For years, the Delphi double murder case went cold. Then a volunteer found a file with an interesting piece of information | CNN
For five years after two teenage girls were killed and their bodies left along an Indiana trail, Richard Allen’s name sat unnoticed in a box with thousands of other tips about the mystery, until it was rediscovered by chance.
Stashed in a box of tips from the public, Allen’s note said he saw three girls as he walked along the Monon High Bridge Trail between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. on February 13, 2017.
In September 2022, as volunteer receptionist Kathy Shank filed the tip in an online database, she realized the time Allen said he was on the trail matched the time the girls were thought to have gone missing, according to CNN affiliate WLFI.
Shank submitted the tip to the detective in charge of the investigation because she thought it was worth looking into, she testified last week at Allen’s trial for the murders of Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14, in Delphi, Indiana.
Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett said despite the tip, Allen “got lost in the cracks,” according to CNN affiliate WLFI. The suspect never left the small town, working at a local CVS pharmacy until he was arrested.
The revelation about the tip box is one of many facts surfacing in what is known as the Delphi murder case. Many details of the case, including how exactly the girls died, have remained unknown to the public for years. In December 2022, a judge issued a gag order to stop attorneys, law enforcement officials, court personnel, the coroner and the girls’ relatives from making public comments on the case.
But with the trial underway, more of the story is beginning to come to light. Here’s what we’ve learned about the case in the first full week of the trial.
A pathologist who performed the girls’ autopsies testified both had wounds on their necks, which seemed to be from a serrated edge, though he could not determine exactly what or how many instruments were used to make the cuts, according to CNN affiliate WLFI.
Abby had one seven-inch-long wound on the side of her neck, pathologist Roland Kohr testified. Libby had four or five wounds on her neck and the three main blood vessels in her neck were cut, according to WLFI.
Fourteen images from the girls’ autopsies were shown in court, WLFI reported. Family members cried and other members of the audience were visibly shaken, according to CNN affiliate WRTV.
Libby would have bled to death from her wounds within five to 10 minutes, Kohr testified, according to WRTV.
Neither of the victims’ bodies showed any signs of sexual assault or defensive wounds, Kohr said, according to WRTV.
While Abby’s body was discovered fully clothed – in Libby’s clothes – Libby was discovered nude, Kohr testified, according to WRTV. Abby’s T-shirt, jeans and jacket were discovered in the nearby river, the station reported.
More than 50 photos of the crime scene were shown in court, sparking emotional reactions, WRTV reported.
Prosecutors have worked to link Allen to the crime scene with an unspent bullet found between the girls’ bodies investigators said came from Allen’s gun.
Former Indiana State Police Firearm Examiner Melissa Oberg testified the .40 caliber round found between the bodies matched a pistol seized from Allen’s home, according to CNN affiliate WTHR. She explained she matched the cartridge to the pistol through the “quality and quantity of marks” on the cartridge.
The defense has sought to cast doubt on the bullet evidence, questioning why more images were not taken of the cartridge and suggesting the bullet could have come from a law enforcement officer’s weapon, according to CNN affiliate WRTV.
The pistol is one of several weapons found in Allen’s home in 2022, prosecutors said. Police also discovered multiple knives and ammunition within his home, according to WLFI. He was arrested shortly after authorities said they determined the unspent round matched his handgun.
The defense, meanwhile, has raised questions about the absence of DNA evidence linking Allen to the killings. Asked if any DNA evidence taken from the swab of Libby’s wrists was matched to Allen, Indiana State Police investigator Brian Olehy said no, according to CNN affiliate WTHR.
Delphi Murders trial may swing on this key evidence
The trial has also seen the screening of a video captured on Libby’s cell phone. Authorities had previously only released a screenshot from the “Bridge Guy” video, which shows a man in a blue jacket and jeans walking on the Monon High Bridge, as well as a short audio clip with a man’s muffled voice saying, “Down the hill.”
Authorities have long held they believe the man shown in the video, dubbed “Bridge Guy,” to be the person responsible for the girls’ deaths.
The 43-second video shown in court, enhanced by investigator Jeremy Chapman, seems to show Libby recording the trail before turning the camera to record Abby. Then “Bridge Guy” comes into view, according to CNN affiliate WNDU. Libby can be heard telling Abby “the trail ends here, we have to go down,” on the video, WNDU reported.
One witness, Sarah Carbaugh, testified driving back from the Monon High Bridge Trail on February 13, 2017, she saw a man who looked “muddy, bloody, and unfriendly,” whom she identified as the man on the bridge shown in the video, according to CNN affiliate WLFI.
Although the trial has revealed a wealth of new information surrounding the case, one aspect remains unclear: the motive behind the gruesome crime.
The victims’ bodies were found partially covered with sticks, Indiana State Police investigator Brian Olehy testified on October 22, according to CNN affiliate WTHR.
Olehy suggested the sticks may have been used in “an attempt at concealment” but the victims’ bodies were not fully covered.
The defense, meanwhile, is hoping to use the placement of the sticks as evidence of their theory the girls were killed not by Allen, but rather in a ritualistic murder, perhaps as part of Odinism, a branch of Norse paganism with a far-right strain.
Allen’s defense attorneys filed a new motion on October 23, arguing for their alternate killer theory to be allowed in court, according to CNN affiliate WTHR. In the motion, the attorneys argue, “the sticks on the girls appear to be arranged in a pattern/arrangement.” The judge previously blocked a similar effort to allow the Odinism theory in court.
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