INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Day 16 of the trial of Delphi Murders suspect Richard Allen begins Tuesday at the Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi.

Allen, 52, is charged with murder and murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in the deaths of 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams and 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German. The girls’ bodies were found near the Monon High Bridge near Delphi on February 14, 2017, a day after they disappeared.

Allen was first investigated in 2017 and then again in October 2022. He was taken into custody after the second interrogation at the police.

The trial began on October 18 and was expected to continue until mid-November. Initially, 16 Allen County residents served as jurors in the case, but one juror was dismissed on Oct. 25.

Cameras are not allowed in the courtroom.

Follow News 8 and follow our daily live blogs during the trial period for the latest.

NOTE: The times listed in the blog titles are the times the entries were added. Specific times of courtroom events will be listed at the entrances, if possible. These notes were compiled from photographs of written notes provided by reporters in the courtroom and emailed to the WISH-TV news desk..

Scroll to the bottom of the page for a brief recap of day 15 of the Delphi Murders trial (Monday).

To view all of our previous trial coverage, Click hereand follow News 8’s Kyla Russell on X while streaming the hearing live from Delphi.

09:00: Court continues on Tuesday

Brief summary of the 15th day of the Delphi Murders trial

Monday’s court hearing included testimony from Richard Allen’s sister, his daughter, a neuropsychologist and many others. The jury also watched two video compilations of footage from security cameras in Allen’s cell at Westville Correctional Facility.

first witness Dr. Polly Westcotta Carmel-based neuropsychologist who performed a psychological evaluation on Allen while he was in prison. Westcott shared the evaluation process he carried out over two days. He came to six conclusions:

• Allen has an extensive history of mental health issues
• Allen was not faking or exaggerating his symptoms
• Allen is slower to understand, process, and respond to events
• Allen experienced a complete decline in mental health in Westville
• Allen has major depressive disorder and went into psychosis due to stress.
• Allen’s brain chemistry changed as he had no contact with his wife and family while in prison

He also noted that Allen suffered from severe anxiety and depression in his childhood and adulthood and struggled with suicidal ideation. Additionally, Allen’s Westville psychologist, Dr. Monica also commented on Wala’s previous reporting, saying Wala’s summaries of Allen’s murder confessions were “story-like” and that videos of Allen from the same period did not make sense.

Following the prosecution’s questions about Allen’s mental health, the jury chimed in with questions of their own. One of the questions asked was whether Allen was depressed as a child and whether this might have caused him to commit crimes as an adult. Westcott said no, and it depended on his personality type.

After a brief recess, the jury watched two video compilations of footage from the security camera in Allen’s isolation cell. The courtroom television was not facing the gallery, so only the jury, Special Judge Fran Gull and the witness stand could see. The defense and prosecution had to get closer to see. Richard Allen did not watch the videos.

The videos ended with jurors raising their eyebrows and glancing at Allen. State’s attorney Nick McLeland commented of the defense intern: Max BakerThe compiler of the footage showed “what he considered to be the worst situation in Westville” and that Baker “showed (the video) to the jury to try to show that the victim was Richard Allen.”

A back-and-forth argument ensued between Baker, McLeland and defense attorney Brad Rozzi. Rozzi finally jumped in and asked: “What did you choose to show them the truth?”

Bekir said “Yes”.

After numerous objections and another vigorous debate, the court adjourned for lunch around 12:22 p.m.

The afternoon session of the court started with the statements of the following people: Jamie JonesAllen’s half-sister and Brittany ZapantaAllen’s daughter.

Before Jones was called to speak, Judge Gull said Westcott’s report was “totem pole hearsay” and declared that he would accept the report as long as the state did not cite specific hearsay.

The jury entered the courtroom and Jones approached the witness stand. Jones said Richard Allen was five years older than her and they lived together throughout their childhood. She told the jury Allen did not touch her inappropriately. He told defense attorney Jennifer Auger that he loved his brother but would never lie on his behalf.

Prosecutor James Luttrell began his cross-examination and asked Jones “if the name Chris means anything to you.” Auger objected when Allen and Jones argued with other neighborhood kids while growing up. The objection was granted and Luttrell moved on.

Jones left the podium and was replaced by Brittany Zapanta. Allen reportedly nodded as he took the podium.

Zapanta said he moved out of his parents’ home in 2015 for work reasons. He attended Ball State, then went to Indianapolis. He currently works in urgent care. The defense asked him the same question they asked Jones: “Did your father abuse you?” and “Would you lie for him?”

Zapanta said “no” to both questions.

Luttrell asked if he and his father frequented the Monon Trail and High Bridge. Auger objected to both questions.

The first was accepted, the second was rejected. Zapanta later said that he went to the bridge with his father, but only crossed it once or twice. He asked if Allen had changed his appearance after going to Ball State, and he said no. Luttrell asked about Allen’s height and weight, and Auger demurred.

He then showed Zapanta photos of his father. Auger approached the bench, and after the sidebar ended, Luttrell showed Zapanta more photos and asked if certain photos looked like his father in February 2017. Zapanta said yes.

The gallery did not see the pictures.

Auger objected to the photos, saying they were outside the scope of the interrogation and that there was another sidebar. Gull continued the objections.

The jury asked Zapanta about his visits to the bridge, and Zapanta confirmed that he had only visited the bridge a few times in his youth and had crossed it with his father.

The reporter noted that Allen was seen smiling as Zapanta left the podium.

The next group of witnesses is Shelby HicksA real estate agent who was after him on the day of the murders and Steve Mullinformer Delphi police chief.

Hicks said she took her car for repairs and went for a walk with her boyfriend. They arrived there at 2.30pm and parked in the connection area. He told attorney Andrew Baldwin that other cars were also parked there.

As they were walking, they saw an “older gentleman,” two girls from school and several other children, Hicks said. He also saw an old man with a camera and said hello to the girls in high school.

They were there for about 15-20 minutes before returning to his car. The next day, Hicks said her boyfriend wanted to tell law enforcement what he saw, but when they went to police they were asked to come back another time. Hicks said he met with law enforcement twice in February and March 2017. His cellphone data was never extracted, he said.

He later said during cross-examination that he never crossed the high bridge and did not leave the platform before his friends returned.

Steve Mullin Then he was called to the podium. The defense showed him a list of white Ford Focus SEs registered between 2011 and 2017 in Cass, Carroll and Tippecanoe counties. Baldwin said these were cars similar to Allen’s. Prosecutor McLeland objected, but Baldwin continued.

Baldwin asked if he knew how many people in and around Carroll County had cars similar to Allen’s. Mullin said no. Baldwin said Mullin created a record of the incomplete interviews but said Mullin did not say so during the March hearings. Mullin admitted there was no log at the time, but he later found it.

Baldwin asked if Mullin had looked into social media for mentions of a van. Mullin said no, while Baldwin noted that “the van was mentioned many times.”

last phrase Brad WeberA Delphi resident who owns the property where Libby German and Abby Williams were killed. He had previously given evidence at the hearing and became frustrated in court after being questioned about what he did after work on February 13, 2017. The reporter noted that Weber looked “extremely disheveled” on Monday.

Andrew Baldwin, for the defense, gave Weber the transcript of a February 2017 interview he conducted with the FBI. Baldwin then asked Weber about the ATM machine business, and Weber said he made money on them through surcharges. He couldn’t remember how many ATMs he had in 2017.

Weber said he goes to their ATMs every day to check how much money they have and takes the money from the bank. ATMs are available at gas stations, bars, restaurants, etc. He said it was somewhere. He said he drives a black Subaru to get around the neighborhood and maintain his ATMs.

He added that on the day of the murders, he was driving straight home from his other job at the Subaru plant near Lafayette and that “I only used my van to tow a trailer.” Weber’s white Ford Econoline minivan had been questioned in previous testimony; News 8’s Kyla Russell said Richard Allen kidnapped the girls and was frightened after seeing a van, which drove him to kill them. The van is not directly connected to Weber.

Baldwin asked Weber if there were any trespassers at his party, and he said yes. He also said he didn’t hear any screaming that day. Weber added that he gave law enforcement permission to search his home, but this permission was not given on February 13, 2017.

McLeland’s cross-examination was brief, but the jury asked Weber several questions about his ATMs, his route home, his check-out process, and whether he would have photos or video of maintenance on any of his ATMs.

The jury left the courtroom and the defense said they planned to have former State Trooper Kevin Murphy testify and say incident command always said more than one person was involved in the investigation. The prosecution objected to this statement. When Baldwin said he also offered evidence for third-party suspects, Gull replied, “We’ve had this discussion a thousand times, you have no evidence to tie these people to the crime.”