DELPHI — A month after being convicted in the 2017 deaths of teenagers Libby German and Abby Williams, Delphi suspect Richard Allen still maintains his innocence and is requesting the court to “fashion an appropriate sentence” in the case.
That’s according to new court documents filed ahead of Allen’s Dec. 20 sentencing, which could see the 52-year-old serve up to 130 years in prison.
Allen is also not participating in the pre-sentence investigation, per a sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday afternoon in Carroll Circuit Court.
According to Defense Attorneys Bradley Rozzi, Andrew Baldwin and Jennifer Auger, that’s because Allen’s legal team is hopeful the appellate process will provide their client with an “opportunity to present a full defense at a second trial.”
“There was no value in Richard Allen continuing to talk with State actors,” the attorneys wrote in the sentencing memorandum. “… The practical reality is that unless this matter is reversed and retried, Richard Allen is likely facing the rest of his life in prison.
“Even on his best day at sentencing, Richard will be 85 years old upon his release,” Rozzi, Baldwin and Auger added. “With these facts in mind, the defense advised Richard Allen to not participate in the pre-sentence process.”
That includes Friday’s hearing itself, in which the attorneys said they “will be speaking and articulating arguments in minimal fashion” and will not be presenting evidence outside of the memorandum.
The defense then went on to state several instances they believe negatively impacted Allen’s trial, including his 13-month detainment in solitary confinement and his communications with Dr. Monica Wala — Allen’s psychologist — while he was housed as a “safekeeper” at Westville Correctional Facility in LaPorte County.
According to Allen’s legal team, Wala had a vested interest in the Delphi case before Allen was assigned to her care, an issue and conflict of interest they brought up numerous times during Allen’s November jury trial.
The defense is also arguing Allen can’t be charged and sentenced on both charges of murder and felony murder, claiming that shows double jeopardy.
So, per Allen’s attorneys, the convictions of felony murder should be vacated, and a judgement against Allen should be based “solely on the murder conviction.”
“Richard Allen maintains his innocence and looks forward to the appellate process which he anticipates will include adjudication by a neutral, detached and unbiased tribunal,” the defense noted in the memorandum. “Richard Allen believes that he will be afforded due process under the law and will be permitted to present a full and complete defense at a future trial in this cause.”
Allen’s sentencing hearing begins at 9 a.m. Friday inside Carroll Circuit Court.
It was Feb. 14, 2017, when the bodies of German and Williams were found near the Monon High Bridge area in rural Carroll County.
In November 2022, Allen was arrested and charged with two counts of murder and two counts of felony murder.