Kegan Anthony Kline
An Indiana man charged with child pornography-related offenses and linked to the investigation of the Delphi murders has asked the judge overseeing his case for a trial delay based on ongoing negotiations with law enforcement.
In the mysterious and highly-guarded murder case, previously cold for years, 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German, and 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams 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.
Kegan Anthony Kline, 27, is not charged in connection with those murders. Rather, he stands accused of 30 felony charges including possession of child pornography, child exploitation, synthetic identity deception, and obstruction of justice. Investigators allege that he used several fake online profiles to solicit nude images from underage girls.
A trial over those charges is currently slated for January 2023. In a Tuesday motion, defense attorney Andrew A. Achey requested that the start of the trial be pushed back four months to May 2023.
“[T]he parties are currently engaged in negotiations,” the motion to continue says. “Prosecutor Peter T. Diedrichs…was contacted regarding this motion, and he has no objection to this motion.”
Someone using one of Kline’s profiles, Anthony_shots, is alleged to have spoken with German on the day she died. He reportedly had told someone else that the girl “never showed up” to a planned meeting.
Kline has disclaimed any involvement in the slayings but allegedly acknowledged that online discussion in an interview with law enforcement. His home was raided and searched by the FBI just 11 days after the girls’ bodies were found in 2017.
He was questioned again and charged in August 2020.
“I literally have no clue how that girl died,” Kline reportedly told investigators. “I don’t know anything, anything to do with it. Yeah, that is a weird a** coincidence that I happened to talk to her, like, I get that.”
German’s grandmother, Becky Patty, recently spoke with Fox News about Kline’s account, raising doubts about his story.
“I know for a fact that this Anthony_shots account did have contact with Libby,” Patty told FOX News Senior Correspondent Laura Ingle. “I feel that he knows more than he says.”
Documents relating to Kline’s connection – tangential as of now – with the murders of German and Williams were “accidentally posted online,” according to Fox News. The Indianapolis-based NBC affiliate WTHR, however, said that the document, a 194-page transcript, had been obtained by way of an open records request filed by a podcast known as “The Murder Sheet.” Regardless of the document’s provenance, it has since been sealed by the court overseeing Kline’s case.
That veil of secrecy, albeit belated and haphazard, is of a piece with the case. Since Richard Matthew Allen, 50, was charged with the girls’ murders in October of this year, very little information has been made public. Even the location of the defendant is currently a secret.
Allen recently requested a public defender in a letter to the court, saying he did not anticipate the cost of a private defense attorney. He initially said he would obtain one during a heariing late last month.
Aaron Keller and Matt Naham contributed to this report.
[image via Miami County Sheriff’s Office]