Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen's attorneys accuse police of hiding evidence

DELPHI, Ind. ― Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen 's defense team accused investigators Tuesday of intentionally keeping evidence that could prove their client's innocence as they sought to convince Special Judge Frances Gull to dismiss the case against their client.

During a hearing in Carroll Circuit Court on the defense team's motion to dismiss ― their second one after Gull denied the first ― Andrew Baldwin zeroed in on Brad Holder , a Logansport man who, he argued, has ties to Odinism, had cryptic Facebook posts that connected him to the crime scene, and who should've been a primary suspect in the 2017 deaths of Abigail "Abby" Williams and Liberty "Libby" German .

Instead, Baldwin said, Holder was never meaningfully questioned by law enforcement, and the contents of his phone were never extracted ― even though investigators obtained data from the phones of 101 people during their years-long investigation. According to Baldwin, these included “every Tom, Dick and Harry that had nothing to do with the case,” but not Holder, whose son dated Abby Williams and who had posted an image of runes on his Facebook page that Baldwin claimed resembled the way in which one of the girls' bodies were arranged.

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"This is what we're up against," he said, adding later: "There is intentionality on the part of law enforcement to keep evidence from us. (Allen) is never going to get a fair trial."

Allen, who was arrested in October 2022 ― more than five years after the teens' deaths ― is facing four murder charges . The case is one of the most high-profile in Indiana and has attracted worldwide attention, but it's been bogged down by delays, controversies and seemingly endless legal and procedural fights.

The small courtroom in downtown Delphi, where the hearings are being held, was nearly packed Tuesday with family members of the victims, reporters and true crime podcasters who have latched onto the case.

The motion to dismiss is one of several pending matters that Gull is set to hear this week. Other issues involve what evidence can and cannot be presented to jurors. How Gull rules on those motions could significantly impact the outcome of Allen's trial this fall.

The hearing is scheduled to continue Wednesday and Thursday. Gull is not expected to rule on any of the motions this week.

Police cleared Holder during the early stages of the investigation and was never charged.

Indiana State Police Lt. Jerry Holeman, one of the key investigators, testified Tuesday about Holder's alibi on the day the girls were killed. Investigators believe the murders happened between 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Feb. 13, 2017, the day Abby and Libby went for a hike along the Monon High Bridge trail. Their bodies were found the next day.

Holeman testified that employee records show Holder, who worked at a landfill about a half-hour away from Delphi, clocked out at 2:45 p.m. He then checked in using a key fob at a gym in Logansport at 4:08 p.m.

Kevin Murphy, a retired Indiana State Police officer who worked on the Delphi case from 2017 to 2019, said that while other investigators did not consider Holder a suspect, he and two others did. He said there was an "undeniable link" between Delphi and supposed Odinists from Rushville.

Earlier in the day, defense attorney Bradley Rozzi pushed for his client to be moved from the Indiana Department of Correction’s custody to Cass County Jail, saying the facility is well-equipped to house a high-profile inmate who cannot be safely placed in the general population.

Allen, has been in the custody of IDOC almost since his arrest. He most recently was being held at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, about 140 miles away from Delphi. His attorneys, who said Allen has been held in solitary confinement, have been seeking to move him to a nearby jail. They have alleged mistreatment by prison guards and deterioration of his mental health.

Rozzi told the court that moving Allen to Cass County would make it easier for the defense team to access their client.

Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland, however, said Allen’s situation could become “more dire” if he’s moved to Cass County, saying the jail has limited mental health services.

Gull also heard the defense team's requests to compel prosecutors to hand over documents and to sanction them for failing to do so in an organized and timely manner.

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Jennifer Jones Auger, another member of Allen's defense team, said wading through 26 terabytes of data it received from the state was "like looking for a needle in a haystack." She said hundreds of documents were labeled by numbers, making it difficult for the defense attorneys to analyze the records and build their case.

McLeland said the request is "moot" because the state has provided defense attorneys with all the records they've requested.

"The data we gave is the data we have," McLeland said, adding that it is not the state's job to organize the data for the defense. "We've done everything possible to make it easy for them. But here we are."

On Wednesday and Thursday, Gull will hear critical motions on what evidence can and cannot be presented to jurors. These include confessions Allen allegedly made to inmates and prison guards. His attorneys want those statements suppressed, arguing they were made involuntarily while in the throes of a mental health crisis after months in solitary confinement. They point to the harsh conditions of Allen's incarceration, saying they amount to coercion by the state.

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Gull will also decide whether Allen's attorneys should be allowed to present a key part of their defense: that members of an Odinist cult, not Allen, were the real killers .

McLeland is also asking Gull to prevent testimony about Odinism , cult or ritualistic killing and related evidence from being presented to the jury. He has argued such claims are irrelevant, unfounded and misleading and contended that the defense team should not be allowed to mention, comment on or reference in any way, names or evidence related to Odinism.

Misconduct allegations have been at the forefront of the case.

Defense attorneys have repeatedly accused police and prosecutors of withholding critical information and trying to conceal evidence that someone else had killed the girls.

The defense attorneys have also repeatedly tried to boot Gull off the case, arguing she has shown bias against them.

Allen's trial, which has been postponed multiple times, is now set to start in October . The jury will be selected in Fort Wayne and will be transported to Delphi to hear testimonies. Jurors will be sequestered throughout the trial, which is expected to last more than a month.

Lafayette Journal & Courier reporter Ron Wilkins contributed to this article. Contact IndyStar reporter Kristine Phillips at (317) 444-3026 or at kphillips@indystar.com .

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen's attorneys accuse police of hiding evidence