Delphi murder trial: Jury sees videos of Richard Allen, accused of killing Libby German and Abby Williams, in Westville jail

DELPHI, Ind. — Jurors in the double murder case against Richard Allen More than a dozen videos of Allen were shown Saturday while he was being held at the Westville Correctional Facility.

Allen is accused of killing Libby German and Abby Williams while walking in Delphi, Indiana on February 13, 2017.

The state objected to the videos being shown in court, the defense arguing that only the jury should see them because of the “dignity” of the people involved. The defense said the video was explicit in nature.

Judge Frances Gull ruled that the videos could be shown to the jury with the monitor showing the videos facing away from the courtroom gallery where the media and public sat. Allen couldn’t even see what was being shown.

The defense shared two pieces of evidence: a camcorder video and a master sheet for the video. The main magazine contained the category “contains nudity”.

The ten videos were taken in April 2023 and do not contain audio.

While watching the videos, reporters in the courtroom noticed one of the jurors raise his eyebrows and look at Allen. Several jurors took notes. The juror with a background as a psychologist seemed ‘extremely interested’.

Allen looked down at his coffee mug at certain points during the morning. Libby’s family appeared “annoyed” as the videos played. Libby’s grandmother Becky Patty had told prosecutor Nick McLeland at a pre-trial hearing that people were unlikely to see these videos of Allen, but that the public would see gruesome crime scenes and autopsy photos of Libby and Abby.

Video #10 seemed to evoke the most emotion from those who were able to see it. Attorney Jennifer Auger seemed deeply concerned as she looked at it. Auger held her head in her hand one moment, covered her mouth the next, and finally looked away.

The defense also called Captain Doug Carter of the Indiana State Police. He says he played a supporting role and that dozens of law enforcement agencies were initially involved in the investigation. This included the FBI, Homeland Security, US Marshals and the ATF.

Carter said the decision for the FBI to leave the case was made in August 2021. The FBI agents who worked on the case have handed over all their investigative materials.

Carter was in the stands for less than ten minutes.

Before the day ended, the jury was shown five more videos. Again, they were played only for the jury, the prosecution and the defense. The screen was turned away from the audience and media.

Libby’s grandmother left the courtroom during the break. She was visibly upset that the videos were not played to the public while everyone saw the graphic autopsy and crime scene photos of Libby and Abby. Allen’s wife Kathy was also conspicuously missing from court on Saturday.