DETAILS of items left at the Delphi murders crime scene and how the victims’ bodies were discovered will be a Rorschach test for the jury during accused killer Richard Allen’s upcoming trial, say two podcasters.

Richard Allen, a 51-year-old former CVS worker, was arrested and charged with the February 2017 murders of teen best friends Abigail Williams and Liberty German in October last year.

Libby and Abby were found dead on Valentine’s Day at the Delphi Historic Trails in Indiana, about an hour and 15 minutes northeast of Indianapolis.

The eighth-graders had been dropped at the trails by Libby’s older sister the day prior during a day off from school but failed to return home.

For years, the girls’ causes of death and how their bodies were found remained a total mystery as investigators withheld evidence in the case during their years-long search for the culprit.

One of the only pieces of evidence shared with the public is that Libby had captured a short video of a man walking towards her and Abby in their final moments of life, urging them to go down the hill.

The Murder Sheet podcast, hosted by journalist Aine Cain and attorney Kevin Greenlee, first revealed the crime scene appeared to have been staged, that Libby and Abby’s bodies had been posed, and that both of the girls had lost a lot of blood.

The revelation was made last year after the couple obtained a copy of a police warrant to search a property belonging to Ron Logan, a prior person of interest in the case who has since died.

After Allen was arrested months later, prosecutors revealed that an unspent .40-caliber bullet found between the girls’ bodies was used to link him to the crime scene.

Ballistics analysis showed the round had been cycled through a SIG-Sauer P226 handgun belonging to Allen, investigators claim.

Allen had also placed himself at the trails on the day of the murder during various interviews with police and described wearing almost identical clothing to the man captured by Libby on video, urging the girls down the hill.

In a trove of documents released in June, it was revealed for the first time that both Abby and Libby were believed to have been killed with a knife, having suffered an undisclosed number of wounds caused by a sharp object.

Much of the prosecution’s evidence remains under seal and a strict gag order has been put in place by a judge, preventing families, officials, and attorneys from sharing what they know to the media.

However, in a bombshell 136-page filing last month requesting a Frank’s Hearing – or a proceeding to determine if a police officer lied to obtain a search warrant – Allen’s attorneys made a series of sensational claims, sharing intimate details about the crime scene for the first time.

In the filing, Allen’s team reaffirmed his claims of innocence and alleged that the girls were instead murdered by members of a Nordic cult during a ritual sacrifice.

“Members of a pagan Norse religion, called Odinism, hijacked by white nationalists, ritualistically sacrificed Abigail Williams and Liberty German,” the attorneys claimed in the filing.

“Absolutely nothing links Richard Allen to Odinism or any religious cult,” they wrote.

The attorneys claimed that two groups of Odinists, one from the Delphi area and one from the Rushville area in southeastern Indiana, were investigated for their involvement in the crimes.

They say investigators found multiple ritualistic symbols at the crime scene, including sticks placed over Abby and Libby’s bodies at the crime scene to form Germanic letters associated with Odinism; a letter painted on a tree with Libby’s blood; and faux antlers created with sticks and branches placed above Abby’s head.

Additionally, some of the branches had been precut with a power saw, suggesting they were prepared before the killings, according to the memorandum.

Abby was also found to be wearing Libby’s clothing when their bodies were discovered, per the filing.

“This stick configuration is a spot-on resemblance for the rune (letter) called ‘Hagal’,” a footnote in the memorandum states.

“This rune is used to depict the word ‘Hail.’ Therefore, the combination of the Hagal rune found on Abby and the Ansuz rune found on the tree when combined would proclaim ‘Hail Odin.'”

“Delphi investigation seemingly, and quickly, abandoned the obvious correlation between the crime scene and Odinism, despite an obscene amount of evidence linking Odinism to the crime scene,” the memorandum further states.

“[T]he Odinite angle was abandoned by March 2017, only a few weeks after the girls were murdered,” the memorandum stated. “The reason for this abandonment: A Purdue professor had reached a conclusion concerning Odinism and the crime scene.”

The defense later claimed the prosecution had mischaracterized the professor’s testimony and actively sought to conceal the expert’s identity.

The defense has since identified the expert in question, Dr. Jeffrey Turco, and claimed that he stated it was “a given” that someone was trying to replicate Germanic runic script at the crime scene.

In response, the prosecution has sought to discredit the vast majority of the defense’s claims, calling the memorandum “colorful, dramatic, and highly unprofessional.”

“It’s not completely true,” wrote prosecutor Nick McLeland of the defense’s claims, adding that the allegations made “are not supported by evidence…Sheriff Tony Liggett did not intentionally or recklessly omit evidence or lie about evidence in the probable cause affidavit to support the search warrant.”

McLeland further claimed only 13 pages of the defense’s 136-page filing was relevant to their request for a Frank’s Hearing and the “remaining 90% of the Memorandum outlines its fanciful defense for social media to devour.”

In a filing on Tuesday, McLeland once again sought to pour cold water on the claims, calling them unfounded allegations supported by absolutely no proof.

He accused the defense of “consuming the limited resources of the office and this court with repetitive motions that lack any factual basis.”

‘A RORSCHACH TEST’

The Murder Sheet hosts, Aine Cane and Kevin Greenlee, called the public battle between the defense and prosecution fascinating and said Allen’s team has so far done a stellar job of upending the state’s narrative.

The couple believes each side’s interpretations of the crime scene and items left behind will serve as the key battleground for the majority of Allen’s trial.

“I think this is maybe going to turn into a Rorschach test, where the jury looks at the sticks, the runes, and the way the crime scene is, and do they see posing in a religious or sacrificial sense? Or do they see disturbed mind perhaps covering up the bodies or doing something that’s bizarre and only makes sense to the killer?” Cain told The U.S. Sun.

“And so I think it’s going to be interpretations of the same evidence but through different lenses – and whatever lens is more compelling [to the jury] will ultimately win.

“And I think that’s going to be a concern for the prosecution. Even perhaps if there isn’t a lot of evidence to support the Odinist theory, people may prefer that story because it’s more interesting – which could spell trouble.”

So far, Cain and Greenlee believe Allen’s team has made a great splash in the court of public opinion, but the damage they’ve done to the prosecution’s case and how much reasonable doubt they’ve been able to raise remains to be seen.

Among their audience, they say the reaction to the filing has been mixed, with some adopting the defense’s narrative as gospel and others shunning it completely.

Some fellow podcasters, including the true crime series Defense Diaries, have also voiced concerns that something doesn’t seem right in the state’s case and Allen’s trial could be on the verge of collapse as the defense continues to alleged prosecutorial misconduct.

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Cain and Greenlee don’t agree, believing any such hysteria is beyond premature.

Greenlee said: “When people say things like something stinks in the case or it’s on the verge of collapse, that at the very least is very premature, just like it would be premature on the day the arrest of Richard Allen was announced and say, ‘Oh, this man is obviously guilty.’

“We have to wait until we get not only the charges but the answers to the charges. 

“It’s possible the prosecution has no good answer to these charges. If that’s true, then maybe the case will fall apart.

“But it’s also just as possible that the prosecution has an excellent answer to these charges that will make them blow away.

“So it’s really impossible to say, what’s going to happen with the case or what should happen to the case until we get that response to the prosecution.”

Cain shared Greenlee’s point of view, and pointed to an early motion filed by the defense, requesting for Allen to be moved from the high-security correctional facility he’s currently being housed, in which the defense raised issues about his supposedly declining mental and physical health and claimed he was being deprived of certain rights.

“Like the Frank’s hearing document, you had a lot of controversy around the transport order from the defense,” said Cain.

“A lot of photos ran of Richard Allen in the news media. There was a lot of debate about that. And eventually, the prosecutor kind of came back and maybe gave his side of the story, and a lot of things changed.

“When the defense throws accusations of the prosecution, weighing in before they’ve had a chance to respond and before we really get the whole story, that doesn’t seem the most responsible thing to do.

“I would say, from my own perspective, when we saw the transport order cycle of news develop, I believe there was a very splashy initial defense motion that got a lot of attention […] and then there was more clarity provided by Nick McCleland at a hearing where he was able to kind of call witnesses bring different perspectives into it.

“If something similar happens here, we may see a Frank’s Hearing where there will be an opportunity for both sides to really come out strong and advocate for their respective position.”

‘ODINIST COERCION’ CLAIMS

As part of the defense’s extensive Frank’s Hearing motion, Allen’s attorneys also claimed that he was being treated unfairly by prison guards who were members of the same Odinist cult that they say killed Libby and Abby.

They alleged that Allen has twice been tased at the Westville Correctional Facility, where at least two guards wore Odinist patches on their uniform.

“It is inside of the cold, concrete walls of the maximum-security unit of this dilapidated ‘reformatory’ that Richard Allen is being threatened, intimidated, and mentally abused,” reads the document.

The prosecution responded to the claims on Tuesday, calling them unfounded and insisting that Allen is safe inside Westville Correctional.

In three sworn affidavits, Westville Correctional Facility Warden John Galipeau, sergeants Joshua Robinson and Randy Jones said they have not been abusing their power to harm Allen and denied the defense’s claims that they are Odinists.

In his sworn testimony, Galipeau said: “No one in command had an agenda related to Odinism or ever ordered anyone under their command to harass or threaten the Defendant.”

“Westville Correctional Facility has very few inmates that practice Odinism,” the document continued, “none of those inmates are housed with or next to the Defendant.”

Galipeau acknowledged the two tasing incidents involving Allen but denied the measure was administered without cause.

He said Allen was tased twice because “we could not get him to comply with our orders.”

Robinson, meanwhile, swore that he doesn’t practice Odinism or wear Odinist patches on his uniform.

And Jones stated that while he does not practice Odinism, he does follow “Norse Paganism Heathenry.”

“I started wearing the patches 6 or 7 months ago and did not stop wearing my patches until September 22, 2023, when ordered by my command to remove the patches,” Jones said in the affidavit.

He added that his patches “do not represent racism or hatred for anyone” and he is “not part of a cult.”

During his time in incarceration, prosecutors claim that Allen has made multiple confessions about murdering Libby and Abby, including during phone calls with his wife and mother.

The revelation was shared by prosecutor McLeland in a court hearing in late June, shortly after the defense’s request to transport Allen to a new facility was made.

Cain said the defense’s newest claims that Allen is being mistreated by supposedly Odnisist prison guards is likely a preemptive attempt to discredit Allen’s alleged confessions.

But instead of citing an apparent decline in mental health, the defense now appears to be implying coercion, she said.

“I think we’re seeing something interesting happening here,” said Cain, “and it is quieter than the Odinism stuff, but the fact that their initial response was he was under stress and having psychotic symptoms, now we’re moving away from mental health and going for more straight up coercion.

“At the same time, the prosecution is filing for his mental health records in Westville, so they want to see who he’s been talking to.

“Does the defense now want to make mental health less of an issue, because there are concerns about the prosecution acquiring those records and what may be documented in them?

“We’re very interested to see how this plays out because this is a huge shift from he was just stressed out in a situation worsened by a horrible environment and maybe underlying mental health issues, to Odinist guards told him to say this.”

TRIAL ON TRACK?

Richard Allen’s murder trial is due to go ahead in January next year. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Allen will next appear in court at the Allen County Courthouse on October 19. The hearing was just recently scheduled.

According to the court, the purpose of the proceeding is to discuss an upcoming October 31 hearing and “other matters which have recently arisen.”

Both Greenlee and Cain are torn over the prospect of the trial going ahead as scheduled, in light of the ongoing back and forth between the defense and state.

“I’m still optimistic that it will happen in January,” said Greenlee.

“The defense attorneys seem to have a very strong belief that their client is factually innocent and that he is suffering in prison.

“And so if that’s the case, that would give them a strong motivation to make this trial happen as soon as they can.”

“And I’m more of a pessimist,” countered Cain.

“I see the amount of work that has to be done going into January and I just have a hard time believing that.

“But I think anything’s possible at this point.”