Delphi murder suspect’s alleged jail confessions revealed in court

October 30, 2024

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(DELPHI, Ind) — Prison staffers are revealing the alleged confessions made by Delphi, Indiana, murder suspect Richard Allen while behind bars.

Allen is accused of killing Libby German, 14, and Abby Williams 13, on a hiking trail in rural Delphi on Feb. 13, 2017. He’s pleaded not guilty to murder.

John Galipeau, the former warden of the Westville Correctional Facility, where Allen was held for 13 months after his October 2022 arrest, took the stand on Tuesday.

Galipeau told jurors Allen wrote a note requesting an interview with him on March 5, 2023. He said Allen’s note said, “I am ready to officially for confess killing Abby and Libby. I hope I get the opportunity to tell the families I’m sorry.”

Galipeau said Allen admitted to throwing out a box cutter in the dumpster behind the CVS where he worked in Delphi.

An expert has testified a box cutter may have been used to slash the girls’ throats.

Asked about Allen’s mental state at Westville, Galipeau said Allen was quiet for the first month and then began acting “erratic” after he got mail from his attorneys.

Galipeau said Allen washed his face in the toilet, went to the bathroom in his cell, tore up mail and ate paper.

Allen’s attorneys have argued he was treated poorly at Westville and was called a “baby killer,” which led to a decline in his mental health.

Galipeau testified that Allen was allowed to shower three times a week, was provided three sets of clothing, had access to tablets and was allowed recreation time five days a week in an indoor room. Allen was on suicide watch and received a medical check daily, Galipeau said.

Another corrections officer, Brandon Fisher, testified that Allen confessed on April 29, 2023. According to Fisher, Allen said his plan was to rape Abby and Libby, but he panicked and ended up killing them.

Allen allegedly told Fisher he killed the girls with a box cutter and threw it into a dumpster behind CVS.

Westville corrections officer Michael Clemons also took the stand, telling jurors he was assigned to record everything Allen said and did while on suicide watch.

According to Clemons, Allen said, “I’m so glad no one gave up on me after I killed Abby and Libby,” and, “I, Richard Matthew Allen, killed Abby and Libby by myself. No one helped me.”

Clemons said Allen would shout to other inmates, “I’m not crazy, I’m only acting like I’m crazy.”

During cross-examination, Clemons testified that he never felt Allen’s behavior was genuine.

Defense attorney Brad Rozzi asked Clemons, “Can prison get to a man?” and the corrections officer admitted, “Yes it can.”

Corrections officer Michael Roberts testified that Allen was coherent and talkative, but a little scared when he arrived at Westville. After a few months, Roberts said Allen’s behavior changed and he started confessing.

Roberts had a detailed log of the four confessions he said he heard.

On April 7, 2023, Roberts wrote that Allen said, “Dear Lord, forgive me for molesting Abby, Libby, Kevin, and Chris. I want to confess. I know a lot more.” The identities of Kevin and Chris were not explained in the testimony.

On April 23, 2023, Roberts wrote that Allen said, “I killed Abby & Libby. My wife wasn’t involved. I want to confess.”

On April 26, 2023, he wrote that Allen said, “Can I talk? Can you listen I killed Abby & Libby? How do I prove I’m insane?”

On June 18, 2023, Roberts noted that Allen said, “Why are you doing this? Do you know God? Do you know why I’m here? I killed Abby and Libby.”

During cross-examination, Roberts admitted that Allen had smeared feces all over his cell and put feces on his face for two hours.

Roberts also said Allen refused food for long periods of time, and recalled one incident where Allen hit his head on the wall for so long that his face turned black and blue.

After 13 months at Westville, Allen was transferred to Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. Jason Bedwell, a corrections officer there, testified that on Feb. 4, 2024, Allen cried and talked to himself, saying, “I am sorry for what I did. Sorry for killing them.”

ABC News’ Janel Klein contributed to this report.

Woman dies on 1st day of Burning Man Festival, cause of death not known

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(LOVELOCK, Nev.) — Authorities are investigating the death of a 39-year-old woman on the first day of the Burning Man Festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.

Burning Man’s emergency services personnel found the festival attendee, Kendra Frazer, unresponsive around 11:30 a.m. Sunday, according to the Burning Man Project and Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen. Deputies responded and confirmed her death, Allen said.

“Her cause and manner of death are still pending results of an autopsy and toxicology screening,” the sheriff said in a statement on Monday.

“Our thoughts and condolences go out to the family and friends affected by this loss,” festival organizers said in a statement. “The safety and well-being of our staff and community are paramount. We are cooperating fully with local authorities as they investigate.”

This year’s Burning Man festival runs from Aug. 25 to Sept. 2. About 80,000 people attend Burning Man each year, according to the festival’s website.

Last year’s festival was marred by torrential rains, with thousands mired in mud and told to stay in place and conserve food until they could safely exit the festival grounds.

3-year-old girl dies in hot car in California, mom arrested

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(LOS ANGELES) — A mother is facing charges after her 3-year-old daughter died from being left in a hot car as extreme heat grips Southern California, authorities said.

Around 4:20 p.m. Friday, police and fire crews responded to reports of a 3-year-old girl and her mother, Sandra Hernandez, who were both unconscious, Anaheim police said.

A family member had found the mother and daughter locked in a Ford Expedition, and it was unclear how long they’d been inside the parked car, police said.

The 3-year-old was later pronounced dead at the hospital, police said. Her “preliminary cause of death [was] suspected to be complications from heat stroke, though the official autopsy report is still pending,” police said in a statement on Monday.

The temperature reached a scorching 113 degrees in Anaheim on Friday. The temperature was about 104 degrees when the mother and daughter were discovered, police said.

Hernandez, 41, was interviewed at the hospital, and after she was medically cleared, she was arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter and felony child neglect, police said.

Several empty bottles of alcohol were found inside the car, police said.

The investigation is ongoing, police added.

At least 31 children have died in hot cars in the U.S. so far this year, according to national nonprofit KidsAndCars.org.

At least 1,116 children have died in hot cars since 1990, the organization said.

Click here for what you need to know to prevent hot car deaths.

After Helene, Hurricane Milton leaves Floridians on edge from Tampa to Orlando

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(TAMPA, Fla.) — As Danny Pownall looked through the piles of debris on the street in front of one of his rental properties in Redington Shores, Florida, he pointed out suitcases, beds and even a workout ball.

“Their lives just got flipped upside down, literally, and dumped on the street,” he said of residents still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida on Sept. 30 and then cut a path of destruction and death up through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Pownall told ABC News that Helene destroyed his home as well as some of his rental properties. As a line of dump trucks waited to pick up the piles of debris left by Helene, Pownall and other residents in the Tampa metropolitan area are bracing for Hurricane Milton, which the police chief of Tampa described as “the storm of the century.”

“We don’t know what this storm is going to do,” said Pownall, surveying the sagging second-floor terrace of one of his properties still standing. “That could be a one-two punch to take out this property.”

As of Tuesday, Milton was a Category 4 hurricane swirling in the Gulf of Mexico about 500 miles south-by-southwest of Tampa. It is expected to make landfall around 11 p.m. Wednesday between St. Petersburg and Sarasota, possibly as a Category 3 hurricane, officials said.

From Treasure Island near St. Petersburg to Sanibel Island near Fort Miles, officials are preparing for an emergency on top of the emergency left by Helene and issuing mandatory evacuations.

Florida officials warn that Milton is stacking up to be a monster, forecasting a 10-to-15-foot storm surge, nearly twice as high as what transpired in the area during Helene.

“I know that our residents, our staff, everyone is absolutely, purely exhausted from the recovery effort for Hurricane Helene, but we do need to start preparing for another potential serious hit from another hurricane,” Treasure Island Mayor Tyler Payne said in a video message to his community on Monday. “And you’re still trying to recover from that, and now we have to go through it all over again. But it is absolutely critical that you obey the evacuation orders when they are issued and really protect yourself at this point.”

Sarah Steslicki told ABC News on Tuesday that she has endured more than two decades of hurricanes since building her house in Belleair Beach near Tampa, but said she will decide at the last minute whether to evacuate to higher ground.

“We are still staying put. The storm has been delayed. It’s slowed down a bit. We want to make sure we know the path of the storm. Is it safer to stay at home or are we going to leave?” said Steslicki, adding that she lives on high ground and that her garage got about 2 inches of water during the 8-foot storm surge caused by Helene.

The last time multiple hurricanes hit Florida in such a short period was in 2004, when hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne pummeled the state in just six weeks.

“It was chaotic. They were spread out like a week apart,” Steslicki said of surviving the quadruple hit in 2004. “As soon as we’d put our patio furniture out, we’d have to bring it all back in.”

Milton is lining up for a direct hit on the Tampa metro area, which would be the first since 1921. In the time that has passed, the population of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties has grown 20 times over, now home to 2.5 million people.

“We built our house new about 20 years ago. So we know the construction. It’s concrete block,” Steslicki said. “We’d rather be in a safe environment and maybe be out of power and water than to be in jeopardy in a structure that’s not sound.”

Making matters worse, Steslicki said she and her family plan to travel to California on Saturday for her daughter’s wedding.

“It’s especially stressful for us. If there’s any kind of damage, we’re not going to cancel our daughter’s wedding,” Steslicki said.

Kevin Doyle, the co-owner of the Celtic Public House in Punta Gorda, near Fort Myers, said he was taking no chances after staying put during Hurricane Helene. He told ABC News on Tuesday and that he is evacuating south to Coral Gables on the east coast of southern Florida near Miami.

Doyle also survived the 2004 barrage of hurricanes. He said his pub and much of his town were destroyed by Hurricane Charley, which caused $16 billion in damage and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, killed 18 people. Doyle spent seven years rebuilding his business only to see it damaged again by Hurricane Helene.

“It was treacherous; the worst thing to happen,” Doyle said of riding out Helene at home.

Doyle said Helene flooded his pub with up to 42 inches of water and damaged the inside of the business. He said his two cars were also destroyed by the flooding.

Doyle said he finished installing new drywall in his business “in record time” as officials began issuing warnings of Milton. He said he’s erected a 4-foot-high wall of sandbags around his pub hoping it will protect it.

“I’m just hoping it’s not as high as Helene,” he said.