The double murder trial of Richard Allen — accused of killing two teenage girls in Delphi, Indiana, in 2017 — was delayed for several months, less than a week before jury selection was set to begin.
At a pretrial hearing Tuesday morning, Allen’s defense attorneys withdrew their motion for a speedy trial, citing concerns about having enough time to present their case.
The trial was scheduled to begin on May 13 and last three weeks.
The defense estimated it needed 15 business days to present its case and felt the May window was not long enough, so it withdrew its motion filed earlier this year.
The new start date for the trial has been set for October 14.
Photos of Abby Williams, left, and Libby German, right, at police headquarters in Delphi, Indiana.
Lindsey Jacobson/ABC News, FILE
On February 13, 2017, best friends Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14, were enjoying a day off from school in their hometown of Delphi, a small, quiet town of nearly 3,000 residents in central Indiana.
They were on a hiking trail, walking, talking and taking photos when they disappeared.
Their bodies were found the next day.
For more than five years, the case remained unsolved, haunting the people of Delphi.
No suspects were named in the murders until Allen’s arrest in October 2022.
Allen admitted to police that he was on the trail that day, but he denied any involvement in the killings, according to court documents.
Police analysis of Allen’s gun determined that the unspent cartridge found less than 2 feet from one of the victims “had been passed through Richard M. Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226,” the statement said. affidavit of probable cause.
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