Defense presents Delphi murder suspect’s mental health to try to cast doubt on jury

Delphi, Ind. — Richard Allen’s defense team called mental health and psychiatric experts to the stand Tuesday morning.

They continued to test and question the state’s contention that Allen killed Libby German and Abby Williams.

The girls were found dead with their necks slit near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi, Indiana back in February 2017.

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The video in the player above is from a previous report.

Betsy Blair was the first witness called to the stand. He testified earlier that he was on the road leading to the bridge several times on the day of the murders.

Blair said he saw one car along the trail, backed up in a lot near the old Child Protective Services building. He said it stuck with him because “it wasn’t suspended as some people claim”.

Blair described the car as a four-door sedan, he couldn’t remember exactly what color it was, but he said it wasn’t bright colors. He also described the car as an old model.

The state says it believes Allen was driving his black 2016 Ford Focus on the day of the murders.

The juror asked Blair if he thought the car could have belonged to someone who worked at the CPS building, Blair said the building looked abandoned.

The defense also called Dr. Stuart Grassian. I am a psychiatrist who specializes in solitary confinement, delusions, and false confessions.

Grassian listened to Allen’s phone calls from prison and read correspondence from other inmates.

He told the court that when people are kept in solitary confinement for long periods of time, they can become “confused, agitated” and “very lonely” as there is little chance of being woken up.

Grassian said he never visited Allen’s cell but saw the video provided by the defense.

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Defense attorney Brad Rozzi asked Grassian if he noticed signs of delirium in Allen’s calls to other people, Grassian replied, “Of course he did.”

Grassian continued, “Your thoughts can change over time.” He added that this “goes well” with Allen’s symptoms.

The jury asked Grassian several questions. One was whether mental behavior can return to normal after the person is removed from the situation?

Grassian replied, “In general, yes.”

A juror asked Grassian if he believed that a person described as normal could be sane after six months. Grassian said, “Sure. I saw it happen.”

The defense called Dr. Erin Warren in the chair. He owns a crime scene reconstruction business and works for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations in the firearms identification department.

The defense asked Warren to review Melissa Oberg’s work. He is a former Indiana State Police crime lab technician who examined the spent bullet found at the murder scene and matched it to Allen’s gun.

Oberg’s examination found that the crime scene was surrounded by Allen’s gun.

This is important government evidence that ties Allen to the deaths of Libby and Abby.

Warren reviewed the results of the ISP audit, and told the court that he considered them an “apples to oranges” comparison. He said he came to this conclusion because Oberg compared the first round, which was cycled, unfired, to the bullet fired from Allen’s gun.

On the stand, Oberg told the jury that “an ejector mark is an ejector mark” regardless of whether the round is cycled or fired.

Warren objected to the evidence saying the lab needed to identify the marks on the equipment under the same circumstances as the bullet was found.

Jurors had 15 questions for Warren about how to test the cartridge, which was more questions than most witnesses received from the court.

Court is expected to resume on Tuesday afternoon.