An Indiana man has been arrested and charged for allegedly leaking sealed evidence in the Delphi murders case to a true crime podcast.
Mitchell Westerman, 41, stands accused of one count of conversion — the typical common law term for theft — over the leak of sensitive crime scene photos. The charge is a class A misdemeanor.
The fallout from that leak has caused substantial ongoing drama in the highly fraught cold case murder prosecution.
A terse, one-page charging document reviewed by Law&Crime accuses the defendant of exerting unauthorized control over the property of a previous defense attorney for the accused killer in the high-profile murder case, Richard Allen, 50.
While that attorney, Andrew Baldwin, has since ceased to represent the man accused of the murders, he is now in the process of trying to get back on the case — with an appeal to Indiana’s highest court. Baldwin is also trying to get the judge overseeing the case removed.
To hear Special Judge Fran C. Gull tell it, Baldwin and Allen’s other former attorney, Brad Rozzi, voluntarily removed themselves from the case after the leak. Allen’s erstwhile defense attorneys, on the other hand, claim the judge “ambushed” and “coerced” them into withdrawing under the threat of public shaming over the leak.
Baldwin and Rozzi have offered to remain defense attorneys on the case free of charge. At least one legal expert believes the way they were removed violated the defendant’s rights.
The leak occurred on Oct. 5.
Mitchell Westerman appears in a booking photo. (Johnson County)
According to court documents obtained by Chicago-based independent TV station WGN, Westerman previously worked in Baldwin’s office and took several photographs of evidence. Westerman allegedly gained access to the files when they were spread out on a conference room table, and no one else was around.
First, Westerman allegedly sent his pictures to a man living in Fishers, Indiana. Then, that man shared them with the true crime podcaster. Eventually, the photos were all over YouTube. The man in Fishers was questioned by police over the leak and killed himself soon after, according to Indianapolis-based Fox affiliate WXIN.
“This is getting serious and way out of control, gentlemen,” the lead prosecutor in the case said — noting that the man who shot himself after police knocked at his door was married and had a child.
A sworn statement in an affidavit of probable cause attached to the charging document obtained by Indianapolis-based ABC affiliate WRTV offers more details about the theft.
Westerman allegedly said he was not given permission by Baldwin to take photographs of the Delphi murders evidence — and that Baldwin was not in the conference room at the time the photographs were taken.
“I was in Attorney Andrew Baldwin’s Office Building waiting to visit with Andrew,” the statement reads. “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.”
Bartholomew County Prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay unsealed the charge on Wednesday, according to The Republic, a local newspaper that serves the Columbus, Indiana, region. Holden-Kay is a special prosecutor assigned to the case and will prosecute the charge in Johnson County.
The underlying case concerns the deaths of 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German and 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams. Both girls were abducted and murdered while walking the Monon High Bridge Trail near Delphi, Indiana, on Feb. 13, 2017. Their bodies were later moved to a different location and “staged,” authorities say.
Allen was arrested for the murders on Oct. 28, 2022. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and maintains his innocence.
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.
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