Jury selection begins in Delphi, Indiana murders trial

CHICAGO (CBS) — Jury selection began Monday in the trial of the man charged with killing two teenage girls in Delphi, Indiana, in 2017.

Richard Allen is charged with two counts of murder in the slayings of 14-year-old Liberty "Libby" German and 13-year-old Abigail Williams.

The community is preparing for one of the most high-profile criminal trials in Indiana state history, which is expected to last a little more than a month.

The process begins with jury selection in Fort Wayne, and is expected to last three days. Prosecutors and defense attorneys on Monday began questioning prospective jurors from a pool of about 300. Once a jury is selected, jurors will be transported to Carroll County, and be sequestered for the proceedings.

A panel of 12 jurors was chosen on Monday, but the two sides still need to pick four alternate jurors.

Delphi murders case

Libby and Abigail were found stabbed to death on a hiking trail near their hometown of Delphi on Feb. 14, 2017, a day after they went missing. The two best friends had gone for a hike, but never made it home. The community waited years for answers in their deaths.

Allen, a drugstore pharmacy technician in Delphi, a town of 3,000, wasn't arrested until October 2022. He has pleaded not guilty.

Police have said Libby snapped a photo of the killer and recorded his voice on her cell phone before she died.  It's also likely prosecutors will bring up an unspent shell casing found near the girls' bodies. Police have said an analysis determined the bullet matched Allen's gun, which was later found at his home.

Since his arrest, Allen's attorneys have blamed four other people for the murders. They've also laid out a theory the murders were ritualistic in nature and tied them to a white supremacist religion.

Prosecutors have said previously that Allen confessed in prison phone calls to his wife.

Numerous reported confessions by the suspect can be used in court. Special Judge Fran Gull—who was assigned to the Carroll County, Indiana case from Allen County where Fort Wayne is located—ruled all of Allen's statements to psychologists, inmates, guards, and family members from within jail can be used as evidence.

Allen's defense attorneys said the confessions were the result of his deteriorating mental state while in custody.

The four-week trial is estimated to cost more than $4 million.