Delphi murders suspect ordered to remain at Westville Correctional Facility

DELPHI, Ind. (AP/WNDU) - The man charged with killing two teenage girls in Delphi more than six years ago will remain held at a northern Indiana prison ahead of his trial after a judge concluded Wednesday he’s being treated better there than other inmates.

Special Judge Fran Gull denied a request from attorneys for Richard Allen to relocate him from the Indiana Department of Correction’s Westville Correctional Facility because of what they said were his deteriorating health and poor living conditions at the prison where he has been held since last November.

His lawyers argued, among other things, that Allen sleeps on a pad on a concrete floor; must wear the same clothes including underwear for days that are soiled, stained, tattered, and torn; and has had no chance to visit his wife or other family members in the past five months. His attorneys have described his living conditions as “akin to those of a prisoner of war.”

But the judge ruled, without going into specifics, that “the evidence presented demonstrated that the Defendant is treated more favorably than other inmates housed at the Westville Correctional Facility,” online court records said.

Meanwhile, in denying Allen be moved out of state custody, the judge also ruled the defense could not go in to inspect his cell. According to our sister station WTHR, the judge found the “request is unreasonable and oppressive, and beyond the scope of discovery.”

Allen was arrested last October and charged with the murders of Libby German, 14, and Abby Williams, 13, in 2017. In February of that year, a relative dropped them off at a hiking trail near the Monon High Bridge just outside of Delphi. Their bodies were found the next day in a rugged, heavily wooded area near the trail.

Allen has pleaded not guilty to the killings, which have haunted the small city Delphi, where he lived and worked at a local drug store.

Allen’s trial is set to begin in January 2024.

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