This and that: The police interviews in the Delphi murder case
The slow roll of evidence in the murder trial of Richard Allen continues. Up now: Videos jurors saw of 2022 interrogations that led to his arrest. That and more.
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THE POLICE INTERVIEWS IN THE DELPHI MURDER CASE
Recordings of Richard Allen telling his wife and family from a prison cell that he killed Abby Williams and Libby German in 2017, along with a pair of police interrogations just before the Delphi pharmacy clerk was arrested in 2022 – all played at his murder trial in October – were published this week.
True crime podcaster Tom Webster this week posted the exhibits from the Delphi murder trial, continuing the slow roll of evidence being shared from the court record collected during nearly five weeks of testimony and jury deliberations that started in October 2024.
The first of those exhibits, released in March by Allen’s attorneys, was a video Libby German shot on her iPhone from the end of the Monon High Bridge the afternoon of Feb. 13, 2017 – one showing “Bridge Guy,” a man prosecutors said was Richard Allen – the day the two Delphi eighth-graders were murdered. (See: “Extended ‘Bridge Guy’ video evidence released as Delphi murder case heads for appeal.”)
The rest of the court transcripts from the trial, which ended with a conviction and a 130-year prison sentence for the 52-year-old Allen, haven’t been released in total by the court.
But the three pieces Webster received through a records request were key moments in Carroll Circuit Court during the trial.
Here’s what they show.
The police interviews before Richard Allen was arrested: On Day 8 of the trial, the prosecution had Indiana State Police detective Jerry Holeman testify about the October 2022 police interviews with Allen, after his name surfaced in the investigation and it became clear that Allen was considered a suspect. Holeman testified that Allen became agitated, repeatedly denied that he was connected to the murders and questioning how a round found at the crime scene in the woods near the Monon High Bridge could have come from his gun. On cross-examination, Holeman admitted that he’d used an approved tactic of lying to Allen to coax information from him. Andrew Baldwin, one of Allen’s attorneys, challenged Holeman’s descriptions of Allen’s reactions and demeanor during those pre-arrest interviews. Judge Fran Gull granted Baldwin’s request to have jurors see both interviews – the first with former Delphi police chief Steven Mullin and then Carroll County detective Tony Liggett, when Allen insisted they had the wrong guy and that he wasn’t going to be a fall guy for an investigation that had stretched beyond five years; the second with Holeman, on the day Allen was arrested.
These videos, each over an hour, were shown to jurors on Day 10 of the trial:
Here was coverage from those days in court:
The phone calls to his wife and family: The state closed its case on Day 12 of the trial with recordings of a series of phone calls Allen made from Westfield Correctional Facility to his wife and his mother, using Allen’s own words that he’d killed Abby Williams and Libby German. Across eight recordings of phone calls – dialed from “Ricky” and roughly less than five minutes – Allen tried to convince his family that he killed the girls, as they pushed back with worries about his medication dosages and that his time in a state prison was messing with him. His wife, Kathy, and mother, Janis, repeatedly tell Allen that he’s not thinking straight and that he needs to quit calling them to talk that way. Allen’s defense team argued that Allen’s mental state was fragile after months in what amounted to solitary confinement and was in a state of psychosis that should have invalidated what he said from his prison cell.
Here's what jurors heard from those phone calls the prosecution entered as evidence:
Here’s coverage from that day in court:
Allen’s defense team continues to maintain his innocence. A notice of appeal was filed in March with the Indiana Court of Appeals.
THIS AND THAT/OTHER READS …
REPLAY: SK HYNIX MAKES ITS CASE FOR $3.87B CHIP FACILITY IN WEST LAFAYETTE: SK hynix officials gave their first extended interview since thing went sideways on a rezoning request that would clear the way for the South Korean company’s preferred site for its $3.87 billion advanced chip packaging facility north of Kalberer Road in West Lafayette. In play in the Based in Lafayette Q&A: How SK hynix is still committed to West Lafayette and how the company intends to win over skeptical neighbors; more about what the facility will do; and what’s next if the controversial rezoning doesn’t go through. It all comes ahead of the first of three community meetings on the SK hynix project, at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 11, at the Convergence Center, 101 Foundry Drive in West Lafayette. Read more here:
CHARLIE KIRK ON CAMPUS: In a bit of blown coverage on my end – long story, I promise – I can’t offer a Based in Lafayette account of Thursday’s student-hosted visit by conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, who spent an afternoon on Purdue’s Krach Lawn debating students and others on assorted issues. But hundreds were on the lawn, many holding their own debates between students in the ready supply of Donald Trump hats and protesters chanting and holding signs. (The brass bands playing off to the side as a distraction was an interesting touch.) But here’s coverage that seemed to hit the mark for the short time I spent traipsing across the soggy Krach Lawn:
From Purdue Exponent reporter Josh McNeil: “Charlie Kirk makes Purdue appearance to hundreds of supporters, protesters.”
From J&C reporter Wil Courtney: “Conservative commenter Kirk came to debate; Purdue struggled to listen.”
MORE ON INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ VISAS AT PURDUE: Purdue Exponent’s Quint Holguin and Seth Nelson reported Thursday that several university students were among the hundreds across the country who had their student visas revoked this week. Exactly why wasn’t clear, amid a Trump administration order to deport what it considered to be "pro-jihadist" students. The report came a day after Purdue announced that: “As is the case with universities across the country, Purdue has been in contact with any individual who has been impacted by a change in their visa status. Impacted individuals are encouraged to contact the embassy of their home country and to seek outside legal assistance. Purdue continues to provide support to those impacted, consistent with our responsibilities as a host institution.” Purdue has not clarified how many students on campus have been targeted or why. Here’s more from the Exponent: “International Purdue students have visas revoked after Trump crackdown.”
ON THE PROPERTY TAX FRONT: Things continued to shift on the Indiana General Assembly’s proposed property tax reform, with Gov. Mike Braun agreeing to a change Wednesday that he said he and legislative leaders could live with. Everyone’s still crunching the numbers on the local impact, including potential savings for homeowners and businesses and for the cuts likely for local units of government and school districts.
Here’s an opening look, via Indiana Capital Chronicle reporter Whitney Downard: “Governor gets more savings for homeowners in amended property tax proposal.”
Indianapolis Star reporters Brittany Carloni and Caroline Beck had this: “The complex tax proposal in Senate Bill 1, which passed the House 65-29, would mean nearly 67% of Hoosiers pay less in property taxes in 2026 than they will this year, but it wouldn’t have an equal impact on everyone due to changes to income tax calculations, and it could still hurt local governments.” For the breakdown: “The Indiana House passed a complex property tax bill. Here are the biggest winners and losers.”
And Indiana Capital Chronicle reporter Leslie Bonilla Muñiz had this look after this week’s vote in the House: “Indiana House Republicans OK massive local property, income tax plan that Democrats dub a ‘scam.’ A Senate concurrence is already filed for the plan, which would hand homeowners savings but tee up losses for local governments — and potential local income tax hikes.”
THE PURDUE SUPER FAN’S BROTHER: Indianapolis Star reporter Nathan Baird had this moment from Purdue’s spring football practice Thursday: “Ethan Trent, brother of the late Tyler Trent, earns Purdue football scholarship.”
ICYMI: TIM’S PICKS HAS YOU COVERED FOR THINGS TO DO: If you missed it Thursday, here’s a way into Tim Brouk’s five weekly picks for your Greater Lafayette week. This week’s opener … Bob Dylan Friday night at Purdue’s Elliott Hall of Music.
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In spite of those who said Charlie Kirk wasn’t welcome on Purdue campus, all students and attendees behaved in the manner we expect from Purdue- related followers. This is one reason why parents send their kids and their money to Purdue. Proud Purdue Alumna.