A judge on Monday moved up the trial date for an Indiana man accused of killing two teenage girls on a day hike near their hometown.
A jury trial for Richard Allen, previously scheduled for October, is scheduled for May 13 to May 31, according to court records.
The teens were found dead in February 2017, a day after they were reported missing after visiting a hiking trail near their hometown of Delphi, about 90 miles northwest of Indianapolis.
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Allen, a pharmacy technician at a drugstore in a town of 3,000 people, was not arrested until October 2022. The suspect has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder in the deaths of 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German.
Police officers escort Richard Allen from the Carroll County Courthouse after a hearing in Delphi, Indiana, on November 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Daron Cummings)
The litigation schedule has been repeatedly interrupted in recent months. Last fall, Special Judge Fran Gall postponed the trial to October 2024 after Allen’s lawyers temporarily withdrew from the case, citing leaks.
But in January, the Indiana Supreme Court reinstated Allen’s former public defenders, Andrew Baldwin and Brad Lozzi. Last week, both men asked Gall to set a trial date closer to the date.
Allen is next scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
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Gall will issue a gag order in December 2022, prohibiting attorneys, law enforcement officials, court officials, coroners and the girl’s family from commenting on the case to the public or media in any way, including on social media. Forbidden.
