Judge weighs whether to unseal records in teens’ killings

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News Channel 13 on 11/22/2022 by Arleigh Rodgers

DELPHI, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana judge said Tuesday that she will decide soon whether to unseal court records that led to a man’s arrest in the 2017 killings of two teenage girls, while a prosecutor urged the court to keep the documents sealed because others could be involved in the case.

Special Judge Fran Gull said she’d decide the matter “in due haste” after she listened to arguments from attorneys for 50-year-old Richard Matthew Allen and the county prosecutor. Gull acknowledged that there is great public interest in the case against the Delphi, Indiana, man who was arrested last month and charged with two counts of murder in the killings of 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German and 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams.

The probable cause affidavit and charging information against Allen have not been publicly released since they were sealed last month at the request of Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland.

McLeland said during Tuesday’s hearing that authorities “have a good reason to believe” Allen is not the only person connected to the killings. He said that if the affidavit were to be released without redactions, witnesses could be harassed.