Indiana women identify ‘bridge man’ on day of teens’ double murder

Oct. 23 (UPI) — Two women, teenagers walking near the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Ind., on the same day two young girls were murdered nearly eight years ago, testified Wednesday that they recognized the suspect.

Railly Voorhies said she was 16 and was on the trail on Feb. 13, 2017, with her two sisters and a friend, Breann Wilber, when they passed a man they claimed was white and overdressed for hot weather.

Voorheis testified in court that the man was wearing dark clothing and a hat and had his hands in his pockets when she walked past him near Freedom Bridge, waved at him and said hello.

A prosecutor showed Voorheis a grainy photo of a man and asked if it was the same man Voorheis had seen on the trail. She said it was the same man, whom the prosecutor identified as defendant Richard Allen.

Allen, 52, is accused of kidnapping and killing Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14, that day and was arrested in October 2022.

He is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of murder during a kidnapping.

Allen’s defense attorney, Jennifer Auger, argued that Voorheis’ description of the man in his earlier interview differed from that of the man in the photo.

Voorheis initially said the man she saw was between 20 and 30 years old, with a tall build, brown eyes, curly hair, a square jaw and a wrinkled face. She also said he was wearing black jeans, a black hoodie, a black mask and black boots.

Prosecutor Stacey Diener then asked Voorheis if she had ever made any statements to police estimating the height or weight of the man photographed, to which she responded “no.”

“I was certain it was the man I saw,” Voorheis told Diener. “I can say with certainty that the person in the photo is the person I saw.”

Auger asked Voorheis if seeing the photo could have influenced his change in the description of the suspect, to which Voorheis said it was possible.

Wilber also testified that the man she and Voorheis saw that day was overdressed for the hot weather, adding that he walked with “purpose” and did not respond when Voorheis waved at him and said hello.

Wilber referred to the man in the photo as “the bridge guy” and said he was the person she saw on the trail.

Auger also asked Wilber why his description of the suspect had changed over the years.

A third witness, Delphi resident Sarah Carbaugh, also testified Wednesday and said she saw a man covered in blood and mud walking along an area road around 4 p.m. the day the two girls were murdered .

Carbaugh said she looked at the man but he did not make eye contact. She said she later received the AMBER Alert about the missing girls and saw a photo of the suspect on the local news, who she recognized as the man she had seen covered in blood and mud.

Williams and German were reported missing and were later found dead after a gunman forced them off the trail. The bodies of the two girls were found a day later.

German had noticed the man following them and began recording him with his cell phone until he drew his gun and told them to get off the trail. Then the recording stopped.

Prosecutors showed the video to the jury Tuesday and said it showed Allen as he followed the two girls.

On Wednesday, Indiana State Police Sgt. Christopher Cecil testified that he extracted data from 23 of Allen’s devices while investigating the November 2022 murders.

Cecil said he found nothing linking Allen to the girls’ murders, but said someone used Allen’s electronic devices to find information online about the girls.

There was no evidence showing direct contact between the girls and Allen, Cecil said.

The trial began Friday in Allen Superior Court in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with Special Judge Frances Gull presiding.