Coverage of Richard Allen trial continues; jury sees video and photos from crime scene

Testimony continued Tuesday in Delphi in the case against Richard Allen.

Allen, 52, is accused of murdering Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German, who went missing on Feb. 13, 2017, and were found dead the next day. Allen, of Delphi, was arrested in 2022 and faces two counts of murder and two counts of murder in the kidnapping of the girls.

Reporters from the Indianapolis Star and Lafayette Journal & Courier will cover the case as it moves through the court system.

▶ Monday October 21: Gasps and tears as graphic images of Abby and Libby shown to jurors in Delphi trial

This story will be updated throughout the day.

Defense says initial descriptions of ‘Bridge Guy’ differ from those of Richard Allen

Three witnesses who were on the Monon High Bridge Trail the day Libby and Abby were killed, including one who said she was best friends with Libby’s older sister, testified Tuesday that a man they had seen on the trail was “Bridge Guy” – the prime suspect. depicted in a grainy photo that police later shared to aid their investigation.

But witnesses described the man they saw as younger than 40, tall and rather tall, in contrast to Richard Allen, the now 52-year-old man who prosecutors say killed girls when he was 44. Allen was listed as 5 feet 4 inches tall by his defense attorneys and 5 feet 5 inches tall in jail records.

The initial police description of the person of interest known as “Bridge Guy” was a white male between 16 and 40 years old who was between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed between 180 and 220 pounds .

Breann Wilber, one of Kelsi Siebert’s best friends at Delphi High School, missed seeing Siebert’s younger sister, Libby German, at Monon High Bridge on Feb. 13, 2017, by just a few minutes, she testified.

Wilber hiked the trails with Railly Voorhies and two other friends that day. Libby responded to Wilber’s Snapchat message showing the wooden railroad bridge about 10 minutes after Wilber left that area.

Surveillance footage from a nearby business shows Siebert, who dropped Libby and Abby off at the trail that day, walking away from the trailhead around 1:49 p.m.

Closer to the west end of the trail, where it crosses U.S. 25, the two high school sophomores reported seeing a man. Wilber said he gave off “strange vibes” and “walked with purpose, like he knew where he was going.” He didn’t seem friendly. After Voorhies waved at her, he did not respond to her and appeared to stare at her.

Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin noted that in a previous interview with police, Wilber said she “stood as high as her forearm.” She said Tuesday that “at the time, that’s what I guessed.”

Betsy Blair didn’t live in Delphi in 2017, but she walked the same route along the Monon High Bridge trails several times a week. On Feb. 13, she walked past the same business whose cameras captured Siebert’s car around 1:46 p.m., according to surveillance footage, to walk for about a half-hour. The footage implies she had parked and started walking just before Siebert dropped Abby and Libby off.

Stopping near a platform at the start of the Monon High Bridge, Blair saw a man standing on the wooden rails about 50 feet away. She had never seen him before, she said. When the man turned to look at her, Blair said, he looked like he expected to see someone else.

“He was kind of facing upstream,” Blair said, meaning he was moving away from where she was standing, “but when I was there he turned around and we would have said he was looking for someone.”

As she walked west from the bridge, she passed two girls she would later know as Abby and Libby. They were talking quietly among themselves, Blair testified, heading toward the bridge. It was probably just before 2 p.m.

When she saw the photo of Bridge Guy, “I knew right away…that was the guy I saw on the bridge.”

In a 2019 interview with police, Blair described the man as “childish in appearance,” Baldwin noted during cross-examination.

Hammering home his point, Baldwin then referred to his client, Richard Allen: The man on the bridge “didn’t look like someone who had been married for over 25 years -“

The prosecution objected, saying Baldwin was asserting facts instead of questioning the witness. Judge Frances Gull sustained the objection, and Baldwin was forced to move on.

Witness who claimed to have seen “Bridge Guy” on the track: “I waved to him”

Railly Voorhies went to the Monon High Bridge Trail on February 13, 2017 with three friends to hike and take photos. Around 2:15 p.m., she said she walked past a man who seemed overdressed for the weather. It was an unusually warm February day, but the man was dressed in a jacket and hat. His nose and mouth were covered by what appeared to be a running mask, and he walked with both hands in his pockets.

“I remember I waved at him and said ‘hi,’ and he didn’t say ‘hi,’ and he kind of looked at me a little bit,” Voorhies testified . “He didn’t seem like a happy person.”

After learning what happened to Abby and Libby, she thought about the “troublesome man” she saw on the trail. She gave a statement to police on February 15, 2017. After police released an image of the man who later called himself “Bridge Guy”, Voorhies said: “I realized it was the The man I waved to on the track and who did it. Don’t answer.”

Defense attorney Jennifer Auger tried to cast doubt on Voorhies’ testimony and pointed to descriptions she gave to police in 2017.

For example, Voorhies was able to tell police that the man had dirty blonde hair, even though he was wearing a hat. She also initially told police that the man she saw had brown eyes, a wrinkled face and a square jaw. On the stand, Voorhies said, “I don’t know how I could have said that since his face was covered.”

She later admitted that her memory had been “impacted” by the “Bridge Guy” photo and said she didn’t remember exactly what she saw that day.

Voorhies also said she thought the man was taller than her. She is 5 feet 7 inches tall. Richard Allen is a short man, the defense later noted.

Toward the end of the testimony, Voorhies said she was sure of his identification.

“I can say with certainty that the person I saw in the photo is the person I pass,” she said.

Earlier in the afternoon, the prosecution played the final portion of the “Bridge Guy” video while Jeremey Chapman, a systems administrator with the Indiana State Police, testified. The video, with enhanced audio, was played in court and jurors heard a man’s voice.

“My opinion,” Chapman testified, “is that he says, ‘Down the hill.'”

The defense filed a motion Sunday to preserve jury testimony on the enhanced video. It is unclear whether Special Judge Frances Gull has made a ruling on the request. Before the video was released, the defense tried to stop Chapman from saying what he thought was said in the clip, but he blurted it out during his testimony.

Prosecutors release ‘Bridge Guy’ video following Abby and Libby

‘Bridge Guy’ video becomes key part of trial against Richard Allen

A short clip made public in 2019 shows a man walking on the Monon High Bridge in Delphi. 2024 jurors got more context from video

Indiana State Police

The prosecution played to jurors part of the infamous “Bridge Guy” video taken from Libby’s phone.

The clip showed Abby walking toward the end of the Monon High Bridge, which the teens crossed on the day they disappeared. Libby, who crossed in front of Abby, was recording on her phone. Behind Abby in the background is the man known as “Bridge Guy”, wearing a blue coat and blue jeans.

One of the girls was heard saying, “There’s no path, so we have to go down here.” »

As the video played, Libby’s mother, Carrie German Timmons, cried as a relative comforted her.

▶ Saturday October 19: ‘I thought they were mannequins’: Delphi murder trial testimony emotional on day two

▶ Friday October 18: ‘Grandma, everything will be fine’: Family testifies as lawyers offer dueling stories in Delphi trial

Tuesday’s broadcast was the first time prosecutors revealed part of the video that shows the man — who they say is Allen — following the girls. Law enforcement previously released an enlarged clip of the video that did not show Abby.

In a motion filed Sunday, Allen’s defense team sought to block testimony “regarding the words and sounds allegedly contained in the video.”

It is unclear whether Gull has made a decision on the request. The portion of the footage played to jurors did not show the teens interacting with the man. It doesn’t show what happened after the two girls crossed the bridge, including the part where a voice was heard saying “down the hill”, or where Libby told Abby “gun”.

The juror asked if the ground beneath Abby’s body had been disturbed while she was clothed.

Testimony at Allen’s trial continued Tuesday with the admission of several dozen pieces of evidence, including swabs taken from the girls and clothing recovered from the crime scene. This is a tedious but critical part of any criminal trial.

A highlight of the testimony involved a juror asking whether the undergrowth on the ground where Abby was located appeared to have been disturbed, which would suggest she was dressed there. Abby was found fully clothed, but she appeared to have been dressed in Libby’s clothes. The juror asked the question in the form of a note that was given to the judge.

Brian Olehy, an Indiana State Police crime scene investigator, said there was no indication the area was disturbed.

Allen appeared in court in a gray plaid shirt and dark pants, with his glasses perched on his head. He was not handcuffed or shackled. As Olehy testified, Allen subtly rocked in his chair for a few minutes. Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin then leaned over to whisper something to Allen.

During cross-examination by defense attorney Bradley Rozzi, Olehy said he was not aware of any DNA evidence linking Allen to the crime scene. Rozzi asked if attempts had been made to recover fingerprints from sticks and branches scattered on the girls’ bodies. Olehy said the sticks were dirty and not a good source of fingerprints.

Rozzi asked if there were any signs that anyone had gotten out of the creek near where the girls’ bodies were discovered. Olehy said no. Rozzi also asked if a .40 caliber handgun was common. “I would say no,” Olehy replied.

Prosecutors alleged that an unspent cartridge found between the girls’ bodies was passed through the same Sig Sauer, Model P226, .40 caliber handgun that Allen owned.

At one point during his cross-examination, Rozzi called the evidence a “silver bullet.” Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland objected to the language.

“Your characterization is inappropriate,” Gull told Rozzi.

Defense says initial descriptions of ‘Bridge Guy’ differ from those of Richard Allen

Witness who claimed to have seen “Bridge Guy” on the track: “I waved to him”

Prosecutors release ‘Bridge Guy’ video following Abby and Libby

The juror asked if the ground beneath Abby’s body had been disturbed while she was clothed.

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