Richard Allen, serving 130 years for killing Indiana teenagers Abigail Williams and Liberty German, is asking for a new trial. His lawyers say psychosis made his confessions unreliable and that the jury never heard evidence the defense considered central. The appellate court, unlike the true-crime internet, has to sort legal error from noise.
Allen was convicted in 2024 of murdering the girls, known as Abby and Libby, after they disappeared from a Delphi hiking trail in 2017. Prosecutors relied on his presence near the trail, repeated confessions and testimony connecting an unfired cartridge at the scene to his handgun.
The defense challenges what jurors did not hear
His attorneys argue the trial judge wrongly excluded a police sketch resembling another man, expert criticism of firearm-mark comparison and testimony supporting an alternative ritual-killing theory. They also say prolonged isolation contributed to a severe mental breakdown before Allen confessed.
Prosecutors answer that Allen supplied details and placed himself on the trail. They argue any disputed rulings were harmless because the remaining evidence supported the verdict.
An appeal is not a second jury
The three-judge panel asked pointed questions about excluded evidence, but also repeatedly asked whether any errors would have changed the outcome. Appellate courts generally review the fairness and legality of a trial rather than retry every fact.
The Associated Press reported the arguments before the Indiana Court of Appeals.
The judges will rule later. The stakes remain enormous: justice for two murdered children, the reliability of a conviction and whether the rules held under the pressure of one of Indiana’s most scrutinized cases.
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Receipts, Rumors & Internet NonsenseDana reads the fine print, checks the timeline, and keeps one eyebrow permanently raised. She covers viral claims, internet pile-ons, and suspiciously convenient explanations.
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