relatives.
Jurors will earn $80 a day for the first five days of trial, and $90 a day after that. On Sundays, jurors will be able to enjoy family days supervised by bailiffs.
Led by Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland and rounded out by deputy prosecutors Stacey Diener and James Luttrell, the state hinted at a case bolstered by the defendant’s 61 recorded alleged confessions. In his multiple mini-opening statements to multiple batches of possible jurors, McLeland outlined the case against Allen.
“You will see Richard Allen himself in his own words say he did it and how and why,” he said on Monday. “He repeated this over and over.”
McLeland also alluded to a possible sexual motive for the murders.
“[Allen] used that gun to force them down the hill and his intent was to have his way with them,” McLeland said on Monday.
Logansport attorney Bradley Rozzi conducted the majority of the voir dire, or jury selection, for the defense on both days. Defense attorneys Andrew Baldwin and Jennifer Auger also conducted a single round on each day.
Both Baldwin and Auger boast strong connections to Franklin, which Baldwin referred to as a “a nice little town” when addressing one group of prospective jurors. Baldwin’s Criminal Defense Team firm is headquartered there.
Reminding the prospective jurors to remain skeptical and open-minded, both attorneys referenced an instance where an unnamed Greenwood man posed as an attorney without actually being admitted to the bar.
“Things aren’t always as they appear,” Baldwin said on Monday.
Baldwin asked prospective jurors to avoid rushing to judgment over the confessions.
With jury selection complete, the trial itself is due to begin Friday.
The Murder Sheet is a podcast that takes a journalistic and analytical approach to true crime coverage. They are partnering with the Daily Journal to provide coverage of the Delphi double-murder trial. Check out their podcast at murdersheetpodcast.com.
