DELPHI — The jury is back at their hotel after deliberating for five and a half hours Saturday. They reconvened for a third day in the Delphi Murders Trial, however, after getting the case from Special Judge Frances Gull on Thursday, jurors have not reached a verdict.
PREVIOUSLY: Delphi Murders Trial: Day 18 | Jury hears closing arguments from prosecution and defense
Judge Gull instructed them to work Saturday in an effort to reach a unanimous decision. They have deliberated for 14 and a half hours so far.
Jurors must determine if Richard Allen kidnapped and killed Abigail Williams and Liberty German on February 13, 2017.
Closing arguments started Thursday morning as the prosecution outlined its case to the jury. Carroll County Prosecuting Attorney Nicholas McLeland worked 58 minutes to summarize and outline the state's case for the jurors. He said all they had to do was to figure out who Bridge Guy was. They say they proved it was Allen, and McLeland asked the jury to find him guilty on all charges. He said in addition to the evidence pointing to Allen's guilt, the defendant confessed to killing the girls on dozens of occasions.
Defense attorney Brad Rozzi told the jury the prosecution is desperate to prove its case, and he worked to demonstrate numerous problems with evidence presented by the state. Rozzi told the jury there are four themes when it comes to the prosecution's case: a broken timeline, what he called bumbling ballistics, false confessions, and digital forensics/data.
He told jurors, "What is most important is what they (the prosecution) don't want you to know, what we had to tell you time and time again. We had to do their job."
After a final rebuttal by the prosecution Thursday, Special Judge Fran Gull told the jury to begin its deliberations around 1:30 p.m. Jurors worked about two hours Thursday afternoon before going back to the hotel. They worked seven more hours on Friday before breaking for the day.
The jury has been sequestered since the start of trial in mid-October, and it will continue to be at the end each day. The judge has said the jury will not work on Sunday. They will reconvene Monday morning.
