Judge to Consider Motion to Keep Composed Sketches Out of Delphi Murders Trial – Indianapolis News | Weather in Indiana | Traffic in Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The trial of Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen begins Friday, but before then, the judge in the case will hold an important hearing.

Special Judge Frances Gull is expected to hear a motion by prosecutors to prohibit the jury from seeing two widely circulated police sketches used by investigators before Allen’s arrest.

Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland requested that the composite sketches not be admitted into evidence or referenced during the trial.

McLeland says the sketches are “not relevant” and would “confuse or mislead” the jury.

He told the court in a motion filed Tuesday that the sketches should not be admitted because

“a composite sketch is not relevant, admission would result in undue prejudice, would confuse or mislead the jury, or would be inadmissible hearsay, and witnesses who participated in the preparation of the composite sketch(s) will not be introduced by the state for the purpose of judicial identification of the defendant.”

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

Gull will also likely consider a defense request that jurors visit the crime scene near the Monon High Bridge.

A hearing is scheduled for Thursday morning at the Allen County Circuit Court in Fort Wayne.

Judge Gull will travel to Carroll County this afternoon to swear in the jury.

The trial is scheduled to begin Friday morning at the Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi.

Be sure to follow News 8 for the team’s coverage of the Delphi murder trial.