A special judge in the Delphi murders’ case says suspect Richard Allen’s incarceration at an Indiana maximum security prison was “reasonable and necessary to ensure defendant’s safety and to prevent serious bodily injury to himself,” online court records say.

Special Judge Frances Gull also rejected a defense request to move Allen to another facility, noting he’s being “treated more favorably than other inmates housed at the Westville Correctional Facility.”

Gull on Wednesday also rejected a defense request to inspect, measure and photograph the cellblock at Westville where Allen has been held since November 2022. Allen’s attorneys have objected to his treatment at the facility, comparing his treatment to that of “a prisoner of war.”

The attorneys have claimed Allen’s physical and mental conditions have rapidly deteriorated while in custody.

The Indiana Department of Correction had objected to the attorneys’ request, saying it would “introduce significant security risks at the facility.”

The judge told the Department of Correction in the ruling that if Allen would be safer another facility, then the state agency could move Allen from Westville.

Allen is being held at the Department of Correction facility after the Carroll County sheriff requested he be moved there from the county jail shortly after his arrest on charges of murdering teen girls Abby Williams and Libby German in 2017.

Allen is scheduled for trial in January.