Indiana police have arrested a man for allegedly leaking gruesome crime scene photos of the Delphi murder case to the public.
Mitchell Westerman, 41, of Westfield, Indiana, has been charged with one count of conversion after he allegedly took photos of sensitive crime scene evidence related to the 2017 Delphi murders case – which were later leaked online.
Westerman is a friend and former co-worker of attorney Andrew Baldwin, who, along with Brad Rozzi was accused Delphi killer Richard Allen’s original defense team.
Allen, 50, is accused of slaying Libby German, 14, and Abby Williams, 13, while they were hiking through Indiana’s Delphi Historic Trails in February 2017.
Mitchell Westerman, 41, has been charged with one count of conversion after he allegedly took photos of sensitive crime scene evidence related to the 2017 Delphi murders and leaked them photos online
The two young girls went missing February 2017 after hiking through Indiana’s Delphi Historic Trails. Their bodies were found the next day in a heavily wooded area near the trail by the Monon High Bridge
According to court documents, even after Westerman stopped working for Baldwin, he visited the office frequently and met with his friend.
At one such visit, the accused is said to have found evidence photos relating to the Delphi case spread out in Baldwin’s conference room and decided to take pictures on his phone.
Westerman allegedly sent those photos to a Fishers man who was employed at the Fort Wayne U.S. Air Force Base, who went on to share them with a man from Texas.
The unidentified Texas man posted the photos to various YouTube and podcast creators.
On October 5, officials were notified of the leak and went on to interrogate the Fishers man. He killed himself after the questioning.
Richard Allen, 50, is accused of killing Libby German, 14, and Abby Williams, 13, while they were hiking through Indiana ‘s Delphi Historic Trails on 13 February 2017
Lawyer Kevin Greenlee and Aine Cain, a journalist, run ‘The Murder Sheet’ podcast. They said they received the horrible scene photos from a source
Lawyer Kevin Greenlee and journalist Aine Cain who run ‘The Murder Sheet’ podcast said they were sent the horrible scene photos from a source and contacted the police.
Cain described them as ‘some of the worst I have ever seen. Very very disturbing, very upsetting not only what we are seeing but also the fact that they got out.’
In a statement, Westerman said he was not given permission by Baldwin to take photographs of the evidence and that he was not in the conference room at the time.
‘I was in Attorney Andrew Baldwin’s Office Building waiting to visit with Andrew.
‘He was in his office, either meeting with a client or on a telephone call with the door closed I went into the conference room to wait. I observed printed copies of photo evidence on the conference room table. I took pictures of a few of them,’ the statement reads.
The leaks delayed Allen’s trial by ten months after Baldwin’s team withdrew from the case due to ‘gross negligence’ over gruesome crime scene pictures being leaked to the public.
Libby German and Abby Williams. Their bodies were discovered and the case puzzled police for years – until a bullet found at the bloody crime scene linked Allen to the slayings in 2022
Special Judge Fran Gull of Allen County ordered Baldwin and Rozzi to ‘cease work’ on Allen’s case on October 12.
Soon after, defense attorneys William Lebrato and Richard Sremin became the newly appointed attorney’s on Allen’s case. They told the judge they had not received discovery, and said it would be impossible to review all the evidence in time for the January 2024 trial.
The new attorneys filed a motion, and the judge approved the delay. The new date of the high-profile murder case is set for October 15-31, 2024.
A handcuffed Allen was brought into the courtroom during the late October trial. He sat next to his former defense attorneys, Baldwin and Rozzi, as his newly appointed defense attorneys, sat nearby.
Abby was seen in a Snapchat video posted by her friend Libby in February 2017, moments before both were murdered
During the hearing, Judge Gull turned to the accused telling Allen, ‘I cannot and will not allow these attorneys to represent you’
Baldwin’s attorney, David Hennessy was also present to defend him in court in the leaks.
McLeland alleged that Baldwin and Rozzi made negligent statements and ‘told lies.’
McLeland told the court that the two attorneys were trying to have ‘the trial in the public eye.’
During the hearing, Judge Gull turned to the accused telling Allen, ‘I cannot and will not allow these attorneys to represent you.’
She disqualified Baldwin and Rozzi from representing Allen, even pro bono. She also ordered both lawyers to hand over the discovery to the the newly appointed defense team by the end of the week.
Hennessy denied the ‘gross negligence’ and said they were not prepared for the ruling on October 19 having the team withdraw.
He further stated that the ‘summary judgment was unconstitutional.’
The trail in Delphi, Indiana, where Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14, were killed on Feb. 13, 2017
Fourteen-year-old Liberty ‘Libby’ German and her friend Abigal ‘Abby’ Williams, 13, went missing on February 13, 2017 while the pair were hiking through Indiana’s Delphi Historic Trails.
Their bodies were found the next day in a heavily wooded area near the trail by the Monon High Bridge.
Allen was arrested on October 28, 2022 on two charges of murder, five years after the heinous murders of the two young girls.
In September, Allen’s defense team alleged that the girls’ killings were carried out by a members of a pagan cult dedicated to Odin, a war god in Norse mythology, and that Allen was framed by law enforcement as the main suspect in the murders.
Baldwin previously called the leak by Westerman a betrayal and said he has since kept all Delphi documents and files in locked cabinets.
Rozzi claimed Westerman’s actions were ‘theft’ as he did not have permission from either attorney to photograph or share the evidence.