Delphi Trial | Full Coverage
The trial for Delphi Murders suspect Richard Allen began on October 18 and is set to run six days a week through mid-November.
Allen, 52, is charged with murder in the deaths of Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14. The girls’ bodies were found near the Monon High Bridge near Delphi on Feb. 14, 2017.
Below is a list of recaps from each day of the trial with links to the full LIVE trial blogs from those days.
Day 1 – Full Blog | Oct. 18, 2024
Court proceedings on Friday began at the Carroll County courthouse in Delphi with opening statements from the prosecution and Allen’s defense.
Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin began his statement by saying “Richard Allen is an innocent man,” before discussing points from their argument, including DNA from hair found in Abby Williams’ hand not matching Allen’s, false confessions from Allen and his family, and witnesses who would testify that Allen was not on the High Monon Bridge in Delphi on the day the girls disappeared.
State prosecutor Nick McLeland began his opening statement by describing Feb. 13, 2017, as a “summer day in the middle of winter” and Libby and Abby’s adventure on the bridge. He warned the jury of graphic pictures that would be shown and said witnesses would testify that Allen confessed to being on the bridge. Allen and his wife both “furiously” shook their heads hearing the prosecution’s mention of him being on the bridge.
Special Judge Frances Gull also ruled in favor of the state’s request that composite sketches used during the investigation would NOT be allowed as evidence in the trial. The first courtroom sketch of the trial was also released to the public Friday evening.
The first set of emotional testimonies came 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.
Day 2 – Full Blog | Oct. 19, 2024
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.
Day 3 – Full Blog | Oct. 21, 2024
It was an emotional day in the Carroll County courthouse on Monday.
While the jury heard from three law enforcement officers who were some of the first to document the scene, the court also saw 42 crime scene photos. Most of the courtroom struggled to watch.
They included several graphic images of Abby Williams and Libby German’s bodies, as well as other evidence from the scene. News 8’s Kyla Russell reported that Family members of both the girls and Richard Allen were emotional, either holding hands, crying, or looking away from the exhibits.
Testimonies were given by Dep. Darron Giancola, the first deputy to see the girls’ bodies; Indiana State Police Sgt. Jason Page, a crime scene investigator who secured and photographed the scene; ISP Sgt. Duane Datzman, a retired crime scene technician who was the CSI at the Deer Creek scene; and ISP Trooper Brian Olehy, who helped photograph evidence of the crime scene. To read their testimonies, click here.
Outside of the courtroom, Richard Allen’s defense team requested that crime scene video recorded by Libby German shortly before her death should be limited and asked that the state not elicit testimony about the sounds in the area.
Day 4 – Full Blog | Oct. 22, 2024
Tuesday began with cross-examination of ISP Trooper Brian Olehy, who discussed a large exhibit of crime scene evidence, most contained in sealed, brown paper bags. During the exhibit, Olehy said he was not aware of any DNA found that was connected to Richard Allen.
According to News 8’s Kyla Russell, a tense back-and-forth between the defense, prosecution, and Olehy followed, prompting objections from the prosecution. He also discussed the unspent bullet found at the scene, a piece of evidence the defense referred to as the “magic bullet.”
After lunch, ISP Lt. Brian Bunner, a state forensic examiner, explained the process of cellphone data extraction and discussed the infamous “bridge video” found on Libby German’s phone. Bunner said in only some screenshots taken from the video can a man be seen behind the girls. The man in the video has been given the moniker “Bridge Guy” by many.
The defense asked about the GPS data from the video, to which Bunner answered that the coordinates were close to the bridge, but he did not look at the data. Following Bunner, audio-visual forensic expert Jeremey Chapman testified about enhancing audio in the bridge recording to pinpoint where the “Bridge Guy” was heard saying “Down the hill.”
Then, three witnesses who said they saw “Bridge Guy” on the High Monon Trail the day Libby German and Abby Williams went missing testified.
One witness, Railly Voorheis, said she saw Bridge Guy on the trial and told him “hi,” but he didn’t respond.
The second witness, Breann Welber, said she made a post to Snapchat when she went to the bridge on Feb. 13, 2017. She said Libby had messaged her on Snapchat sometime before going missing. After the grainy photo of “Bridge Guy” was released to the public, Welber said, “First thing I thought was that is the person I saw on the trail.”
The third was Betsey Blair, who frequently visited the Monon Trail. She did several loops of the trail on Feb. 13, 2017, and said she saw “Bridge Guy,” and later saw two girls on the trail. She said she immediately recognized “Bridge Guy” as the man she saw on the trail.
The last witness to testify Tuesday afternoon was Steve Mullin, former chief of police for Delphi and an investigator for the Carroll County Prosecutor’s Office. He discussed collecting video from sources in the Delphi case and how he determined when and where the videos were taken.
Day 5 – Full Blog | Oct. 23, 2024
Wednesday began with a motion from Richard Allen’s attorneys to admit evidence regarding Odinism and the theory that the girls were murdered in a “ritualistic killing.”
In September 2023, the defense filed a 136-page memorandum claiming that members of a pagan Norse religion, called Odinism, hijacked by white nationalists, ritualistically sacrificed Abigail Williams and Liberty German.”
The court struck down the Odinism theory last month. Gull has not yet ruled on the latest motion.
The first witness was Dr. Roland Kohr, who performed autopsies on Abby and Libby’s bodies. He described the wounds each girl had. He said the girls did not have blatant defensive wounds or sexual trauma.
Kohr said the girls could have been wounded with a box cutter, according to News 8’s Kyla Russell. This sparked a contentious back-and-forth with the defense, which argued that Kohr’s original report said the girls were wounded with a serrated edge.
The defense accused Kohr of changing his story without telling them.
Second to testify was Sarah Carbaugh, who told the court she saw Bridge Guy walking alongside the road “covered in mood and blood” around 4 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2017, says News 8’s Kyla Russell.
Carbaugh said she recognized the photo of Bridge Guy as the man she saw covered in blood and mud, but that she waited three weeks to notify police because she was scared.
The defense questioned Carbaugh about alleged discrepancies in her descriptions over the years in police interviews. She also claimed a section of her June 2017 police interview was missing.
The state then called Christopher Cecil, commander of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force who spearheaded wo reports on Libby’s cell phone activity.
Cecil said the phone was being used by both girls on the day they disappeared, and he talked about various apps they used.
He said the the phone was last unlocked around 2:07 p.m. and the Bridge Guy video was taken at 2:13 p.m. At 2:14 p.m., someone tried to unlock the phone with a fingerprint. 2:32 p.m. is the last known movement of the phone.
Libby’s phone stayed on and received messages until at least 10:30 p.m. Although it wasn’t turned off, it stopped receiving messages until 4:33 a.m. on Feb. 14. When asked why this happened, Cecil replied, “I don’t know.”
When asked if Richard Allen’s 23 electronic devices seized in 2022 connected him to Abby and Libby, Cecil said no. He said that nothing linked Allen to the girls, other than having searched for info about the case, Russell reports.
The prosecution pointed out that Allen had a different phone in 2017 not included in the seize. The defense responded that Allen did not have his phone from 2017 in 2022.
Day 6 – Full Blog | Oct. 24, 2024
Thursday began with testimony from Kathy Shank, who acted as a “secretary” for the investigation.
Shank said she took down tipster’s names and information, but that her job was not to decide if a tip should be followed up on. Shank eventually created a filing system and organized the reports — more than 14,000 of them — into five filing cabinets.
She told the court that in 2020, she was asked to scan every file into an electronic database — a process that took two years.
Shank said that in September 2022, she found a handwritten tip that said a “Richard Allen Whiteman” had “self-reported being on the trails and girls had seen him at the same time.”
Shank realized the tip was mislabeled. “Richard Allen Whiteman” wasn’t a name — it was a person named Richard Allen, who lived on Whiteland Drive.
The jury asked, “How did you determine the name was incorrect on the file?”
Shank replied that being from the area, she knew there was a Whiteman Drive.
Under cross-examination, Shank said the mistake on Allen’s name was made before she joined the investigation.
Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin asked Shank, “There was no other tip, to your knowledge, that involved Richard Allen?”
Shank replied, “To my knowledge, no.”
The second person to take the stand was Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett.
One of the most notable moments of his testimony, according to News 8’s Kyla Russell, was when he played the 43-second “Bridge Guy” video and shared what he thinks was said:
Abby: “Is he right here? Don’t leave me up here.”
Libby: “This is the path…that be a gun…there’s no path here.”
Bridge Guy: “Guys.”
One of the girls: “Hi.”
Bridge Guy: “Down the hill.”
Liggett said Kathy Shank brought his concerns to her, and he contacted former Delphi police chief Steve Mullin.
Steve Mullin was the next person to testify.
Mullin told the court he discovered Allen drove a black Ford Focus and that he found a car matching that description passing by the Hoosier Harvestore in security video from Feb. 13, 2017.
The jury was shown a 9-second video of the vehicle passing from east to west, followed by close-ups of the car .
Mullin said he and Liggett went to Richard Allen’s house to talk about the investigation and Allen agreed to go with them to the police station.
Allen told police what he was wearing that day, and gave a timeline of events that included time at his mother’s house in Peru, a stop in Delphi for a jacket, and parking his car at the old DCS building in Delphi.
Mullin said Allen told them he arrived at the trails at noon — which was different than what he’d said previously — and that he went on the Monon High Bridge to look at fish and saw three girls near there.
Allen told and Liggett they could look in his phone, but then changed his mind.
They showed Allen a photo of “Bridge Guy,” according to Mullin, and Allen said that if one of the girls took the photo on their phone, there was “no way” it could be him.
Allen left the interview after that.
Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin started cross-examination by telling Mullin he had “lied to the jury” because he was “so desperate for Richard Allen to be going west” on 300 North. If he was traveling that direction, the security camera footage would have caught him.
After some back-and-forth, Mullin ended up agreeing with Baldwin that Allen had said he was driving through the town to get to the trails, meaning he was traveling east. The video shared earlier as evidence showed the vehicle passing from east to west.
Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett returned to the stand Thursday afternoon.
He testified to finding out about the tip involving Allen and contacting Mullin. He told the jury he went to CVS to take a photo of Allen’s Ford Focus.
Similarly to Mullin, talked about interviewing Allen at the police station in October 2022.
Liggett also told the jury about what was found in the search of Allen’s home, including guns and ammunition.
He said he found another .40-caliber Winchester cartridge as well as more .40-caliber ammunition from a different brand. They also found a Carhartt jacket in a closet — Allen told Liggett and Mullin he was wearing Carhartt jacket on Feb. 13, 2017 — and over two dozen knives or box cutters.
Liggett says none of the physical evidence or digital evidence tied Allen to the scene.
Dave Vido from Indiana State Police was the next to testify. He helped carry out the search at Allen’s home in the fall of 2022.
Vido showed photos from the search to the jury. The photos included a workbench at Allen’s home that contained knives and box cutters, guns and ammunition, coats (including a blue jacket), and a closet gun case. Some items, including two dozen box-cutter knives, were taken to a state police post.
Vido told the court that he wasn’t aware of any connections found between Allen and the victims.
State Police Lt. Jerry Holeman testified after Vido. He said he did an initial walk-through of the home, then sat inside a car with Allen while the search was underway.
Holeman said that while they were in the car, he asked if Allen wanted to fill out a form for items damaged in the search. He said Allen responded, “It doesn’t matter. It’s over.”