More than a year ago, a 136-page memorandum filed in the case against Richard M. Allen claimed that worshipers of Odin killed Abigail "Abby" Williams and Liberty "Libby" German. Defense attorneys Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi ultimately lost their bid to present their alternative theory to the jury in Allen's murder trial later this month, after Special Judge Frances Gull to do so.
Here's a look at the part Odinism has played in the Delphi murder trial so far. More than 2,000 to 3,000 years ago, Odin is believed to be one of hundreds or even thousands of gods worshipped by Nordic people before the advent of Christianity. In an , Scott Mellor, a professor in German, Nordic and Slavic Scandinavian Studies at the University of Wisconsin, discussed references to Odin in texts.
Early references depicted Odin as a god of commerce but increasingly associated him with war, and then with death. Few texts reference the practice of Odinism, Mellor said, and they were written by Christians, whose misunderstandings of pagan religions led to exaggerations. No real evidence exists that human sacrifices were made to Odin, he said.
What sacrifices there were, "we think those were willing sacrifices. But we're not sure about that yet." ▶ .
The memorandum claims that evidence at the crime scene supports Odinist practices, including symbols in the form of runes. "These runes were (1) formed with sticks, (2) fashioned with tree branches and (3) painted using the blood of Liberty German," the.