DELPHI, Ind. ― Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland told jurors in opening statements of Richard Allen’s murder trial that this case boiled down to three things: “Bridge Guy”; a bullet; and the killings of Delphi teenagers Liberty “Libby” German and Abigail “Abby” Williams.
Ultimately, the jury agreed with the prosecution, finding Allen guilty on two counts of murder and two counts of murder while kidnapping. Over days of deliberation, they had to wade through weeks of testimony. Here are a few of the complicated pieces of evidence they had to navigate to come to their verdict.
‘Bridge Guy’
Libby’s video captured a grainy image of a man who ordered the girls to “go down the hill.” Indiana State Police enhanced the video, but the enhancement could not improve the quality of the image.
It’s clear that ‘Bridge Guy’ was wearing light blue jeans and a blue jacket. But one witness testified she saw a man she believed to be Bridge Guy covered in mud and blood and wearing a tan jacket.
Witnesses testified that they believed Bridge Guy to be as large as 6 feet tall, young, fit and with “poofy” hair. Allen’s attorneys pointed out in closing that Allen is 5 feet, 5 inches tall.
ISP Lt. Jerry Holeman testified that it would cost $10,000 to do an accurate height analysis of Bridge Guy from the video. They chose to put their resources elsewhere, according to testimony. The defense made an issue of this in closing arguments.
At the time of Allen’s arrest in October 2022, Allen was a middle-aged, portly man.
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Indiana State Police lab tests indicated that markings on the bullet found at the scene near the girls’ bodies matched the ejector, extractor and breach markings of Allen’s Sig Sauer 226. But those conclusions were made only by comparing the unfired bullet to shell casings later fired from Allen’s pistol.
But a defense firearm expert told jurors that comparing the unfired bullet cycled through a pistol to a fired bullet from a pistol will create different tool markings, skewing a conclusive result, calling it comparing apples to oranges.
Richard Allen’s prison confessions
Allen started making confessions to killing the girls in early April 2023. He allegedly made 61 incriminating statements either verbally or in writing, according to reports.
Prosecutors played at least seven recorded phone conversations during April 2023 in which he allegedly confessed.
In his April 3, 2023, call to his wife, Allen says, “I did it. I killed Abby. I killed Abby and Libby.”
“You’re not feeling well. There’s something wrong. Why would you say that?” Allen’s wife responded, also noting that his medication might be messed up or the guards were messing with his mind.
“Because maybe I did it. I think I did it.”
At the time of the prison confessions, Allen was psychotic, according to both state and defense witnesses. A person in that state of mind is likely to make incriminating statements if in his mind, he’s been persuaded to believe his involvement.
Allen’s confessions during his psychotic periods to his wife and mother often included “I think” or “I believe” as caveats to his admissions to killing Abby and Libby.
Psychiatrists testified for both the state and the defense that a person in psychosis is prone to make statements based on a belief in their addled mind.
Prosecutors pointed to Dr. Monica Wala’s testimony that she believed he was feigning much of his behavior to manipulate prison guards, and Wala said his motive might be to get more calls to his wife.
Two psychiatrists ― one state witness and one defense ― as well as a neuropsychologist testified Allen was not faking his psychosis.
Further, Wala, a psychologist who treated Allen at Westville prison, was a true-crime fan and had followed the case of Libby and Abby’s killings. She eventually was removed from her treatment of Allen and the Westville prison after it was learned that she used Indiana Department of Correction files to learn more about the case.
Some of Allen’s alleged confessions were made to Wala, according to prosecutors.
In an April report, Wala noted that Allen killed them and believed the attack was sexual in nature. However, Allen couldn’t remember whether he had sex with the girls.
In May 2023, while still psychotic, Allen told nothing he ordered them “down the hill,” according to Wala’s report.
Also in May 2023, he told his wife he killed the girls, and he told his mother he killed them.
“Mom, I wouldn’t sit here and tell you I did it if I didn’t,” Allen said in a May 17 phone call from prison.
“I think they’re just messing with you,” his mother said. “I just know you don’t have it in you to do something like that.”
Two psychiatrists testified Allen was still psychotic and receiving antipsychotic medicine in the months in which he confessed.
However, Allen’s alleged confessions in Wala’s DOC psychological reports were logical, linear and storylike with a beginning, a middle and an ending, defense witness and neuropsychologist Polly Westcott testified.
Defense witnesses suggest that in Allen’s psychosis, he was not likely to be able to speak in a linear and storylike manner.
The white van
An August report Wala wrote indicated that Allen told her he planned to sexually assault the girls after he led them off the trails east of Delphi on the south side of the Monon High Bridge. But a van drove past him and the girls, which caused Allen to change plans, Wala’s report indicated.
It was then that Allen ordered the girls to ford the creek to the north banks, where he killed them, according to prosecutors and Wala’s report.
Prosecutors contend that the van was land owner Brad Weber coming home from work at SIA in Lafayette. He clocked out at 2:02 and it took him about 30 minutes to drive home. The girls were abducted off the High Bridge at 2:13 p.m., based on time stamps from Libby’s video.
Defense claimed that Weber initially told police he serviced ATMs after leaving work in Lafayette that day, but on the stand, Weber said he went straight home after work.
Indiana State Police Master Trooper Brian Harshman noted to jurors that only the killer would know about the van on that obscure Carroll County road at that time of day on Feb. 13, 2017.
Harshman also listened to all of Allen’s 700-plus phone calls from prison. He said he recognizes Allen’s voice, and the man on Libby’s video who said, “Go down the hill” is Allen’s voice.
Jurors had to square the report of the van in Wala’s report as either coming from a psychotic man, a genuine admission or an addition made by a true-crime fan who followed the case and knew of internet speculations about a van.
The defense’s closing argument highlighted the shortcomings of the prosecution, including last-minute inquiries by prosecutors to points brought up in the defense.
At one point, a defense witness who performed an analysis of Libby’s phone for the state was caught off guard when asked about the phone data indicating that the headphone jack had something plugged into it between 5:45 and 10:32 p.m. on the day the girls were killed.
Based on prosecutors’ timeline, the girls were killed after crossing the creek, sometime around 2:30 p.m.
There is no explanation for the headphone jack being accessed, defense attorney Brad Rozzi said in closing, and pointed out that the state did not even know that the phone’s jack had been accessed.
How long did the jury deliberate in Delphi murders?
Jurors received the case about 1:25 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, and they deliberated about two hours before stopping for the day. They resumed deliberations at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 8.
On Saturday, Nov. 9, the jury deliberated from 9 a.m. to about 2:45. They took Sunday off and returned to the courthouse Monday, Nov. 11, and reached a verdict in the early afternoon.
In total, officials said, the jury spent about 18 hours deliberating over the course of four days.
