DELPHI, Ind. – Richard Allen’s mental health while in custody again became of the focus of the Delphi murders trial. Allen faces four counts of murder in connection with the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge. Indiana State Police announced his arrest in October 2022. Court was last in session on Saturday, when the defense showed jurors a series of camcorder videos of Allen in custody at Westville Correctional Facility. The videos were not displayed to the court gallery, although a handful of journalists could see the footage on a laptop computer from a distance of 15 to 20 feet. In some of the footage, Allen was nude. He was always bound and sometimes wore a cloth covering or hood over his face. His attorneys are making the case that Allen’s time at Westville affected his physical and mental well-being, leading him to confess to the murders. Defense psychologist takes the stand On Day 15, the defense called Dr. Polly Westcott, a neuropsychologist from Carmel, to the stand. Westcott specializes in forensic psychology and neuropathy, which ties brain function to mental health. The defense hired Westcott in May 2023. She is being paid $450 an hour and was also paid to testify in court Monday. Westcott said she’s appeared in court on numerous occasions for both the prosecution and the defense. Allen’s attorneys wanted Westcott to examine their client’s mental health history, do a neuropsychological examine and give an opinion on his mental and physical decline while in custody. She said she received more records, reports, videos and notes in his case than any other she's ever handled. Westcott told the court she reviewed his mental health records and watched video footage of Allen at Westville Correction Facility. She also listened to phone calls Allen made in prison. She first met him in August 2023 at Westville, interviewing him and performing various tests over one or two days in a segregated until. She met with him a few weeks after that and acquired medical records and handwriting samples. This all led Westcott to produce a 127-page report. She described Allen’s mental health history as “extensive” and said he had intense anxiety about going to school that made him “closed off” from others. He started on anti-anxiety medications in his 20s. Westcott’s diagnosis She testified Allen had “pretty severe depression,” feels like he’s always letting down his family and often considers himself “worthless.” He had a clear history of external stressors, with some of his anxiety revolving around work stress. Westcott said this sense of failure is only in his mind, noting that he’s been promoted several times and has worked three long-term jobs. While Allen has had some “good times,” anxiety depression always lurks on some level, she suggested. She believes he has “dependent personality” disorder, meaning he relies on other people to feel whole. It manifests as a dependency on his wife and mother. Westcott described Allen as a “fragile egg” who has a constant fear of abandonment and drew six main conclusions about him: His long history of mental health issues started when his father abandoned him as a child She doesn’t believe he was faking symptoms at Westville Allen has “significant slowdown” in cognitive ability with low problem-solving abilities and a tendency to fixate on things; she said he focused on money and finances before prison; after his arrest, he became fixated on confessing Allen had a “clear distinction” in the decline of his mental and physical health within four months of arriving at Westville The totality of his behavior is consistent with major depressive disorder High stress and major depressive disorder led to psychosis Westcott compared a November 2022 letter to the court to his later written confession. She noted the earlier example had proper spelling, grammar and punctuation, while the confession note from spring 2023 had different handwriting and was disorganized in its composition with no grammar or punctuation. She testified that fragmented thoughts and nonlinear writing are signs of psychosis. The handwriting comparison was admitted over the state’s objection. The defense, however, was not able to introduce the results of a series of tests conducted on Allen. Westcott testified there were no indications that Allen was faking or being dishonest. She found he’s typically passive, avoids conflict and has a fear of abandonment. She described him as “quiet” and “extremely dependent” on others. He’s not very resilient, she noted, and was very likely to “decompensate” when under stress. Allen’s decline at Westville Allen’s demeanor first saw changes between December 2022 and March 2023, Westcott’s research found. Latent psychosis presented itself in April, May and June 2023. She said there was “no indication” he was faking symptoms and believed he suffered from “serious mental illness” (SMI), a designation used only in the prison system. Westcott testified that Allen met SMI/chronic mental illness criteria before and during his time at Westville. Westcott reviewed notes from Dr. Monica Wala, the prison psychologist who treated Allen at Westville and testified about his confession. Westcott said Allen’s confession appeared to have a narrative structure—a logical beginning, middle and end—that was altogether inconsistent with what she observed from Allen at the time. She also testified that she had concerns about delirium from Allen, something she said was common in people held for long periods in solitary confinement. She expressed concerns about Allen’s “sensory deprivation” in solitary and how that could have affected his mental state and sense of what’s real and what’s not. Diener’s cross-examination During cross-examination, deputy prosecutor Stacey Diener said Wala saw Allen nearly every day for 15 minutes to an hour, although Westcott said records showed there were some days in which Wala and Allen didn’t interact. Westcott reviewed 30 to 50 days’ worth of Wala’s notes; Westcott said she asked for all notes from Westville. As far as sensory deprivation was concerned, Diener asked if Allen could leave his cell for recreational time and medical evaluations. Westcott noted those didn’t happen every day. Westcott’s report indicated that Allen made some false statements, Diener said. The deputy prosecutor asked for an example. Westcott related one statement in which Allen said, “Satan killed the girls.” When Westcott saw Allen, his attorneys weren’t there and they met in an office. She said Allen was dependent on his wife and mother, adding that it wouldn’t be “typical” for him to attach to someone else unless they became part of his “inner circle.” Diener asked if Allen could have transferred the dependency to Wala, pointing out that Allen told Wala, “Don’t leave me,” and “You are like my wife.” The deputy prosecutor suggested that meant Allen had shifted his dependency to the prison psychologist. Westcott said that wasn’t “necessarily” the case. He may have seen Wala as a confidant without transferring his dependency to her. Cross-examination then turned to Allen’s psychosis and delirium. Diener asked if everything a person said in a psychotic state was distorted. Westcott answered that what a person says or perceives in a psychotic state isn’t consistent with how other people see the world around them. Westcott did, however, concede that people in such a state could say things that are accurate. Diener asked Westcott why she left two of Allen’s confessions out of her report. Westcott responded that her focus was on examining his mental health and documenting his symptoms. Jury questions Jurors had a number of questions for Westcott, including whether Allen could have faked his mental condition because he feared for his safety. Westcott answered that he made his “statements of fear” before his psychosis. Another juror asked if someone’s anxiety and depression as a child could cause them to commit a crime as an adult. She said it would depend, adding that someone who was passive and afraid of others wouldn't normally act out aggressively. Another asked if anxiety/depression could lead someone to become a sex addict. Westcott answered not necessarily. Another jury question asked Westcott if she watched Allen’s interviews with police. She said she hadn’t. Other questions involved the interpretation of test results, the differences between delusions and delirium and clarification on Allen’s mental health diagnosis.