Witness Calls Delphi Murders 'Textbook' Ritual Killings, Suspect Claims Innocence Despite Alleged Confession

Mar. 15, 2025

Abigail Williams, left, Richard Allen, center, and Liberty German.Photo: Indiana State Police

An Indiana man accused of murderingtwo teenage girls in 2017has claimed innocence, despite the assertion of authorities that he confessed. A defense expert recently testified at a pre-trial hearing that the killings resembled ritualistic murders, which the defense says bolsters its theory that the girls were actuallykilled as part of a Pagan sacrifice.

Allen was charged with four counts of murder, according to court records. He was arrested after police searched his home in 2022, theAssociated Pressreported. Police reportedly claimed they found a gun linked to a bullet found at the crime scene, as well as several knives.

The AP,CNNandABCall reported that authorities said Allen confessed to the killings in a jailhouse phone call with his wife. His attorneys have since sought to throw out his confession, claiming Allen was in a declining mental state at the time.

At a pre-trial hearing on Thursday, Aug. 1, Dawn Perlmutter, an expert on ritualistic murders, testified, saying the killings were “textbook” examples of the practice, according to reports fromThe Indianapolis Star,WTHRandWANE.

“It has all the elements listed there,” Perlmutter testified, according to WANE.

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Allen’s attorneys also reportedly claimed that blood matching one of the girls was found painted on trees in a symbol resembling the letter “F,” a symbol associated with Odinism.

WTHR reported that at the conclusion of the hearing, a judge ruled that Allen can be transferred out of a maximum-security prison, where he has been for nearly two years since his arrest, and will instead be held in a county jail as he awaits trial.

source: people.com