The man charged with the 2017 Delphi murders has penned a jailhouse letter claiming that his wife has been forced into hiding and that he is now “at the mercy of the court”.
Richard Allen, 50, sent a handwritten letter to “Carroll Circuit Court and those associated” begging the court to appoint him a public defender to represent him as he faces trial for the murders of Libby German and Abby Williams.
In the letter, obtained by The Independent, Mr Allen revealed that his wife Kathy has “been forced” to leave both her job and the couple’s home in Delphi “for her own safety”.
“In the cause listed above, I, Richard M. Allen, hereby throw myself at the mercy of the court. I am begging to be provide [sic] with legal assistance in a Public Defender or whatever help is available,” he writes.
Mr Allen previously told the court that he didn’t need a public defender because he planned to hire his own legal team.
But, the 50-year-old said that – at that time – he had “no clue” how much attorney costs would be.
“At my initial hearing on Oct. 28, 2022, I asked to find representation for myself,” he wrote in the letter.
“However, at the time I had no clue how expensive it would be just to talk to someone. I also did not realize what my wife and I’s [sic] immediate financial situation was going to be.”
He added: “We have both been forced to immediately abandon employment, myself due to incarceration and my wife for her personal safety.
“She has had to abandon our house for her own safety. What little reserve there is will fail to even maintain the original residence.”
Mr Allen signed off the letter by reiterating his pleas for legal assistance.
“Again I throw myself at the mercy of the court. Please provide me whatever assistance you may. Thank you for your time in this most urgent matter,” he wrote.
The letter was signed by Mr Allen and addressed to Carroll County Court, with a court stamp dated 9 November.
The envelope shows the return address as White County Jail – the facility where Mr Allen was being held before he was moved to an undisclosed state facility for his own safety.
It is not clear when Mr Allen wrote the letter as records show he was transferred from the jail last Thursday (3 November).
However, court records filed this week confirm that he has asked the court to provide him with a public defender.
The local Delphi man was arrested in late October and charged with two counts of murder over the 2017 slayings of Libby and Abby. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held without bond ahead of a trial currently slated for March.
Prior to his arrest, the married father who worked in the local CVS store had never been publicly linked to the case.
On 13 February 2017, Libby, 14, and Abby, 13, set off on a hike along the Monon High Bridge Trail in their hometown of Delphi.
During the walk, Libby posted a photo of her best friend walking along the Monon High Bridge. It was the last known photo of Abby before she was killed.
Later that day, the teenagers were reported missing when they failed to return to a spot where a family member was picking them up.
The next day – Valentine’s Day 2017 – their bodies were discovered in a wooded area around half a mile off the trail. Their cause of death has never been released.
Investigators have long been searching for a man captured on Libby’s cellphone before she died.
A grainy video shows a man dressed in blue jeans, a blue jacket and a cap walking along the abandoned railroad bridge.
Investigators released a still image from the video and a chilling audio of the man telling the two girls: “Go down the hill.”
Law enforcement officials are remaining tightlipped about what led them to arrest Mr Allen now more than five years on from the murders and have taken the rare step to seal the probable cause affidavit.
His arrest comes at a time when there have been significant developments in a child porn case previously linked to the murders.
This week, an Indiana judge agreed to delay the trial of the man behind the catfishing account which was in contact with one of the victims, with court records showing he has been “negotiating” with prosecutors.
Kegan Anthony Kline was tied to the 2017 murders last December when investigators urged the public to come forward with information about a bogus online profile named @anthony_shots.
Kline, 28, allegedly confessed to using the fake profile to groom underage girls, get them to send him nude photos and their addresses, and try to get them to meet him in person.
In a 2020 police interview, a transcript of which has been seen by The Independent, Kline admitted that he had communicated with 14-year-old Libby on Instagram and Snapchat through the catfishing profile before she died.
The transcript revealed that he had exchanged photos with the teenage girl and that Libby had communicated with the fake profile on the very day that she and Abby were murdered.
On 25 February 2017 - less than two weeks after the two girls were brutally killed – police carried out a search of Kline’s home in Peru.
Kline has never been charged in connection to the murders.
In 2020, he was arrested and charged with 30 child sexual abuse and child exploitation felonies over the @anthony_shots account. He has been held behind bars ever since.
According to an affidavit, Kline allegedly admitted that he had received about 100 sexual photos and about 20 sexually explicit videos from at least 15 underage girls through the profile.
Last week – days after Mr Allen was taken into custody – five charges of possession of child porn were dropped against him.
Prosecutors had filed a motion asking for the charges to be dismissed, saying that “there is insufficient evidence to prove said counts beyond a reasonable doubt at trial”.
Days later, Kline asked for his trial to be pushed back from January to May 2023, because “parties are currently engaged in negotiations”. The judge has now granted that request.
Following Mr Allen’s arrest, investigators urged the public to continue submitting tips about the case and said that they are not ruling out the possibility that other individuals may also have been involved in the teenagers’ brutal murders.
