Toronto Star
· collected 2026-09-21 · by Jeffrey Collins The Associated Press
Richard Allen, serving 130 years for killing two teen girls, Abigail Williams and Liberty German, is appealing his conviction to the Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday. He argues that his confession was made during a psychological crisis and requests permission to introduce evidence suggesting the killings were part of a pagan ritual. Prosecutors maintain they have sufficient evidence linking Allen to the crime without his confessions and argue introducing alternative theories would detract from the case’s seriousness.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Richard Allen, serving 130 years in prison for killing two teenage girls, Abigail Williams (13) and Liberty German (14), is seeking to overturn his convictions. The murders occurred in 2017 in Delphi, Indiana, becoming one of the state's most closely followed unsolved cases until Allen was arrested more than five years later.
Allen’s attorneys argue that he confessed while suffering from a psychological crisis and claim that evidence should have been allowed suggesting an unknown pagan cult committed the murders. The defense wanted to introduce testimony by an expert who would assert that Odin worshippers conducted the killings as a ritual sacrifice based on various clues at the crime scene.
Prosecutors counter these claims, stating some of Allen’s confessions were made before he showed signs of mental illness and continued even after his condition improved. They also argue there was sufficient evidence to convict Allen without his admissions, including video footage where Libby recorded a suspicious man saying "Down the hill" near the crime scene.
The case is set for arguments at the Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday. If successful, this appeal could potentially lead to a new trial and further investigation into whether pagan rituals were involved in the killings or if Allen was unfairly convicted based on his mental health status during confession sessions.
Written for “Delphi Killings Ritual Theory” on 2026-10-04,
grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
A man serving 130 years in prison for killing two teen girls in Indiana is asking an appeals court to overturn his convictions, saying that he confessed while he was having a psychological crisis and was unfairly barred from arguing at trial that the girls were killed by unknown participants in a pagan ritual.
asserted
girls → serve → ritual
Jurors convicted Richard Allen of murder in 2024 in the deaths of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, known as Abby and Libby.
asserted
Jurors → convict → Abby
The case in the tiny town of Delphi went unsolved for more than five years before Allen was arrested, becoming a magnet for true-crime enthusiasts.
asserted
Allen → go → enthusiasts
Allen’s case goes before the Indiana Court of Appeals for an hour of arguments on Monday.
asserted
case → go → Monday
Prosecutors said some of Allen’s incriminating statements came before he showed signs of mental illness and continued after he improved.
asserted
he → say → illness
Even without his confessions, they said jurors had enough evidence to find Allen guilty.
asserted
Allen → say → evidence
They said Allen admitted to being on the trail near where the girls were killed at the time one of them took a brief video of a suspicious man nearby saying, “Down the hill.”
asserted
one → say → hill
Prosecutors said that if the judge had allowed a defense expert to testify about a possible pagan ritual it would have turned the trial into a sideshow.
asserted
it → say → sideshow
Unusual evidence found along with bodies of the teens
The girls’ bodies were found down a steep hill from an abandoned railroad trestle on a hiking trail just outside of Delphi on Feb. 13, 2017.
asserted
bodies → find → Feb.
The eighth graders were dropped off and never made it to their pickup point.
asserted
graders → drop → point
The teens’ throats were cut, and a few branches were scattered over their bodies.
asserted
branches → cut → bodies
One was found nude while the other was wearing the first victim’s clothes.
asserted
other → find → clothes
There was no evidence they had been sexually assaulted.
asserted
they → be → ?
Prosecutors said Allen was armed with a gun and forced the girls off the hiking trail.
asserted
Allen → say → trail
They said he confessed to planning to rape them before a passing van made him change his mind and he killed them.
asserted
he → say → them
An expert testified an unspent bullet found between the teens’ bodies “had been cycled through” Allen’s handgun.
asserted
bullet → testify → handgun
Defense lawyers at his trial said no witness explicitly identified Allen as the man seen near the trail the afternoon the girls went missing.
asserted
girls → say → trail
They also said no fingerprint, DNA or forensic evidence linked Allen to the murder scene.
asserted
fingerprint → say → scene
Allen’s lawyers say isolation led to mental breakdown and false confessions
Allen was held in solitary confinement while awaiting trial.
asserted
Allen → say → trial
He denied killing the girls for months, but his attorneys said mental stress from isolation led to a steep psychological decline.
asserted
stress → deny → decline
Eventually, his mental state became so bad he convinced himself he killed the girls and confessed several times, his lawyers said.
asserted
lawyers → become → girls
“Allen lost forty pounds, was unable to care for himself, was tased, his face was black and blue and at times bleeding, and he was poisoned by fecal matter and toilet water,” attorneys Stacy Uliana and Mark Leeman wrote in their brief.
asserted
Uliana → lose → brief
Prosecutors said the statements coincided with Allen seeing evidence in the case including the conditions of the teens’ bodies.
asserted
Allen → say → bodies
“The discovery materials forced Allen to face the horrifying evidence of what he did ... images and events he had been able to ignore and repress over the five years in which his guilt had gone undiscovered,” Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita wrote in his office’s brief.
asserted
Rokita → force → brief
Expert on pagan killings not allowed to testify
Allen’s trial attorneys wanted to put an expert witness on the stand to testify the killings appeared to be a ritual sacrifice by people who worshipped Odin, the king of the gods in Norse mythology.
The expert was expected to say the positioning of the bodies, the branches on the remains, the outdoor location of the crime and knife wounds to the victims all were indications of pagan rituals.
asserted
positioning → allow → rituals
Prosecutors said the expert had limited examples and that defense lawyers shouldn’t be able to present just any theory without evidence to back it up.
asserted
lawyers → say → it
Other issues Allen’s attorneys are expected to argue before the appeals court are inconsistencies in how witnesses described the suspicious man near the trail, pointing to a sketch of a potential suspect that didn’t look like Allen.
asserted
that → expect → Allen
They also question why an expert for Allen’s defense wasn’t allowed to question whether marks on an unfired bullet can be traced to a specific gun.
asserted
marks → question → gun
The Aporia
