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    • Delphi kills trial jurors hear from psychologist about Richard Allen
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    Delphi kills trial jurors hear from psychologist about Richard Allen

    Online Niel Posted on

    The trial against him continues Friday in Delphi, Indiana Richard Allen.

    Allen, 52, is accused of killing two teenagers who went missing on February 13, 2017 and were found dead the next day. He was arrested in 2022 and faces two counts of murder and two counts of murder during the kidnapping in his death Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German.

    Jurors have now heard recordings of Allen’s voice in which he told family members that he killed both teenagers. Prosecutors presented the audio along with testimony from an Indiana State Police trooper who identified Allen’s voice as the man in the infamous “Bridge Guy” video.

    Journalists from The Indianapolis Star and the Lafayette Journal & Courier will cover the case as it moves through the court system.

    October 31, 2024: Richard Allen’s Jail Testimony Matches ‘Bridge Guy’ Voice, Delphi Trial Testimony Says

    This story will be updated throughout the day.

    Dr. Deanna Dwengerexecutive director of Mental Health Services for the Indiana Department of Corrections, testified Friday that Allen arrived at the Westville Correctional Facility with depression and an anxiety disorder. By April 2023, around the time Allen began confessing to killing Abby and Libby, he was severely mentally ill, Dwenger told jurors.

    Dwenger, the fourth defense witness to take the stand, also said prolonged isolation and segregation worsened Allen’s mental state. Allen was held in solitary confinement for just over a year at Westville, where his lawyers said he was fed through a slip. The lights in his tiny cell were never turned off, and he was constantly monitored by a camera.

    State rest: Prosecutors have rested their case in the Delphi murder trial, but is that enough to convict Richard Allen?

    Allen was taken to Westville in November 2022, about a month after he was arrested. By the spring of 2023, he told family members that he had found God and began confessing to the crimes in several phone calls to his wife and mother. Allen also confessed to prison guards who were assigned to monitor him while on suicide watch and keep a time-stamped log of his behavior. Coinciding with his confessions was a series of bizarre behaviors, such as throwing his Bible down the toilet and eating his own feces.

    Dr. Monica Wala, Allen’s therapist at Westville, testified earlier this week that she believed Allen was faking his bizarre behavior.

    Dwenger, who supervises contract employees like Wala, said Allen has also been diagnosed as “severely disabled” by Westville mental health staff. Allen’s serious disability was not specified.

    Under cross-examination by Stacey Diener, Dwenger said Allen was not diagnosed as seriously mentally ill until he began his decline in April 2023. At that time, mental health staff at Westville determined that Allen was deteriorating long enough that he needed intervention regardless of whether his symptoms were fake or genuine, Dwenger said.

    A juror questioned whether a person who feigns mental illness is telling the truth in a confession. Dwenger said if a person’s story is organized, that person is probably claiming psychosis, Dwenger said. If a person’s story is disjointed, he or she is more likely psychotic or delusional.

    Only one other witness testified Friday morning. Christopher Gootee, an officer of Hammond Police Department who assisted in the Delphi investigation, testified that he interviewed Delphi resident Brad Weber who lives near the Monon High Bridge route.

    Weber testified earlier this week that he left work around 2 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2017, and drove 20-25 minutes to his home. The defense noted during Weber’s testimony that his earlier statement to police was different — that he stopped somewhere before going home.

    But when questioned by the defense, Gootee said he did not remember what Weber said to him in the interview — even after being shown a report of that conversation. Gootee did not write the report.

    Weber’s timing is significant because he was driving a van to the property near the crime scene that day. In one of his prison confessions, Allen said he was scared by a van.

    The the state rested its case Thursdayafter nearly two weeks of testimony.

    Online Niel
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