Judge orders release of redacted probable cause affidavit in Delphi murders case
DELPHI, Ind. (WISH) — A special judge on Tuesday ordered the release of a redacted version of the probable cause affidavit for Richard Allen, the suspect in the Delphi murders.
Judge Frances C. Gull, a criminal administrative judge from Allen County, approved the release of a version of the probable cause submitted by prosecutors at a hearing on Nov. 22.
In the order signed Tuesday, Gull says that the prosecutors “failed to prove clear and convincing evidence that the Affidavit of Probable Cause and the Charging Informations should be excluded from public access.”
The probable cause details the evidence investigators used to justify arresting Allen on two counts of murder in the deaths of Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German. The two were killed on February 13, 2017, near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi.
- PDF: Gull approves release of a version of the probable cause affidavit for Richard Allen
- PDF: Redacted probable cause affidavit for Richard Allen
According to the probable cause affidavit, investigators believe evidence and witness testimony shows that Allen was the suspect on the video recorded on German’s cell phone before the murders:
“Detective [redacted], along with other investigators, believe the evidence gathered shows that Richard Allen is the male subject seen on the video from Victim 2’s phone who forced the victims down the hill. Further, that the victims were forced down the hill by Richard Allen and led to the location where they were murdered.”
Investigators believe that after German and Williams were murdered, Allen returned to his vehicle on County Road 300 North. Allen’s vehicle, a 2016 Ford Focus, was similar to descriptions of suspect vehicles provided by witnesses.
According to court papers, a witness saw Allen “with clothes that were muddy and bloody.” The clothing Allen said he had on that day was similar to the dark-colored clothing witnesses said the suspect was wearing.
Investigators say an unspent .40 caliber round was found between the bodies of the girls and that the unspent round came from a gun owned by Allen. In the video found on German’s cell phone, one of the girls mentions, “gun,” court papers say.
“An unspent .40 caliber round between the bodies of Victim 1 and Victim 2 was forensically identified to have been cycled through Richard Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226,” court documents read.
The Sig Sauer Model P226 was found at Allen’s home, court papers say, and he admitted to owning it.
Investigators say Allen had owned the gun since 2001.
During a police interview on Oct. 13, Allen said he had “not been on the property where the unspent round was found, that he did not know the property owner, and that he had no explanation as to why a round cycled through his firearm would be at that location,” court papers say.
Allen also told investigators he never let anyone use or borrow the Sig Sauer Model P226.
The probable cause affidavit does not say how German and Williams died, only that their deaths were ruled homicides and their clothes were found in a creek south of where their bodies were located.
Allen admitted to being on the trail near the Monon High Bridge on the day of the murders, court papers say, but he denied knowing Williams and German and “denied any involvement in their murders.”
Allen’s attorneys have said the evidence against him is “flimsy.”
He remains in jail without bond.
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