Delphi prosecutor attempts to discredit police chief at center of Odinist defense

DELPHI, Ind. — Former Rushville Police Chief Todd Click's investigation into Odinists being involved in the killings of Delphi teenagers Libby German and Abby Williams makes him a witness for Richard Allen's defense, and Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland now wants Click's personnel records.

McLeland indicates in his Tuesday motion that prosecutors believe Click's employee records will show incidents of untruthfulness or credibility issues. The motion includes a subpoena ordering the Rushville police chief to turn over those documents. However, as of Tuesday morning, Special Judge Frances Gull has not signed the subpoena.

Click's investigation included three people whom Allen's attorneys, Andrew Baldwin and Brad Rozzi, suggested in a 136-page memorandum filed in September 2023 might be involved in the killings. The three people live in the Rush County area, about two hours southeast of Delphi.

One of those men told his sister he was there and described particular details about the crime scene that had not been released to the public, according to the memorandum.

Police arrested Allen on Oct. 26, 2022, after nearly six years of investigation, alleging that an unfired bullet found at the crime scene was ejected from Allen's semiautomatic pistol based on the marking left by the gun's ejector.

Allen's trial is supposed to begin May 13, and it is scheduled to run through the month. Jury selection will be in Fort Wayne, and after the jury is empaneled, they will hear the evidence and deliberate Allen's fate in Delphi.

McLeland also filed a response Tuesday asking Gull to deny Allen's motion to suppress statements about killing the girls that he made while in pretrial detention in solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison.

In Allen's April 11 motion to suppress his statements, Allen's attorneys allege that being kept in isolation in a maximum security prison and taunted by prisoners and guards alike amounts to coercion by the state. Therefore, any statement he might have made was under pressure from threats.

McLeland's response is that Allen admitted to killing Libby and Abby to eight inmates and 16 guards standing suicide watch at Allen's cell door and are voluntary statements that were "not induced by violence, threats, or other improper influences that overcame the defendant's free will." Therefore, McLeland believes jurors should be allowed to hear that evidence.

McLeland also argues that using Allen's statements does not violate his constitutional rights since he was not being questioned by law enforcement officials when he made the statements.

Gull has not ruled on Allen's motion.

Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Delphi murders: Prosecutor targets ex-Rushville chief's investigation