ALLEN COUNTY — Jury selection for the Delphi murders trial concluded in Allen County Tuesday.
12 jurors will decide the fate of Richard Allen, 52, who is charged with multiple counts of murder in the deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German, teen girls whose bodies were found near the Monon High Bridge in Carroll County in 2017. There will also be four alternates.
According to WRTV's records, 17 people were selected but both the prosecution and defense say there are only 16 jurors. This means one of the jurors was excused; however, it is unclear which juror was excused and why.
On Tuesday, while questioning potential jurors, a defense attorney claimed hair found in Williams' hand did not belong to Allen.
Four family members of the victims were in the courtroom on Tuesday.
The grandparents of Williams were back in the Allen County Courthouse after attending the court proceedings on Monday as well. Two people from German's family were also in court for day two of jury selection.
Jurors will be sworn in on Thursday morning in Allen County before they are sequestered and transported to Carroll County where the trial will be held.
Also on Thursday, Judge Gull said she would consider the prosecution's motion to block the use of sketches in the trial.
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The defendant, Allen, was arrested in October 2022, more than 5 years after the girls' killings. He lived in the Delphi community for at least 16 years and worked as a pharmacy technician.
He became the leading suspect after he admitted to being on the bridge the day of the murders and Indiana State Police claimed that a bullet found at the crime scene matched a gun seized during a search of his home.
Other evidence included a video taken on Libby's cell phone, showing the suspected killer, and a voice recording telling the girls to walk down the hill to the riverbank where their bodies were located.
Witnesses also told police they saw a man who resembled Allen near the bridge that day.
PREVIOUS | Delphi Murders: Richard M. Allen charged in 2017 killing of Libby and Abby (wrtv.com)
Libby and Abby's story has been told across the country on television and podcasts and debated by people around the world in chat rooms and social media groups online.
Due to this level of publicity, Special Judge Fran Gull ordered that jurors be selected from Allen County, which is the Fort Wayne area.
Jurors will be transported roughly 100 miles to Delphi for the duration of the trial, where they will be monitored and banned from using cell phones or watching news broadcasts.
WATCH |DELPHI CHAT: Remembering Abby and Libby
Cameras are banned from the courtroom during Allen’s trial, and reporters are barred from taking electronic devices inside the courthouse.
The trial is expected to last a month.
