Defense quits Delphi murder case, trial set for January pushed back

In a surprise move, court-appointed attorneys defending Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen ask judge to withdraw from the case. Hours earlier, one defends himself over leak of crime scene evidence

In a stunning development Thursday, defense attorneys for Richard Allen, the 50-year-old Delphi man accused in the 2017 murders of Abby Williams and Libby German, quit the case.

Judge Fran Gull said she’d accepted Andrew Baldwin’s oral motion to withdraw as Allen’s court-appointed attorney and expected Brad Rozzi to file a written motion in the coming days to do the same.

“We’ve had an unexpected turn of events, ladies and gentlemen,” Gull told a packed Allen County courtroom, where she was expected to conduct a status hearing Thursday afternoon in Allen’s case.

Andrew Baldwin, left, and Brad Rozzi on Thursday asked to step down as court-appointed attorneys for Richard Allen, accused in the murders of Delphi teens Abby Williams and Libby German.