Defense attorneys in Delphi, Indiana, murder case asking for crowdsource funding

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Court-appointed attorneys representing Richard Allen, the man accused of killing two Indiana teenagers, are asking for crowdsource funding to cover their outside costs, reported by FOX59. 

Allen, 51, was arrested in October 2022 and charged with two counts of murder in the 2017 slayings of 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German. The Delphi, Indiana, man has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A relative of one of the teenagers dropped them off on Feb. 13, 2017, at a hiking trail near their hometown of Delphi, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Indianapolis. The teens, known as Abby and Libby, were reported missing that evening after they didn’t show up at a meeting place to be picked up. Their bodies were found the next day in a rugged, heavily wooded area near the trail.

Richard Allen was expected to go to trial in October. Defense lawyers asked for it to be moved up. It will now start in May. 

Defense attorneys have complained in motions and emails that Special Judge Fran Gull was slow to reimburse their bills or was denying them funds to pay for expert witnesses. 

"Its unheard of, as far as I know, for the defense lawyers in a case as big as this would not be paid by the court, would not have their experts approved by the court," Professor Michael Ausbrook, with the IU Maurer Law School, said to FOX59. "Its probably a constitutional violation in motion."

The crowdsource funding site said the lawyers are not profiting from the money raised to pay for expert witnesses. it has raised more than $9,000 from 155 people, as of Tuesday evening.