October 04, 2026
Delphi case twist: man Richard Allen's appeal team named as possible third-party suspect is behind bars — on an unrelated firearm charge
Photo: Montgomery County Sheriff's Office (via Victims News Online)
The Delphi murder case — the case that haunts Indiana and anyone who ever walked the Monon High Bridge trail — just sprouted a new branch.
Patrick Donovan Westfall, 44, is sitting in the Montgomery County Jail in Crawfordsville, Indiana, serving a six-month sentence for a probation violation after he was caught carrying an unlawful firearm. He was booked August 24, 2026, and is scheduled for release in late April 2027. The underlying case dates to a 2021 felony battery conviction.
Why does this matter? Because Westfall is one of two men who were named in open court as possible third-party suspects by the appellate lawyers for Richard Allen — the man convicted in November 2024 of murdering Abigail "Abby" Williams and Liberty "Libby" German, whose bodies were found near the Monon High Bridge trail in February 2017.
On September 21, 2026, a three-judge panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals heard oral arguments from Allen's appellate attorney, Mark Leeman. Leeman directly named Westfall and another man, Brad Holder, as the most likely third-party suspects in the teens' deaths. Allen is serving a 130-year sentence; his legal team argues the conviction is unsafe.
To be clear about what this arrest is and isn't: Westfall's current incarceration has nothing to do with the Delphi murders. He has not been charged in connection with Abby and Libby's deaths. His jailing stems from violating probation on a 2021 felony battery by possessing a firearm.
But the timing turns heads. The appellate hearing naming him came on September 21. His arrest came on August 24 — meaning he was already behind bars when Allen's lawyers made their argument to the three-judge panel.
Westfall, listed at a P.O. Box in Darlington, Indiana, remains in the Montgomery County Jail. The Indiana Court of Appeals has yet to rule on Allen's appeal.
Source: Victims News Online (arrest corroborated against Montgomery County booking records via bustednewspaper.com, booked 2026-08-24 for probation violation).
Source: Victims News Online — read the original report
← Back to latest stories