DISTURBING leaked crime scene photos discussed in court of the high-profile Delphi murders have fueled a conspiracy theory that the two teenage victims were killed in a ritual sacrifice.
The trial of Richard Allen – the 51-year-old married father accused of killing Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, on February 14, 2017 – is set to begin this week, nearly two years since his arrest.
On February 13, 2017, on the last day of a four-day winter break, Liberty and Abby went hiking through the woods near the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Indiana, over an hour northeast of Indianapolis.
The girls had made plans to be picked up later that afternoon, but after they failed to show up, a relative called authorities to report them missing.
Liberty and Abby’s bodies were found the following day along Deer Creek, about a quarter mile east of the Monon High Bridge.
The case went cold for over five years without any arrests or updates, as investigators worked with limited evidence.
Investigators probed a Snapchat image posted by Liberty that captured a man with his head down, wearing a blue jacket, with his hands in his pocket, walking several feet behind the girls.
Nearly a week after the teenagers were found dead, Indiana State Police released an audio recording of the voice of the suspect, who is heard telling Liberty and Abby, “Down the hill.”
On October 31, 2022, authorities announced the arrest of Allen, a licensed pharmacy technician at a CVS in Delphi.
A probable cause affidavit claimed a bullet found near Liberty and Abby’s bodies was linked to a gun belonging to Allen.
Now, as Allen’s long-awaited trial is set to begin this week, details about leaked crime scene pictures from the murders have reignited conspiracy theories that Liberty and Abby were killed as part of a ritual sacrifice.
In February 2023, Áine Cain and Kevin Greenlee, the journalist-lawyer couple behind The Murder Sheet podcast, received an anonymous tip containing several photos of the crime scene where the girls were found.
Cain called the photos “very disturbing” and immediately called the police, as the evidence was under a protective order by the court.
Mitchell Westerman, a friend and former coworker of Andrew Baldwin, one of the two attorneys representing Allen, was eventually arrested for the leak.
LIBERTY’S PHONE ACTIVITY
The ritual killing theory was made by Allen’s defense team, who argued evidence supported their claims that a group of men with ties to the pagan Norse cult of Odinism killed Libby and Abby – and not Allen.
The defense suggested the girls may have been killed elsewhere, and the crime scene was staged, which would’ve been too complicated for Allen to pull off alone.
Investigators have carved out a timeline of the murders suggesting that Liberty and Abby were abducted at 2:14 pm on February 13, 2017, and killed somewhere between 2:30 pm and 3:30 pm.
Indiana State Police Sergeant Chris Cecil testified in August that all movement on Liberty’s iPhone 6s stopped at 2:32 pm.
The cell phone never pinged again, nor did any text messages come through Liberty’s phone.
However, Allen’s defense argued that Liberty’s smartphone “turned on” at 4:33 am, pinged at a nearby cell tower, and received more than a dozen text messages.
The defense underscored that the cell phone activity suggested the device, or the girls themselves, was moved to another location and then brought back to where they were ultimately found on February 14, 2017.
Liberty’s cell phone was found beneath her body and under one of her shoes, investigators revealed.
How the cell phone suddenly began receiving messages again more than 12 hours after the girls were killed has not been disclosed by investigators.
CULT RITUAL THEORY
Patrick Cicero, a blood specialist and forensics expert from the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office, sought to dismiss the defense’s claims that the girls may have been killed elsewhere and brought back to where they were found.
Cicero spoke in detailed and disturbing testimony in August about the blood found at the crime scene and what it showed about the girls’ final terrifying moments of life.
Having reviewed the crime scene photos and other documents related to the case, Cicero testified that Abby likely was murdered while lying down.
Meanwhile, Liberty was cut while standing and eventually sat down, Cicero’s analysis of blood patterns purportedly showed.
Details about Liberty and Abby’s cause of death and how they were killed have not been released by investigators.
While limited information has been revealed about how the girls were killed, both their throats were cut, and their bodies were found covered in branches.
Odinist denies involvement
Richard Allen’s attorneys first shared their Odinism defense in a bombshell 136-page filing in September last year.
In the document, Allen’s attorneys made a series of sensational claims and shared intimate alleged details about the crime scene for the first time – following years of silence from law enforcement.
In the filing, Allen’s team reaffirmed his claims of innocence and alleged that the girls were instead murdered by members of a pagan Norse religion called Odinism, which in recent years has been increasingly infiltrated by white supremacists.
The attorneys claimed that two groups of Odinists, one from the Delphi area and one from the Rushville area in southeastern Indiana, were investigated for their involvement in the crimes.
Those alleged Odinists were identified in the documents as Johnny Messer, Brad Holder, Elvis Fields, Patrick Westfall, and Rod Abrams – none of whom has been publicly named as a suspect or charged with any crimes related to the murders.
Allen’s attorneys claimed that various Odinist iconography was left at the crime scene, including runes made out of sticks and blood.
Across dozens of pages, the attorneys outlined Messer and co.’s alleged ties to Odinism and pointed to what they call glaring evidence linking the men to the murders, which they alleged was “recklessly ignored” by prosecutors during their pursuit of Allen.
When approached by The U.S. Sun to share his side of the story last year, Messer refused to comment on the specific allegations made by Allen’s defense team but said he is considering legal action against them and spoke of the emotional toll their claims have had on him and his family.
“As much as I would like to defend my name, I respectfully decline to [speak] at this time,” Messer said in a written statement.
“I am seeking legal action[.] This has turned my life upside down and has taken a huge toll on my family and mental health.”
He added: “I just don’t want to say anything to jeopardize my legal action that I’m going to take.”
Messer’s sister, when contacted by The U.S. Sun, said she would “love” to speak and help clear her brother’s name, but she has been advised by legal counsel not to do so at this time.
Attempts to reach the other four men named in Allen’s attorneys’ filing were unsuccessful.
In their memorandum, Allen’s legal team called the links between the Delphi murders and Odinism “confounding.”
They alleged that Holder’s son was dating Abby at the time of her death and that Holder posted a series of “Easter eggs” to Facebook in the aftermath – including apparent images of runes and other photos mirroring elements of the crime scene – which they claim were uploaded to taunt police about his alleged involvement.
Allen’s attorneys claim that investigators failed to vigorously pursue the “obvious links” between the crime scene and Odinism.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, say Allen’s team lacks concrete evidence linking any of the men to the crime scene.
Cicero further testified that the position of Libby’s body suggested she’d been dragged by one arm to where the killer eventually left her.
Cicero argued he didn’t believe her body positioning was staged, more so the result of how Libby was moved.
The specialist also pushed back on arguments made by the defense that blood smeared on a tree near the girls was purposely painted to form the letter F, which holds significance in Odinism.
Instead of an Odinist rune, Cicero said the smear was more likely a transfer stain from Libby’s bloodied hand.
Purposely painting a symbol on the tree would have involved the killer repeatedly dipping their hand in blood, he said, which would’ve been almost “impossible.”
But, to back up their defense, attorney Andrew Baldwin called multiple witnesses to speak about their Odinist theory to the judge.
One of the witnesses was Dr. Dawn Perlmutter, an author who identified herself as an expert in ritualist crime scenes.
After reviewing a small sample of photos of crime scenes and other evidence in the case, Dr. Perlmutter told the court, “In my opinion, this was a textbook ritual murder.”
Dr. Perlmutter suggested that the way Liberty and Abby were killed, how their bodies were positioned, where they were found, and the symbolism present at the scene had “all the elements of sacrificial murder.”
The expert told the judge that because the girls were found in the woods near a body of water and their throats were slit, it suggests people with magical beliefs committed the killings.
Dr. Perlmutter also argued blood smeared on a tree in one leaked crime scene photo was painted to form the letter F, which holds significance in Norse mythology.
She also said branches left atop the girls’ bodies appeared to have been placed to form runic symbols.
But, under intense questioning from Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland, Perlmutter admitted her findings were based on limited evidence.
Allen’s defense team will not get a chance to convey their theory to jurors after Judge Frances Gull ultimately said the theory inadmissible, ruling “the probative value of such evidence is greatly outweighed by confusion of the issues and its potential to mislead the jury.”
Allen, who wore a light purple button-down shirt and khaki pants, was present on Monday during the first day of jury selection at the Carroll County courthouse, NBC affiliate WTHR reported.
Fourteen jurors, six men and eight women, were selected on Monday, with the four alternative jurors expected to be chosen on Tuesday.
