Delphi Murders trial: Day 3 live blog
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The third day of testimonies in the trial of Delphi Murders suspect Richard Allen will begin Monday at the Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi.
Allen, 52, is charged with murder and murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in the deaths of 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams and 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German. The girls’ bodies were found near the Monon High Bridge near Delphi on Feb. 14, 2017, a day after they went missing.
Allen was first investigated in 2017 and again in October 2022. After a second police interview, he was taken into custody.
Monday’s session is set to begin at 9 a.m. Follow this blog throughout the day and stay tuned to News 8 for the very latest.
NOTE: Times listed on the blog headers are the time the entry was written, not the time the events happened in court. Those events will be noted in the story when available.
For a brief summary of Day 2 in the Delphi Murders trial (Saturday), scroll to the bottom of the page.
12:45 p.m.: Court returns for afternoon session
12:27 p.m.: Jury views crime scene photos; ISP Sgt. Jason Page testifies
The state’s second witness was Indiana State Police Sgt. Jason Page, a law enforcement officer for 24 years and crime scene investigator for 16 years. Page secured and photographed the scene in Delphi.
Page described the area behind the tape as about the size of a softball field, but focused on the area where Abby Williams and Libby German were found – or “Ground Zero.”
Of the 45 state exhibits shown to the jury during Page’s testimony, 42 were crime scene photos, which included several images of Abby and Libby’s bodies, as well as other evidence from the scene.
Family members of both the girls and Richard Allen were emotional. Much of the courtroom struggled watching, according to News 8’s Kyla Russell. Libby’s mother cried, Libby’s younger sister looking away from the exhibits most of the time. Libby’s grandparents, Mike and Becky Patty, held hands as the photos were shown.
Upon seeing a close up image of the girls, Richard Allen’s mother began to cry, Russell reports.
Following crime scene photos and brief comments on the crime scene photos from Page, the court dismissed for lunch.
12 p.m.: Dep. Darron Giancola testimony (first deputy to see the girls’ bodies)
The state’s first witness Monday was Dep. Darron Giancola, who has served as a deputy and detective for the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office since 2011.
According to News 8’s Kyla Russell, he told the jury that he was off on Feb. 13, 2027, but came to work anyway after seeing on social media that Libby German and Abby Williams were missing. Giancola assisted in the physical searches, and pointed out on a courtroom map where he started his search.
Giancola began looking for the girls at midnight, and couldn’t see much in the woods even with using a flashlight. He noted to the jury that he saw a “disturbance” near the end of the high bridge where bare ground could be seen. He said he pointed it out to a nearby firefighter, but eventually ended his search at 2 a.m. Feb. 14.
State prosecutor Nick McLelland asked Giancola is “at the point you ended the search at 2 a.m., where you investigating a murder?”
Giancola said, “No,” adding that he didn’t believe anything bad had happened to the girls at that point.
He was later sent to an address to ask questions about the girls, and received a call from a person named Liggett to go to Morning Light Cemetery. “We were told somebody had found something, possibly bodies, near the creek,” Giancola told the jury.
Giancola said after arriving at the creek, he was shown Libby German’s tie-dye shirt and shoes found in the creek. Someone then informed him the girls’ bodies were behind him. He said he could not see the bodies when walking to the creek, but saw something “white.” He later said that those “were the bodies of Abby Williams and Libby German.”
Giancola said he recognized them based on pictures and described the states of the girls bodies. He did not perform life-saving measures: “It was apparent they were deceased.”
He then called officers to close off the area and make sure no one came around. Giancola stayed at the Deer Creek scene the remainder of Feb. 14 and said he did not leave until sunrise on Feb. 15.
Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin began to cross examine Giancola, asking questions about Giancola’s search timeline, the area where the girls were found, and to better explain what their bodies looked like. Giancola was also asked what gun he was carrying at the scene, which was a Glock 17, 9mm. The gun type was mentioned by the defense to establish groundwork for future arguments.
After brief questioning by McLelland and the jury, Giancola was dismissed.
9 a.m.: Day 3 of the trial set to begin
Richard Allen entered the courtroom, his stepdad, mom, sister, and wife in the gallery. All members of Libby German and Abby Williams’ families were in attendance, as well.
8 a.m.: Courtroom doors open
The courthouse doors opened for the third day of the Delphi Murders trial.
7:44 a.m.: Outside the courtroom
According to News 8’s Kyla Russell, people have been camped outside the Carroll County courthouse in Delphi overnight to get a spot in the courtroom.
Russell says the jury is expected to hear lengthy testimony from the first law enforcement officers on the scene after Libby German and Abby Williams’ bodies were located.
Brief summary of Day 2 in the Delphi Murders trial
Saturday’s court proceedings at the Carroll County courthouse in Delphi with testimony from three witnesses: Steve Mullin, Delphi’s police chief in February 2017; Jake Johns, the search party member who found Libby’s tie-dyed T-shirt; and Pat Brown, the man who found the girls’ bodies. To read their testimonies, click here.
Day 1 of the Delphi Murders trial included emotional testimonies from Libby German’s grandmother, Becky Patty; sister, Kelsi Seibert; and father, Derrick German. Abby’s mother, Anna Williams, and Carroll County Sheriff’s Deputy Mitchell Catron ended Friday’s witness statements. To read their statements, click here.