Man accused of killing 2 teen girls asks for public defender
Nov 9, 2022, 3:14 PM | Updated: 3:50 pm
This image provided by Indiana State Police shows Richard Matthew Allen. Indiana authorities have arrested the man in the unsolved slayings of two teenage girls who were killed while hiking five years ago near their small community in northern Indiana hometown, police said Monday, Oct. 31, 2022. State Police Superintendent Doug Carter announced that Allen, 50, was arrested Friday on two murder counts in the killings of Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, in a case that has haunted the Indiana city of about 3,000 people. (Indiana State Police via AP)
(Indiana State Police via AP)
DELPHI, Ind. (AP) — The man accused of killing of two teenage girls has requested a public defender in a letter to the court filed Wednesday because both he and his wife can no longer work.
“I, Richard M. Allen, hereby throw myself at the mercy of the court. I am begging to be provided with legal assistance in a public defender or whatever help is available,” he wrote in the letter to Carroll Circuit Court.
Allen, 50, of Delphi, is charged with two counts of murder in the slayings of Libby German, 14, and Abby Williams, 13, on Feb. 13, 2017, outside the north central Indiana city.
Indiana State Police arrested Allen on Oct. 26. They announced his arrest Oct. 31.
Allen wrote his wife has stopped working for “her personal safety.”
“At my initial hearing on Oct. 28, 2022, I asked to find representation for myself,” Allen wrote in the letter that was postmarked Nov. 7. “However, at the time I had no clue how expensive it would be just to talk to someone.
“I also did not realize what my wife and I’s immediate financial situation was going to be,” he wrote. “We have both been forced to immediately abandon employment, myself due to incarceration and my wife for her personal safety.”
Allen did not elaborate on the threats to her safety.
“Again, I throw myself at the mercy of the court. Please provide me whatever assistance you may,” he wrote, the Journal and Courier reported.
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