Delphi murders trial underway in Carroll County, Indiana

Seven years after two teens were found brutally killed near a wooded creek in Delphi, Indiana, the trial for the man accused in their deaths is officially underway.

Police say Richard Allen killed both Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German. The two teens went missing Feb. 13, 2017, and were found dead the next day. In 2022, officials arrested Allen, of Delphi, who faces both murder and kidnapping charges.

The trial could prove to be one of Indiana’s most controversial and highly publicized cases, which will play out in the small community that has been shocked not once, but twice — first in the slayings, then by the arrest of Allen, a man residents said quietly “blended in” with their small, tightly knit community.

Journalists from the Indianapolis Star and the Lafayette Journal & Courier will cover the case as it moves through the judicial system.

Opening statements for Allen’s trial are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 18. This story will be updated as new information becomes available.

Cameras confiscated outside Delphi courthouse

Cameras of journalists outside the courthouse were confiscated shortly after jurors arrived Friday morning.

When Gannett photographer Alex Martin saw two vans approach the shrouded fences on the west side of the courthouse, he put his camera on his hip and set the second camera on the ground. Special Judge Frances Gull made it clear during Thursday’s media orientation that photographs or videos of the jurors was forbidden, and Martin obliged.

After the jurors were unloaded, law enforcement came out from the shrouded fence and confiscated cameras.

“I wasn’t taking pictures of jurors,” said Martin, who was standing in an approved area outside the courthouse.

Four or five other photogs also had their cameras taken, Martin said.

It has yet to be determined whether the cameras, which included both still photo cameras and video cams, will be returned, Martin said.

People line up to get into courtroom

The line of people outside the Carroll County Courthouse in the wee hours of Friday morning camped there for hours hoping to get seats to Friday’s opening statements.

More than half of the people in line at 4 a.m. didn’t get in. Even those who arrived at 2:30 a.m. didn’t get a spot in the 72-seat courtroom.

One reporter who barely made it in said they arrived at 12:30 a.m. and waited in the ever-growing line of journalists, public and true-crime lovers who have followed the case’s twists and turns.

Some in the line bundled up in blankets wrapped over their heads and around their bodies to ward off the 30-degree temperatures, while others just dressed as best they could praying for the 8 a.m. opening of the courthouse doors – and a chance to be warm.

Some of the public in line could be overheard talking about their interest in the case that has drawn national attention. Some told of their opinions of the case and how they’ve created their own timeline of the events, even walking the trails to see if the timeline in the prosecutor’s probable cause affidavit lined up.

Sixteen people selected from Allen County — 12 jurors and four alternates — were picked just before 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in Fort Wayne. The panel was sworn in Thursday. They’ll be sequestered in a hotel throughout the trial, scheduled to end Nov. 15.