Full Breakdown
Richard Allen Seeks New Trial Over Confession Claims and Excluded Pagan-Ritual Theory
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Core Event: Appeal Challenges Conviction
Richard Allen, serving a 130-year prison sentence for the 2017 killings of 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German in Delphi, Indiana, is asking the Indiana Court of Appeals to overturn his convictions. His attorneys argue that Allen’s multiple confessions were made while he was undergoing a severe psychological crisis induced by prolonged solitary confinement, and that the trial improperly barred a defense theory that the murders could have been part of a Norse-pagan ritual carried out by unknown perpetrators. The appellate briefing will be heard for an hour on a Monday, with prosecutors maintaining that the remaining circumstantial evidence is sufficient for a guilty verdict.
Background & Context
The two eighth-graders disappeared while walking to a pickup point on a hiking trail near an abandoned railroad trestle in early 2017. Their bodies were later discovered down a steep hill, with throats cut and branches scattered over the remains; one victim was found nude while the other wore the first victim’s clothing. No evidence of sexual assault was reported. After a five-year investigation, Allen was arrested and convicted in 2024. The case attracted national attention and a large true-crime following.
Data & Statistics
- Sentence: 130 years in prison.
- Year of murders: 2017.
- Year of conviction: 2024.
- Defense-filed brief describes Allen’s physical decline in solitary confinement: loss of roughly forty pounds, inability to care for himself, facial bruising, and exposure to fecal contamination.
- Ballistic evidence: an unspent bullet recovered between the victims was testified to have been “cycled through” Allen’s handgun, though the defense disputes whether the bullet’s markings can be definitively linked to his weapon.
Official Statements & Responses
- They also argued that the trial judge’s refusal to allow an expert on Norse-pagan ritual symbolism deprived Allen of a fair opportunity to present an alternative theory.
- They warned that admitting the pagan-ritual expert would have turned the trial into a “sideshow” because the theory lacked direct forensic support.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
- Ballistic linkage: The prosecution’s expert testified that the bullet “had been cycled through” Allen’s handgun, while the defense maintains that the bullet’s markings were not sufficiently distinctive to tie it to a specific firearm.
- Suspect description: Witnesses provided a sketch of a “suspicious man” near the trail; the defense points out that the sketch does not resemble Allen, suggesting the possibility of an unidentified perpetrator.
- Ritual-theory evidence: No forensic analysis directly connects the positioning of the bodies or the presence of branches to a known ritual practice, leaving the relevance of the proposed Odin-worship explanation unsettled.
What’s Next
The Indiana Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments from both sides during the scheduled Monday session. The court’s decision will determine whether the exclusion of the pagan-ritual expert and the circumstances surrounding Allen’s confessions warrant a new trial, or whether the existing circumstantial evidence will uphold the 2024 conviction.