(NEW YORK) — The double murder trial of Richard Allen — accused of killing two teenage girls in Delphi, Indiana, in 2017 — has been delayed several months, less than a week before jury selection was to begin.
In a pretrial motions hearing Tuesday morning, defense attorneys for Allen withdrew their motion for a speedy trial, citing concerns over having enough time to present their case.
The trial was scheduled to begin May 13, and was expected to last three weeks.
The defense estimated they needed 15 working days to present their case and felt the May window was not long enough, so they withdrew their motion filed earlier this year.
The trial’s new start date was set for Oct. 14.
On Feb. 13, 2017, best friends Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14, were enjoying a day off from school in their hometown of Delphi, a quiet, small town of nearly 3,000 residents in central Indiana.
They were on a hiking trail, walking, chatting and snapping photos, when they disappeared.
Their bodies were found the next day.
For more than five years, the case remained unsolved, haunting Delphi residents.
No suspect was named in the murders until Allen was arrested in October 2022.
Allen admitted to police that he was on the trail that day, but he denied any involvement in the murders, according to court documents.
Police analysis of Allen’s gun determined that the unspent round discovered within 2 feet of one of the victims “had been cycled through Richard M. Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226,” the probable cause affidavit said.
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