Connect with us

CBS News

The Delphi, Indiana murders trial is underway 7 years after 2 girls were mysteriously killed. Here’s what to know.

Avatar

Published

on


The trial against Richard Allen, the man charged in the killing of two teenage girls in a case known as the Delphi murders, has begun. 

Allen, 52, is facing two counts of murder and two counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in the killings of Delphi, Indiana eighth graders Abigail Williams and Liberty German in 2017. 

The trial is expected to take one month. Here’s what to know about the Delphi murders and the case against Richard Allen. 

What happened to Abigail Williams and Liberty German? 

Abigail, 13, and Liberty, 14, better known as Abby and Libby, were close friends who had been dropped off by a relative at a hiking trail on Feb. 13, 2017. When they failed to meet the relative later in the day, they were reported missing. 

Their bodies were found the next day in a wooded area near the Delphi Historic Trail, about a mile where they were last seen. Authorities determined their deaths were homicides. CBS News previously reported that the girls were stabbed to death.  

Police spent years searching for a suspect, investigating thousands of leads and releasing multiple composite sketches of the suspect based on eyewitness accounts. Audio evidence from Libby’s cell phone revealed an unknown man had told the girls to go “down the hill.” Libby also recorded a short video of a man who police believed to be the killer. 

65878e95c8c09bf6143bf77bc1016af7.jpg
Liberty German, left, and Abigail Williams. 

CBS


Who is Richard Allen? 

Richard Allen, a drugstore pharmacy technician in Delphi, was arrested on Oct. 26, 2022, more than five years after the slayings. He was first interviewed by police in 2017, and said that he had been walking in the area and seen three “females” near a bridge, but hadn’t spoken to them. 

He was interviewed again on Oct. 13, 2022, after police searched through former suspects. He said that he had seen three “juvenile girls” during his walk. Investigators searched his home and seized a .40-caliber pistol. Prosecutors said testing found an unspent bullet discovered between the teen’s bodies “had been cycled through” the weapon. Allen told prosecutors that he had never been where the bullet was found and didn’t know how a round cycled through his gun could have gotten there.

Allen has pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

Richard Allen mugshot murders of Libby German and Abby Williams
Richard Allen, 50, is charged with two counts of murder in the 2017 deaths of 13-year-old Abby Williams and 14-year-old Libby German in Delphi, Indiana.

Indiana State Police


Prosecutors have said previously that Allen admitted to the killings in a prison phone call to his wife in April 2022. During the call, Allen admitted to the murders seven times before his wife quickly ended the phone call, court documents state. Special Judge Fran Gull ruled in August 2024 that those statements, along with other comments Allen made while in jail, can be used as evidence in the trial. 

Officials previously said they have “good reason to believe” that more than one person was involved in the killings, but no further arrests have been made. 

Allen’s lawyers previously suggested that the girls were killed as part of a pagan ritual sacrifice, and accused police of ignoring evidence from the crime scene. In a search warrant request in March 2017, an FBI agent claimed the girls’ bodies appeared to have been “moved and staged” at the crime scene.


Suspect in custody in connection with 2017 murders of 2 girls in Delphi, Indiana

01:58

Inside the trial

The trial has been repeatedly delayed because of evidence leaks and the withdrawal of Allen’s public defenders, who were later reinstated by the Indiana Supreme Court. On Friday, Oct. 18, opening statements began. 

The trial is expected to last a month. Jurors will be sequestered and kept from using cellphones or watching the news, CBS Chicago reported

Prosecutors said they plan to call about 50 witnesses, while Allen’s defense attorneys expect to call about 120 people to the stand.



Read the original article

Leave your vote

CBS News

Inside Jeff Bezos’ upcoming meeting with Trump

Avatar

Published

on


Inside Jeff Bezos’ upcoming meeting with Trump – CBS News


Watch CBS News



Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Wednesday will be the latest tech leader to meet with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. CBS News political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns has more.

Be the first to know

Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.




Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

CBS News

What to know about the charges in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing

Avatar

Published

on


What to know about the charges in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing – CBS News


Watch CBS News



The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has been indicted on several charges, including first-degree murder as an act of terrorism. CBS News correspondent Lilia Luciano has more.

Be the first to know

Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.




Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

CBS News

Prominent pro-Putin ballet star Sergei Polunin says he’s leaving Russia

Avatar

Published

on


Moscow — Former Royal Ballet star Sergei Polunin, famous for his tattoos of Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday announced that he plans to leave Russia. The Ukrainian-Russian dancer was one of the most prominent stars who backed Russia’s unilateral 2014 annexation of Crimea and its military assault on Ukraine. He was rewarded with prestigious state posts.

In a rambling, misspelled message on his Instagram account, Polunin wrote: “My time in Russia ran out a long time ago, it seems at this moment that I have fulfilled my mission here.”

The post first appeared Sunday on his little-read Telegram account.

Sergei Polunin rehearses prior to Johan Kobborg’s Romeo and Juliet, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, Nov. 28, 2021.

Ian Gavan/Getty


Polunin, 35, did not give a specific reason for leaving but said that “a time comes when the soul feels it is not where it should be.”

He said he was leaving with his family — his wife Yelena and three children — but “where we will go is not clear so far.”

In the summer, the dancer complained of a lack of security and said he was being followed.

Polunin, who was born in Ukraine, backed Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea  — a prelude to the ongoing, full-scale invasion of Ukraine that Putin launched in February 2022.

The dancer was granted Russian citizenship in 2019. He was appointed acting head of a dance academy in occupied Crimea’s biggest city, Sevastopol, and director of the city’s opera and ballet theatre, for which a large new building is under construction.

Just last year he was decorated by Putin for his role in popularizing dance. But in August he was replaced as head of the dance academy by former Bolshoi prima Maria Alexandrova, and a week ago, Russia’s arts minister Olga Lyubimova announced his theater director job would go to singer Ildar Abdrazakov.

This came after on December 9 Polunin published a social media post saying he was “very sorry for people” living in the heavily bombarded village near Ukraine’s city of Kherson, where his family originates from, and that “the worst deal would be better than war.”

Sergei Polunin performs on stage during Johan Kobborg’s Romeo and Juliet, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, Dec. 1, 2021.

Ian Gavan/Getty


Aged 13, Polunin won a scholarship to train at the Royal Ballet School in London and became its youngest ever principal dancer.

With his tattoos — including a large depiction of Putin’s face emblazoned prominently on his chest — and his rebellious attitude, he became known as the “bad boy of ballet” and caused a sensation by resigning from the Royal Ballet at the height of his fame in 2012.

Later he made a 2015 hit video to Irish musician Hozier’s song “Take Me to Church” and was the star of a 2016 documentary called “Dancer.”

He moved to perform at Moscow’s Stanislavsky Musical Theatre’s ballet before launching a solo career, starring in dance performances in roles including the mystic Grigory Rasputin.

In 2019 he posed for AFP with a large tattoo of Putin on his chest which he later supplemented with two Putin faces on either shoulder. He also has a large Ukrainian trident on his right hand.

This year he took part in Putin’s campaign for reelection as a celebrity backer.



Read the original article

Leave your vote

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2024 Breaking MN

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.