DELPHI, IN — Shipping Delphi murderer Richard Allen to an Oklahoma prison is costing taxpayers more for his appeal.
Special Judge Fran Gull approved Tuesday the request from Allen’s attorneys for taxpayers to pay for their travel to Oklahoma, where Allen was moved in July.
“The cost of counsel travelling to Oklahoma to meet confidentially with Mr. Allen is a reasonable and necessary cost of effective appellate representation,” his attorneys, Stacy R. Uliana and Mark K. Leeman, wrote in their Sept. 3 motion.
Allen is scheduled to meet with his attorneys in a confidential setting inside the prison on Sept. 14, according to the motion. The appellate counsel indicated they will fly the day before the meeting and return home the day after.
Delphi murderer Richard Allen was transferred July 17 from the Pendleton Correctional Facility to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. This is his intake photo from Oklahoma.
“It is especially important to meet with a client when the record on appeal is as voluminous as Mr. Allen’s,” the motion states. “Mr. Allen’s transcript is 37 volumes (including exhibits). In addition, the record includes approximately 3,000 pages of pleadings and orders filed regarding various legal issues and 148 media files and 40 document files admitted as electronic exhibits.”
Allen’s attorneys twice filed for an extension with the appeals court, asking for more time to file his arguments.
The appeals court granted both requests, but he now has until Oct. 6 to file the brief.
A jury was selected in October 2024 from Allen County and were sequestered in Lafayette and Delphi during the trial.
On Nov. 11, the jurors convicted Allen of murder for killed Delphi teenagers Libby German and Abby Williams on Feb. 13, 2017.
Allen abducted the girls from the southeast end of the Monon High Bridge, an abandoned railroad trestle more than 60 feet above the Deer Creek east of Delphi, according to evidence presented during the trial. He forced the girls to ford the creek to the north side, where he slashed their throats, according to prosecutors.
The case went unsolved until October 2022, when a clerk found a tip sheet on which Allen self-reported being on the trails east of town on that day. This prompted police to take a second look at him.
Tool markings on an unfired bullet found at the scene were linked to Allen’s sidearm, and he was arrested on Oct. 26, 2022.
Allen was sentenced on Dec. 20 to 130 years in prison on two counts of murder — the maximum punishment.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Judge OKs money for Delphi murderer’s attorneys to interview him in OK
