Indiana police superintendent: Delphi murders’ facts will come out at trial
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter, in an interview Thursday with I-Team 8, said his agency is still looking for others involved the Delphi murders.
Plus, tips on the case are still coming in, Carter said.
Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German were last seen on the afternoon of Feb. 13, 2017. They had been dropped off near the Monon High Bridge near Delphi. The next day, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office announced that it was looking for the girls. A command post was set up and the community worked to locate the girls. Their bodies were located around 12:15 p.m. that day.
Indiana State Police formally announced in a Friday news conference that 50-year-old Delphi resident Richard Allen had been arrested the previous in the case. News of the arrest leaked days ahead of the news conference. Sources have told News 8 that Allen is not cooperating with the case.
While Allen was arrested on Oct. 28, a probable cause affidavit has not yet been made public. It is not yet known how police linked him to the case. A hearing regarding the documents has been scheduled for Nov. 22.
A trial date was set by a Carroll County judge, who recused himself from the case on Thursday. The Indiana Supreme Court assigned an Allen County judge to the case, which likely will change any hearing and trial dates.
Here is a paraphrased transcript of Carter’s interview with I-Team 8:
I-Team: Allen was charged. The statute that he is charged under, the murder charge, also indicated that he has to have committed another crime, like rape, child molestation or human trafficking. Is charged properly?
Carter: He is, and those questions will be answered in due time, and they certainly should come from the prosecutor and not from me, but eventually when that PC (probable cause affidavit) is released that will be clear.
I-Team: In 2019, Indiana State Police released a sketch of a man thought to be a suspect in the murder of Abby and Libby. Two years later, investigators released another sketch of a much-younger man. That guy and that guy (referring to side-by-side views of the sketches), and there is a lot of similarities. How did we get from here to here?
Carter: Well, I think you will remember, I have said from the very beginning, since 2017, a sketch is a sketch. It is not a photograph. That is the first time I have seen that, and I have also indicated over time that once we get where we are today, we will be able to look at the similarities and make a photograph, which will be Richard Allen. I think there is a little bit of both, and I don’t regret that strategy by any means.
I-Team: Since Allen’s arrest, state police have received from than 300 tips about this case. Are police looking for others? Is there somebody else out there?
Carter: Right now, we have arrested Richard Allen, and that is what the courts have allowed us to do. We are going to be searching for any involved in this case until its end, until it is over, and today is not different than that.
I-Team 8: There has been a lot of activity on this case today. Kegan Kline, 28, is a figure linked to the Delphi murders investigation, although he has not been charged in the deaths of Abby and Libby.(On) Kegan Kline, the prosecutor dismissed five charges. Is there any correlation between those charges being dropped and the search that was performed in the Wabash River? ?
Carter: No, absolutely not. I think he was charged with 30 counts, and they have dropped five, so it is 25. So, it is important the case has not been dropped against Kegan Kline.
I-Team 8: Has Kline been cooperative?
Carter: (He declined to answer.)
I-Team 8: The probable cause affidavit, I suspect, is going to answer a lot of I-Team 8’s questions. Will it answer all of our questions?
Carter: Oh, no. Remember, this case is 2,100 days old, and the facts in their totality will come out at the trial and not until then. I can appreciate the desire for our citizens to have these questions answered, and my response to that is it will come when it will come. It will come, but if any of us said anything, that would be detrimental to the prosecution of the person or persons that killed Abby and Libby, and I was responsible. You should hold me accountable, too.