DELPHI, Ind. — The defense team for suspect Richard Allen filed a court motion Monday claiming that two teenage Indiana girls were “ritualistically sacrificed” by members of a white nationalist-linked group known as Odinists.

The bodies of Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14, were found Feb. 14, 2017, along a bank of a creek near a bridge. The girls had been dropped off in the area the day before but did not return to the location where they were to be picked up.

Defense attorneys Andrew Baldwin and Bradly Rozzi noted in their filing that Allen has never been involved with or has any ties to Odinism.

The defense cited crime scene details, which had not been made public until this filing, to support their argument, including the discovery of several “runes” — sticks that were deliberately arranged on the girls’ bodies, according to the filing.

The defense also argues that a symbol resembling an “F” was painted on a tree near where the bodies were found using German’s blood, further signaling Odinist involvement.

Monday’s filing claims that an Odinist, who lives in Logansport and whose son was reportedly dating one of the girls, posted pictures on social media that mimicked the crime scene. Allen’s defense team also argues that a man from Rushville confessed to involvement in the girls’ deaths.

Several other people living in Indiana were identified in the filing for alleged involvement in the murders. However, since they have not been charged in relation to the murders, CNHI News Indiana is not identifying them.

Baldwin and Rozzi also claimed that case investigators — referred to as the “Unified Command” — reportedly knew about the possible Odinism connection to the crime scene and the individuals involved. The defense, according to Monday’s filing, was not made aware of the connections until recently.

“Due to either incompetence or a concerted intentionality, those in charge of the investigation refused to arrest or even properly investigate these obvious suspects,” the filing states. “… While the prosecution has been holding on to this exculpatory evidence, Richard Allen has been living in hell.”

The defense also claims that several officers at Westville Correctional Facility, where Allen is housed, are Odinists and that “Odinites” at the facility have threatened him.

“Richard Allen has been monitored, intimidated and mentally abused by correctional officers who are also members of the Odinite cult,” the defense’s filing states.

Baldwin and Rozzi are requesting that Allen be transferred from WCF, though the case’s presiding judge, Frances Gull, ruled this summer that Allen would not be moved from the facility.

The defense also questions whether the bullet traced to a gun owned by Allen was actually found at the scene where the girls’ bodies were discovered, as police claim.

“No photo or video, for example, shows the bullet as it was being pulled from the ground,” the defense argues.

“… No photographs of the bullet next to a measuring device to show its length. No photos that show what the bullet looked like once it was pulled out of the ground (to) provide proof that it is the same bullet that ended up in the evidence locker room.”

Baldwin and Rozzi claim that Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett admitted in a recent deposition that he had “not seen any photographs of the purported bullet” after it was taken out of the ground and away from the scene.

The filing by Allen’s attorneys also shed doubt on whether Allen could have acted alone.

“One man, 5-foot-4-inches in stature, handled all these tasks?” Baldwin and Rozzi argued. “From the abduction at the high bridge, to the crossing over the cold, flowing river, to the subduing of one girl while the other is killed, to the killing of the second girl …

“To the painting of the F rune on the tree, to the throwing of the clothing items into the river, to the departure of the crime scene, and finally, to traversing hundreds of yards through the forest and then up a steep hill and then another hundred or more yards. …

“All the while being so careful as to not leave any DNA or other forensic evidence behind. Were all these acts committed by one man acting alone? … Again, not plausible.”

Allen is slated to go to trial in January 2024. It’s unclear how Monday’s court filings will affect that schedule. Judge Gull will decide whether to accept or deny them.