Source: WISHTV / WISHTV
ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — The judge presiding over the Delphi murders case has ordered a new court hearing for next week.
In an order issued Thursday, Judge Frances Gull scheduled a hearing for October 19 at 2 p.m. in the case of Richard Allen.
Judge Gull directed the prosecution, defense, and Allen to report to her regular courtroom in Allen County instead of Carroll County where the case is being heard.
Allen faces two counts of murder for the February 2017 murders of Abby Williams and Libby German.
Gull’s order said the hearing will address “matters which have recently arisen” but does not provide specifics.
Allen’s defense attorneys and prosecutors have filed a series of motions over the past two months, some with explosive new claims in the case.
A defense filing claimed the girls may have been killed as part of a “ritualistic sacrifice” and that their deaths may be tied to Odinism.
Allen’s legal team has also suggested police may have lied and withheld evidence to get a judge to approve a search warrant for Allen’s home in 2022.
The prosecutor has filed court papers calling the Odinism suggestion “a fanciful claim made for social media to devour”.
A separate filing from Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland accused the defense team of making “unfounded accusations supported by absolutely no proof.”
Both sides are under a gag order issued by the judge which prevents them from publicly speaking about the case except in the courtroom and in legal filings.
Online court records also showed Thursday morning that Richard Allen sent new “correspondence” to Judge Gull. It’s unclear what that correspondence is as the file has been sealed from public view.
The judge has not issued decisions yet on motions to suppress evidence found at Allen’s home, to move him out of a maximum-security prison in Westville prior to trial, and to allow cameras in the courtroom.
Allen’s trial is scheduled to begin in January, although that date is likely to be delayed.
