Jury selection underway in the trial of a man accused of killing 2 teen girls in 2017

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Eight women and six men have been selected so far to a jury in the trial of a man charged in the Indiana killings of two teenage girls during a winter hike in 2017.

Jury selection opened Monday in the case against Richard Allen, which has long haunted the girls' hometown of Delphi and spurred endless online speculation.

Allen, 52, is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in the killings of 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German. If convicted, he could face up to 130 years in prison. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.

Jury selection is expected to continue Tuesday at a location in Fort Wayne, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from where the killings occurred.

Once the 12 members and four alternates are selected, they will be taken to Delphi, a town of about 3,000 residents, sequestered during trial and banned from using cellphones or watching news broadcasts.

If jury selection is completed on Wednesday, jury instructions and opening statements could take place Friday morning. The trial is expected to last a month.

Prosecutors said they plan to call about 50 witnesses during the trial, while Allen’s defense attorneys expect to call about 120 witnesses.

Allen, a pharmacy technician who had lived and worked in Delphi, was arrested in October 2022, nearly six years after the girls known as Abby and Libby were killed.

A relative had dropped the eighth graders off at a hiking trail just outside Delphi on Feb. 13, 2017, but the two failed to show up at the agreed pickup site later that day. They were reported missing that evening and their bodies were found the following day in a rugged, wooded area near the trail.

Within days, police released files found on Libby's cellphone — two grainy photos and audio of a man saying “down the hill” — that they believed represented the killer.

But no arrest followed.

In July 2017, investigators released a sketch of the suspect, and another in April 2019. They also released a brief video showing the suspect walking on an abandoned railroad bridge.

After years of failing to find a suspect, investigators said they went back and reviewed “prior tips.”

Allen had been interviewed in 2017. He told the officer that he had been walking on the trail the day the girls went missing and that he saw three “females” at another bridge but did not speak to them. He said he did not notice anyone else because he was distracted by a stock ticker on his phone, according to an arrest affidavit.

Police interviewed Allen again on Oct. 13, 2022, when he reasserted he had seen three “juvenile girls” during his walk in 2017. Investigators searched Allen's home and seized a .40-caliber pistol. Testing determined an unspent bullet found between the teen’s bodies “had been cycled through” Allen's gun.

According to the affidavit, Allen said he'd never been where the bullet was found, did not know the property owner, and “had no explanation as to why a round cycled through his firearm would be at that location.”

The case has seen repeated delays after evidence was leaked, Allen’s public defenders withdrew and were later reinstated by the Indiana Supreme Court. The Delphi killings remain the subject of rampant speculation and theories by true-crime enthusiasts.

Allen County Superior Court Judge Fran Gull, who is overseeing the case, issued a gag order at prosecutors’ request in December 2022, two months after Allen’s arrest. It bars attorneys, law enforcement officials, court personnel, the coroner and the girls’ relatives from commenting on the case, including on social media.

Gull has banned cameras from the courtroom during Allen’s trial.

In August this year, she ruled prosecutors can present evidence of dozens of incriminating statements they say Allen made in conversations with correctional officers, inmates, law enforcement and relatives. That evidence includes a recording of a telephone call between Allen and his wife in which, prosecutors say, he confesses to the killings.

The judge's ruling was “a real blow to the defense,” said Hal Johnston, an adjunct criminal law professor at Indiana University who is not involved in the case.

“The incriminating statements are going to be extremely persuasive because that’s what the jury wants to hear," Johnston said.

Allen's attorneys had hoped to present evidence the girls were killed in a ritual sacrifice by members of a pagan Norse religion and white nationalist group, but Gull ruled against that, saying the defense furnished no “admissible evidence" of such a connection.

She also blocked Allen's attorneys from arguing the killings may have been committed by others, including the late owner of the property where the teens' bodies were found.

Prosecutors have not disclosed how Abby and Libby were killed. But a court filing by Allen’s attorneys in support of their ritual sacrifice theory states their throats had been cut.

A sign announcing the town of Delphi, Ind., along Indiana State Road 25 is shown Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument on the grounds of the Carrol County Court House is shown in Delphi, Ind., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Historic buildings on Main Street form part of the downtown area in Delphi, Ind., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The Carrol County Court House is shown in Delphi, Ind., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument on the grounds of the Carrol County Court House is shown in Delphi, Ind., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The Carroll County Court House is shown in Delphi, Ind., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The Carroll County Court House is shown in Delphi, Ind., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Signage for a restaurant located among some of the historic buildings on Main Street in the downtown area in Delphi, Ind., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

A Delphi Police Department vehicle drives under the Monon High Bridge Tail in Delphi, Ind., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

FILE - Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter announces during a news conference in Delphi, Ind., Oct. 31, 2022, the arrest of Richard Allen for the murders of two teenage girls killed in 2017. Allen's trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

FILE - Officers escort Richard Allen out of the Carroll County courthouse following a hearing, Nov. 22, 2022, in Delphi, Ind. Allen, of Delphi, is scheduled to go on trail Oct. 14, 2024 for the slayings of two teenage girls, Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, who were killed while hiking in 2017 near their small community in northern Indiana hometown. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

FILE - This image provided by Indiana State Police shows Richard Matthew Allen. Allen is scheduled to go on trail Oct. 14, 2024 for the slayings of two teenage girls, Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, who were killed while hiking in 2017 near their small community in northern Indiana hometown. (Indiana State Police via AP)

FILE - This photo released by the Indiana State Police, Feb. 13, 2017, shows a man walking along the trail system in Delphi, Ind., that authorities say is a suspect in the killings of two teenage girls. (Indiana State Police via AP, File)

The Monon High Bridge at the end of the Monon High Bridge Trail is shown in Delphi, Ind., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Decorated stones bearing the names of Abigail Williams and Liberty German, who were killed in February 2017, are placed at a memorial along the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Ind., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Decorated stones bearing the names of Abigail Williams and Liberty German, who were killed in February 2017, are placed at a memorial along the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Ind., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

FILE - Grandparents of victim Libby German, Becky Patty, left, and her husband Mike Patty, speak during a news conference for the latest updates on the investigation of the double homicide of Liberty German and Abigail Williams on Thursday, March 9, 2017, at Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi, Ind. (J. Kyle Keener/The Pharos-Tribune via AP, File)

A semi-truck crosses a railroad crossing on the edge of town in Delphi, Ind., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

NEW YORK (AP) — On their first big night in New York this October, the Cleveland Guardians took a walk on the wild side.

Rookie reliever Joey Cantillo threw four wild pitches, two that allowed pivotal runs to score in the third inning, and the Guardians lost 5-2 to the New York Yankees in their American League Championship Series opener Monday.

“Joey has done a good job for us coming out of the bullpen, and that inning just kind of got away from us, and that was it,” manager Stephen Vogt said.

“He looked a little sped up at first, but then it just looked like he was having a hard time finding the strike zone. We’ve seen Joey the last month, month and a half been great, so it was very uncharacteristic of him.”

Cleveland walked seven batters and threw five wild pitches in all — equaling a postseason record.

“I wasn’t very sharp. Obviously, fell behind on guys,” Cantillo said. “I didn’t execute pitches, and the control obviously was not there. Just got to be better next time. That performance was obviously the difference in the game. So, that’s on me.”

Cleveland trailed 1-0 when Cantillo replaced ailing starter Alex Cobb, who walked three batters to load the bases with two outs in the third.

The left-hander fell behind in the count 2-0 on Anthony Rizzo and then bounced a 92 mph fastball that got away from catcher Bo Naylor, allowing Aaron Judge to score from third.

Cantillo also bounced a 1-2 heater to No. 9 batter Alex Verdugo that went to the backstop, letting Giancarlo Stanton score easily.

Two wild pitches in a span of six deliveries, and suddenly it was 3-0.

“I kind of talked to him a little bit afterward. I feel responsible for him having to even be in that position in the first place," Cobb said. "He's got a really good future ahead of him. Going in to bases loaded, Yankee Stadium, in a playoff game is probably not ideal for anybody. ... So you know, I feel for him there. But he’s going to be fine. He’s going to be a big piece for us going forward.”

Cantillo struck out Verdugo to end the inning, but then walked Gleyber Torres leading off the fourth and uncorked a pair of wild pitches that sent him all the way to third base.

“A few of ’em were heaters. At this level, with heaters of that velocity, ultimately you just try to get a glove on it and see if you can get it,” Naylor said. “I think there was a changeup that got away from me. I think it just kind of stayed down, got through my legs.”

After a full-count walk to Juan Soto, Cantillo was lifted for Pedro Avila. Torres scored on Judge's sacrifice fly to make it 4-0, and the Guardians never recovered in their first ALCS game since 2016.

In just his second outing since Sept. 27, the 24-year-old Cantillo walked three of the four batters he faced and threw only seven of 21 pitches for strikes.

He was asked if nerves were a factor at all.

“No, not necessarily,” said Cantillo, who grew up in Hawaii. “I fell behind and didn't make my pitches, and then one thing led to another.”

Cantillo's four wild pitches set a franchise record for a reliever and tied the team mark for any pitcher in a postseason or regular-season game. The previous Cleveland pitcher to throw four wild pitches in a game was Jake Westbrook at the Chicago White Sox on April 5, 2010.

Andrew Walters threw another wild pitch in the eighth, though that one didn't end up costing the Guardians.

The only other team to throw five wild pitches in one postseason game was the St. Louis Cardinals — and they were all by rookie starter Rick Ankiel as he struggled with the yips early in a 2000 NL Division Series opener against Atlanta.

Ankiel later gave up pitching and became a lefty-hitting outfielder.

“Joey's not a guy I really worry about in terms of confidence or getting his mind back to a right spot,” Naylor said. "He wants those moments, whether he comes out on the good end or the bad end. He always looks for new ways to get better.

“You just kind of pick him up, let him know that this team is behind him at all times. Just let him take care of the rest. He's got a strong head on his shoulders, and a guy that I'm very happy to have on my side.”

When reporters entered Cleveland's quiet clubhouse after the game, Cantillo was sitting on a chair facing deep into locker. But he soon stood up tall and answered a string of questions confidently.

“He's very mature. He’s accountable. He’s a really hard worker," Cobb said. “Everything you look for in someone who’s going to have a really long career.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez reacts after grounding out against the New York Yankees during the eighth inning in Game 1 of the baseball AL Championship Series Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Godofredo Vásquez)

Cleveland Guardians players watch from the dugout during the ninth inning in Game 1 of the baseball AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Godofredo Vásquez)

Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Joey Cantillo throws against the New York Yankees during the third inning in Game 1 of the baseball AL Championship Series Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Joey Cantillo throws against the New York Yankees during the third inning in Game 1 of the baseball AL Championship Series Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Godofredo Vásquez)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge scores on a wild pitch by Cleveland Guardians pitcher Joey Cantillo during the third inning in Game 1 of the baseball AL Championship Series Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Joey Cantillo, right, talks with catcher Bo Naylor during the third inning in Game 1 of the baseball AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Godofredo Vásquez)

Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Joey Cantillo adjusts his cap after walking New York Yankees' Gleyber Torres during the fourth inning in Game 1 of the baseball AL Championship Series Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Godofredo Vásquez)