Richard Allen Delphi Appeal for Abby & Libby, Caleb Flynn Trial for Ashley Flynn, Tomasz Kosowski Trial for Steven Cozzi

0:10 Good morning. This is Daily Crime and Justice from Calaroga Media, powered by AI. I'm Garrett Fisher. It's Wednesday, September 23rd, 2026. Today's three stories are all about words. The things people say, the things they type, and whether any of it can be trusted. In Indiana, a man convicted of murdering two teenage girls confessed more than 60 times. To his wife, to his mother, to a prison psychologist, to guards and other inmates. On Monday, an appeals court spent a long time asking whether those confessions came from a guilty. Man or a broken one. And one of the judges said something to the prosecutor I have not heard a judge say out loud before.

0:55 In Ohio, a former American Idol contestant told police he was asleep on the couch when an intruder shot his wife. Prosecutors say his phone disagrees. And in Florida, a surgeon on trial for his life has finally started talking. Meanwhile, the state is showing that he was booking patients for the day after the man he is accused of killing disappeared. Let's get into it. Abigail Williams was 13. Everybody called her Abby. Liberty German was 14. Everybody called her Libby. On February 13th, 2017, a relative dropped them off at a hiking trail near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi, Indiana. They were found dead the next day. We are not going to describe what happened to them. For more than five years.

1:45 Nobody was charged. Then in 2022, a volunteer file clerk organizing the tips found one that had been mislabeled. It had come from a local man named Richard Allen, who had told police back in 2017 that he had been on that trail the same afternoon. Allen was arrested in October of 2022. In November of 2024, a jury convicted him of both murders. He is serving 130 years. And the reason he was convicted, more than anything else, was his own mouth. Prosecutors say Allen made more than 60 incriminating statements while he was in custody. He confessed in phone calls to his wife and to his mother. He confessed to the psychologist treating him, to the warden, to staff, and to other inmates. The jury heard recordings of some of them. One juror said afterward that the verdict really came down to the words that came out of Richard Allen's mouth. The problem is where he was when he said them. After his arrest, Allen was not held in a county jail. He was sent to a state maximum security prison, the Westville Correctional Facility, as what Indiana calls a safekeeper, meaning the justification was his own protection. And he was put in solitary confinement.

2:57 His defense says he was placed directly into a cell known as the hole. By the spring of 2023, months into that isolation, the prison's own lead psychologist was documenting what she called a grave disability. She diagnosed him with brief psychotic disorder that May. She testified he had initially told her he was innocent and began confessing around April, around the time he was put back on suicide watch. On Monday, a three-judge panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals heard his bid for a new trial. His appellate attorney, Mark Lehman, opened with that cell. He told the panel the state took a pretrial detainee directly to a cell known as The Hole and kept him there as he descended into psychosis. His argument is simple. Confessions obtained that way are not voluntary, and a conviction built on them cannot stand. Deputy Attorney General Ellen Maleander argued for the state.

3:52 Her position is that the confessions that matter most, to his wife, to his mother, and to the psychologist, were made when he was lucid and coherent, not during the psychotic period. She told the judges Allen's condition began to change when he had a religious conversion behind bars and was confronted with what the defense was discovering in the evidence. She also pointed out he had been given accommodations other inmates did not get. And then one of the judges answered her with six words. You protected him into psychosis. Sit with what that sentence means because it is aimed precisely. The state's entire justification for putting a man who had not yet been convicted of anything into a maximum security prison was that it was protecting him. The judge's point is that the protection itself may be what broke him.

4:42 And if the state's own conditions of confinement produced the mental state that produced the confessions, then the state cannot turn around and say nobody coerced him. Now, I want to be fair to the state here because its argument is not weak. Legally, a confession is only involuntary if the state coerced it. Mental illness alone is not enough. The state's brief says the conditions did not rise to the level of coercion, and that Allen confessed both before and after the period of psychosis. If some of those 60 confessions came when he was clear-headed, a court can decide the others do not matter. There is a second argument on appeal too. At trial, the judge refused to let the defense present its theory that the girls were killed by other people as part of a ritual tied to a Norse pagan group. The state's brief called that a motive in search of a suspect and said admitting it would have turned the trial into a sideshow. The panel pressed on that too and on the reliability of the eyewitness identifications. It is worth remembering how chaotic this case was long before the appeal. Evidence photographs leaked out of the defense's own files. The original defense attorneys were removed by the trial judge and then put back on the case by the Indiana Supreme Court. The trial itself had no cameras, and for years the public knew almost nothing about what investigators actually had. That history is part of why this appeal is being watched so closely. People who followed Delphi for five years before anyone was arrested

6:13 have strong feelings about how it ended, in both directions. There is no timeline for a ruling. Appellate decisions like this often take months. If the panel orders a new trial, the state could appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court, and it almost certainly would. And here is my honest read, which you can. Take or leave. I do not know whether Richard Allen killed Abby and Libby. A jury heard everything and said he did. What I do know is that American law has a long, ugly record of confessions that turned out to be false. And a disproportionate number of them came from people who were isolated, exhausted, mentally ill, or all three.

6:53 That is not a theory. It is in the exoneration data, which means that when a case rests on the words of a man in solitary confinement, an appellate court asking hard questions about how those words were produced is not a technicality. It is the system doing its job. Whatever the answer turns out to be, it should be arrived at slowly. Abby Williams was 13. Libby German was 14. They went for a walk on a trail on a day off school. Nine years later, courts are still arguing about what the man convicted of killing them said in a cell. Someone has to say their names. When we come back, a man said he was asleep and his phone apparently says he wasn't.

7:43 Ashley Flynn was 37. She was a middle school volleyball coach and a teacher in Tip City, Ohio, north of Dayton, and the mother of two young daughters. Early on the morning of February 16th, she was shot twice in the head in her bed, apparently as she slept, at the family's home on Cunningham Court. Her daughters were asleep nearby. Her husband, Caleb Flynn, is 40. He is a former music pastor and was a contestant on the 12th season of American Idol. He called 911 and said somebody had broken into the house and shot his wife. He is pleaded not guilty and he is presumed innocent. According to local reporting from the courtroom, he is charged with aggravated murder, felonious assault, three counts of tampering with evidence, and two misdemeanor counts of intimidating a witness or victim. On Monday, we told you that the prosecution opened with two text messages to his mistress about wanting his wife dead. We also told you that the text would get the headlines and that whether the state can prove the scene was staged is what will actually decide this case. This week, we started to see that staging evidence. Here is Caleb Flynn's account as prosecutors described it to the jury.

8:55 He was asleep. Intruders broke open the garage door, took his 9mm handgun out of the console of his pickup truck, came into the house, shot his wife, and left without anybody identifying them. And here is the line from prosecutor Paul Watkins' opening that I think this whole trial turns on. Caleb said he was sleeping. His devices say he was up and moving. That is the modern murder case in a single sentence. A man's phone, his watch, his home systems, all logging where he is and what he is doing, whether he wants them to or not. And the garage door. The state says it will call an expert to testify that the damage to the deadbolt was done with tools. and is not consistent with the door being kicked in.

9:38 That matters enormously because the intruder story depends on that door. If the damage looks like somebody made it look forced rather than somebody forcing it, the whole account starts to come apart. The crime scene agent has now testified and the defense clashed with him on cross-examination. That is exactly where you would expect a defense to fight because if the physical evidence of staging holds up, the texts become motive for something the jury already believes happened. If it does not hold up, the texts are just a man saying ugly things to a mistress. And there is a new message the state is highlighting, according to Court TV's coverage. Prosecutors say that before Ashley was killed, Flynn texted his mistress, I choose you.

10:24 I'm free. I want to be careful with that because we have not seen the full context. And a line like that can mean more than one thing. It could be about a decision to leave a marriage. The state will say it is about something much darker. That is for the jury to weigh. And notice how the two sides of this case line up against each other. On one side is what Caleb Flynn said. That he was asleep, that there was an intruder, that the door was forced. On the other side is what his devices, the door, and the scenes say. The text to his mistress sit on top of all of that as motive. It is the same shape as the Delphi segment, just flipped. In Indiana, the state's case is a man's own words, and the defense says the physical evidence is thin. In Ohio, the defense rests on a man's own words, and the state says the physical evidence contradicts them. One more thing worth knowing.

11:19 The defense has been consistent since the day he was arrested. His attorney said back in February that when investigators run out of leads and look at a surviving spouse, the chance of a wrongful conviction goes up. That is a real phenomenon, and it is a legitimate thing to argue. The spouse is always the first suspect, and sometimes the spouse did not do it. Flynn has broken down in court more than once, including when a detective described how Ashley was found lying still in her bed. As I said on Monday, tears prove nothing in either direction. The jury is also expected to view the Flynn home in person, and that is a big deal. Twelve people standing in that garage looking at that door will understand the physical argument in.

12:03 A way no photograph can give them. Ashley Flynn was 37. She coached girls volleyball. She was asleep in her own bed. Someone has to say her name. When we come back, a surgeon asks for a transcript because something struck him as important. Stephen Kazi was 41 years old. He was an attorney. On March 21st, 2023, he stepped into the bathroom at his law firm and never came out. His body has never been found. Tomasz Kosowski, a 47-year-old Ivy League-trained plastic surgeon, is on trial for his murder in Pinellas County. He has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent. The state is seeking the death penalty. He fired his lawyers, waived a jury for both phases, and is representing himself before Judge Joseph Ballone. For the first three days, he sat mostly silent, often with his head propped on his hand.

13:07 That changed at the end of last week. When the prosecution began showing evidence in a PowerPoint presentation, Kosowski objected. He complained that he did not have access to the material and said in a line Court TV turned into a headline that they just do not have PowerPoint at the jail. The judge overruled the objection, but he also ordered that Kosowski be allowed to review that presentation and any future ones. I want to be clear about something. That is not a ridiculous complaint, even if it sounds ridiculous. A self-represented defendant in a capital case is preparing his defense from a jail cell. He cannot open a laptop and flip through the state's exhibits the night before. Access to the evidence against you is the most basic thing a defendant is owed. The judge recognized that, which is why he gave Kosowski the material. Kosowski also asked for a transcript of an earlier witness's testimonies. telling the judge there was something that struck him as important. And he started questioning the state's forensic scientist, who testified that DNA from the bathroom matched both Kazi and Kosowski. So the man who said nothing for three days is now doing some of what a lawyer would do.

14:20 And the evidence keeps coming. It helps to remember how he was caught in the first place. According to prosecutors, after Kazi disappeared, Surveillance video from local businesses led investigators to Kasowski's home in Tarpon Springs. When he was finally stopped, he had changed course and was driving back north toward home. In his car, prosecutors say, was what they have called a murder bag. Ski masks, a taser, brass knuckles, a crowbar, and more. A witness from Kazi's office testified about going into that bathroom later that morning and finding an intense chemical smell, blood, trash from paper towels, and a large patch of wall paint scrubbed away inside the stall. Others described the smell of bleach and alcohol. Investigators testified that bloodstains in the bed and tailgate of Kosowski's truck and in the trunk of his car where a ballistic vest was found were matched to koozie. And the paralyzing agent we have mentioned now has a name. Investigators say they found a vial of succinylcholine, a paralytic used in anesthesia, along with a syringe in his car. That was alongside $ 282, 000 in cash, much of it in $ 10, 000 bans. And then there is the detail from Court TV's coverage that I keep coming back to.

15:39 Texts show he was scheduling patients for the day after Stephen Causey disappeared. Think about what the state does with that. In Florida, the difference between second-degree murder and first-degree murder is premeditation. It is also one of the factors that can put a death sentence on the table. A man who is booking appointments for the next morning is a man who expected to be at work the next morning, which the state will argue means he expected to get away with it, which means he planned it. The defense answer, if Kosowski makes one, is that a surgeon's schedule gets booked weeks ahead, and routine messages about patients prove nothing about what he was thinking. That is a fair point. In a bench trial, one judge will weigh both. The state expects to rest this week. After that, it is up to Kosowski whether he presents any defense at all.

16:27 He has already said he will not present mitigation if there is a penalty phase. Stephen Causey went to work on a Tuesday. Somebody booked a full day of patience for Wednesday. Someone has to say his name. That's the show for Wednesday, September 23rd. If you listen on Apple, there is a button near the top that says listen uninterrupted. $ 5 a month gets you this show without ads. plus thousands of others across Calaroga Media, and you can try it free for 30 days. Everybody who already has, thank you. You make it possible to do this every morning. And on Spotify, leave a comment on the Delphi case. When a man confesses more than 60 times, but most of those confessions came during months in solitary confinement, how much weight should they carry? I would genuinely like to know where you land.

17:18 The state may rest in Largo this week, which would put a verdict very close. The Flynn jury is expected to walk through that house. And six days from now, on September 29th, Lindsay Clancy is back before Judge Sullivan. I'm Garrett Fisher. Do better. A few notes on sourcing on the Delphi case. Richard Allen was convicted and sentenced, and his appeal is pending. The Indiana Court of Appeals has not ruled. Reports differ on which judge on the panel said the line quoted in this episode, with some attributing it to Judge Elaine Brown and others to Judge Nancy Vydig, so we have not named the judge. The number of incriminating statements comes from prosecutors. Questions asked by appellate judges during argument are not rulings and do not indicate how the court will decide.

18:09 On the Ohio case, Caleb Flynn has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent. Reporting has listed his charges differently. We have used the list from local courtroom coverage. The statements attributed to prosecutors come from their opening statement, which is not evidence. And the defense disputes the state's interpretation of his messages and of the physical evidence. The full context of the message described has not been made public. On the Florida case, Tomasz Kosawski has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent. The forensic, digital, and physical evidence described is the state's case and the trial is ongoing.

18:49 A judge who has presided over this case for three years has found him competent to represent himself. And nothing in this episode is a suggestion otherwise. This episode discusses the killing of children and domestic homicide. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available around the clock at 1-800-799-7233. If you are struggling, you can call or text 988.