A few notes on a Monday in December
Purdue’s new football coach arrives. What evidence jurors asked to review during Delphi murder case deliberations. Getting ahead of the Community Christmas Day Dinner orders. More BiL Holiday Playlist
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THIS AND THAT/OTHER READS …
PURDUE’S NEW COACH ARRIVES: Expect to hear plenty more in the coming days about Barry Odom, who landed with his family late Sunday night at the Purdue Airport as the university’s new head football coach. From the welcoming committee of the Ross-Ade Brigade:
Gold and Black reporter Tom Dienhart spoke with an AP reporter who covers UNLV, Odom’s most recent school, about what he was like in Las Vegas and what to expect at Ross-Ade Stadium. Here’s the full Q&A: “AP sports writer Mark Anderson breaks down new Purdue coach Barry Odom.”
ORDER COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS DINNERS NOW: Plans are taking shape for the Annual Community Christmas Day Dinner the Friends of Downtown host at Lafayette Jefferson High School. Carryout will be available from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Dec. 25 at the south entrance to Lafayette Jeff, 1801 S. 18th St. Delivery orders are being lined up, too, between now and Dec. 22. To order delivery online, here’s the Community Christmas Day Dinner link. Food Finders Food Bank will collect delivery orders for Friends of Downtown via this form and over the phone at 765-471-0062 ext. 220.
WHAT THE JURY ASKED TO SEE AGAIN IN DELPHI MURDER CASE DELIBERATIONS: On the third of four days of deliberations in Carroll Circuit Court, the jury asked to see four exhibits presented during 18 days of testimony in Richard Allen’s murder trial, according to a Nov. 9 court order posted with the case late last week.
According to court records, the jury of 12 Allen County residents asked to review a digitally enhanced video shot by Libby German at 2:13 p.m. Feb. 13, 2017, showing a man – identified throughout the trial as “Bridge Guy” – walking behind her and Abby Williams as they crossed the abandoned Monon High Bridge. The video was presented by prosecutors as they last thing on the phone’s camera roll when it was found at the crime scene with Abby and Libby’s bodies the next day. The jury also asked to review an enhanced recording from that video, which investigators testified had the Bridge Guy telling the girls, “Down the hill.”
During deliberations, jurors also asked to review two interrogation videos from October 2022, just before Allen’s arrest in the murder case. In the first, led on Oct. 13, 2022, by Steve Mullin – former Delphi police chief and an investigator with the Carroll County prosecutor’s office – and then Carroll County detective Tony Liggett, Allen slowly realized that information he self-reported five years earlier that he’d been on the Monon High Bridge Trails the day the girls went missing now was being used against him. In the interview, Allen had denied an involvement, telling Mullin that he didn’t intend to be the fall guy for investigators looking to close a case that had rocked the community and put national focus on the search for anyone responsible for the Feb. 13, 2017, murders of the Delphi Community Middle School eighth-graders. That interview led to a search of Allen’s home, turning up a handgun investigators tied to an unspent round found at the crime scene.
Jurors also asked to see a recording of Allen being interrogated Oct. 26, 2022, by Indiana State Police detective Jerry Holeman. That day, Holeman told Allen that the round found near the girls came back as a match for the handgun at his house. Holeman also told Allen that Libby’s Bridge Guy video identified him and that five witnesses saw him on or near the trail. Holeman testified during the trial that those had been lies as part of investigation techniques. During that interview, Allen denied the allegations more than 20 times.
The jury selected found Allen guilty on Nov. 11, after 18 days of testimony and four days of deliberations. Allen, 52, a former employee at the CVS in Delphi, faces up to 65 years in prison for each of four counts of murder when he’s sentenced Dec. 20.
Also new in the court record: For good measure, Judge Fran Gull on Monday rejected yet another media request to allow recording of Allen’s Dec. 20 sentencing. This one came from the Indianapolis Star. A week ago, Gull denied requests filed by Indianapolis television stations WTHR and WISH. Gull has rejected all similar requests, except one in her home courtroom in Allen County, since she was appointed as special judge to oversee the case in 2022.
LOCAL COMPARISON: HOW BIG WAS THAT CONTRACT? Not exactly a typical Based in Lafayette connection here, but you saw that outfielder Juan Soto reportedly agreed to a 15-year, $765 million contract Sunday with the New York Mets, right? For context, one of Lafayette’s major stories of 2024 included a similar number: “Caterpillar’s $725M expansion plan hailed as one of Lafayette’s biggest.”
GOD REST YE MERRY BiL HOLIDAY/SEASONAL PLAYLIST
The mailbox is still open for your three tracks for the Based in Lafayette Holiday/Seasonal Playlist, now with more than six hours of music and growing every day thanks to BiL readers. Check the link at the bottom of today’s contributions to hear it all. Today’s picks come from …
Amy Austin
Amy Austin is a West Lafayette mom of three nearly grown kids, a snarky cocktail book author and a music lover.
“Christmas is Starting Now,” Big Bad Voodoo Daddy – My kids were obsessed with Phineas and Ferb when they were little, and this one reminds me of all the Christmas memories we cherish from when they were little.
“I Don’t Know What Christmas Is,” Old 97s – This Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special featured this weird one, and it became a family favorite. It’s from the perspective of aliens trying to figure out what Christmas is. And it “slaps;” I think that’s good?
“Indiana Christmas,” Straight No Chaser – I love a good song about Indiana, and this one makes me think about all the millions of hours I’ve spent on 65 driving back home to Valpo during the holidays.
Tom McCool
Tom McCool is a retired marketing and PR exec currently teaching communication classes part-time at Ivy Tech. He’s a big Rolling Stones fan and collects vinyl records.
“Hey Santa,” Chuck Leavell – Chuck was a member of the Allman Brothers Band, has led his own bands, and records and tours with The Rolling Stones when he’s not running his tree farm in Georgia. In 1998 he released a CD of R&B Christmas songs and piano instrumentals. This rollicking, fun boogie is about waiting for that present that’s high on your list.
“Cry of a Tiny Babe,” Bruce Cockburn – Bruce is a Canadian singer/songwriter who has been recording for five decades. His take on the Christmas story is both funny and moving.
“Lonely Without You (This Christmas),” Mick Jagger and Joss Stone – Mick Jagger and David Stewart wrote this for the soundtrack of the 2004 remake of “Alfie.” Mick and Joss Stone duet on a bluesy ballad that unfortunately clocks in at 2:35, fading out just when it hits a peak.
Your turn: What’s on your list?
What three songs are going into your holiday/seasonal playlist this year? If you’re game to share, here’s all we need:
Three songs and the artists.
One or two sentences about why you chose each one – could be a memory or a short history or review about why that track belongs in your mix and why you’d recommend it to others.
A little bit about you to let readers know who’s making the picks.
Send to: davebangert1@gmail.com
BASED IN LAFAYETTE HOLIDAY/SEASONAL PLAYLIST: IN PROGRESS
Listen and bookmark it here.
Thanks, again, to sponsor Purdue Convocations. Shop Convos’ holiday sale and save $5 on tickets to the biggest spring shows, including Hadestown, Pretty Woman: The Musical, Chicago, and “Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at 300” by Baroque chamber ensemble Les Arts Florissants. Get the deals here.
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Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.
I don't do apps or downloads, so I can't listen to the list, but looks like some fun surprises on that list. It's missing a favorite.
Another Lafayette connection to the Soto contract is, of course, the 765.