Lawyers for the Indiana man accused of killing two teenage girls on a hiking trail in 2017 said their client has cooperated with investigators and called into question the evidence being presented by authorities in recently released documents.
Attorneys Brad Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin said they had argued for court documents in the case against Richard Allen to be unsealed and are hoping to receive "tips that would assist us in proving up his innocence."
"Rick has nothing to hide," they said in a lengthy news release Thursday.
Allen, 50, of Delphi, Indiana, faces two murder counts in the deaths of Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, who were found dead in February that year near the Monon High Bridge Trail.
DELPHI MURDERS: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE KILLINGS OF LIBBY GERMAN AND ABBY WILLIAMS
A probable cause affidavit released this week said Allen was tied to the killings after investigators found an unspent bullet at the crime scene that "had been cycled through" a pistol he owned. Rozzi and Baldwin questioned the evidence and asked if "a single magic bullet is proof" of Allen's guilt.
"It is a bit premature to engage in any detailed discussions regarding the veracity of this evidence until more discovery is received, but it is safe to say that the discipline of tool-mark identification (ballistics) is anything but a science, they said. "The entire discipline has been under attack in courtrooms across this country as being unreliable and lacking any scientific validity. We anticipate a vigorous legal and factual challenge to any claims by the prosecution as to the reliability of its conclusions concerning the single magic bullet."
The attorneys noted that Allen contacted authorities to let them know he was on the trial on the day of the murders. They said that had Allen not come forward, investigators would likely have not known he was at the trial that day.
In addition, Allen also volunteered to me with a conservation officer to offer up details of his trip to the trial, they said.
"Rick tried to assist with the investigation and told the police that he did recall seeing three younger girls on the trail that day," the news release said. "His contact with the girls was brief and of little significance. Rick does not recall if this interaction with the Conservation Officer was tape-recorded but believes that the Conservation Officer scribbled notes on a notepad as Rick spoke to him."
The attorneys said they chose to speak out after prosecutors have held multiple press conferences over the past five years while Allen has only been able to assert his innocence once, during a press conference after a court hearing.
Allen was arrested Oct. 26 on suspicion of committing the murders and is being held on $20 million bond.
Fox News' Greg Norman contributed to this report.
