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TWO new attorneys have stepped up to represent accused double murderer Richard Allen after his former lawyers were removed from the case earlier this month.
This came after gruesome pictures of the crime scene were reportedly leaked from the offices of one of the former attorneys on October 5.
The 50-year-old defendant is accused of killing Libby German, 14, and Abby Williams, 13, while they were hiking in 2017 outside Delphi, Indiana, about 75 miles northwest of Indianapolis.
The leak from the office of his attorney Andrew Baldwin threw the case into chaos.
Baldwin and the defendant’s other attorney Bradley Rozzi stepped down earlier this month at the behest of Judge Fran Gull.
Robert Scremin and William Lebrato were appointed as Allen’s new public defenders on Friday, local Fox affiliate WXIN reported.
Lebrato is the chief public defender in Allen County.
He was briefly suspended for an unknown reason last year.
Scremin has 24 years of legal experience. He’s also worked as a deputy prosecutor and detective.
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Gull has issued a decorum order ahead of Allen’s next court hearing scheduled for 9 am on Tuesday.
Cameras won’t be allowed in the courtroom and no spectators will be allowed to stand during the hearing.
An attorney representing Baldwin claimed the leak wasn’t his client’s fault.
“Attorney Baldwin did nothing wrong. He was snookered and abused,” David Hennessy wrote in the court filing obtained by NBC affiliate WTHR.
He alleged that the photos were leaked by a trusted employee working in the lawyer’s office.
Bradley filed a court document on Thursday alleging that Gull “ambushed” and “coerced” him and Baldwin into stepping down.
He also requested that she be removed from the case.
The judge threw the motion out on Friday.
Bradley and Rozzi grabbed headlines when they claimed investigators overlooked evidence which suggests the teens may have been killed by members of an Odinist cult as part of a ritual sacrifice.
Authorities have released a video and voice recording one of the girls took of a man approaching them shortly before the murders.
Allen reportedly said he was near the crime scene on the day of the killings and was wearing clothing similar to what the man in the video had on.