Defense attorneys in Indiana contended Monday that the two teenage girls whom their client is accused of killing were actually “ritually sacrificed” by pagans.

Murder suspect Richard Allen’s defense team argued that victims Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, had their lives ended in 2017 by members of a pagan Norse religion and White nationalist group called “Odinism.”  

The defense attorneys said authorities found multiple ritualistic symbols at the crime scene and that the pagan religion’s signature was found there as well.

The defense team cited a report from a trooper with Indiana State Police that referenced the unusual crime scene during the investigation.

“It seemed to me to border on almost a satanic type of worshiping, sacrificing, but I couldn’t really wrap my brain around it,” the trooper wrote.

Mr. Allen, of Delphi, has no connections to Odinism, according to his attorneys.

Two Odinist groups in Indiana were investigated for their involvement in the teen girls’ deaths, but police eventually ruled them out as suspects.

The girls’ bodies were found in a heavily wooded area a day after they went hiking near Delphi in March 2017. Both the victims had stab wounds.

Mr. Allen confessed to the killings during separate phone calls with his wife and mother from prison, according to June court documents.

The suspect pleaded not guilty to the crime.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.