DELPHI, Ind. — It's been more than seven years since the bodies of Abby Williams and Libby German were found near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi. Richard Allen, the man accused of killing the two teenagers, will stand trial for the fourth day Tuesday.
The trial began Friday, Oct. 18.
Sixteen Allen County residents were selected to serve on the jury. Twelve of those people (eight women and four men) began the trial as jurors with four (two men and two women) serving as alternates.
From opening statements to verdict, 13News will be at the Carroll County courthouse every day of the trial to explain what happened inside the courtroom.
Follow along with the latest updates from Tuesday below:
State's 15th witness: Railly Voorhies, on the bridge the day of the murders
2:49 p.m. - Railly Voorhies said she has lived in Delphi since 2017. At the time of the murders, she was 16 years old and went to Delphi High School.
Voorhies said she had Snapchat and was friends with both Libby and Abby on there.
On Feb. 13, 2017, Voorhies said she walked on the Monon High Bridge trail to take photos. Voorhies said she did this two to three times each week.
Voorhies said she was with a friend and two sisters on the trail. Voorhies said she left to go to the bridge at 11:30 a.m. and got there around noon.
Voorhies showed the jury the path she took to the bridge on a map, which was across from Freedom Bridge and across from the Monon High Bridge.
Voorhies said she took photos on the bridge and down near the water. Voorhies said she walked back up the trail to return home on the path past Freedom Bridge and didn't see anyone on the bridge.
Voorhies said she passed a man near Freedom Bridge on her walk home, which she said she had to be home by 2:30 p.m.
Voorhies said she waved and said hi to the man she passed, but Voorhies said he did not wave back and "did not seem to be a happy person."
When Voorhies heard about the missing girls, she thought it could have to do with the man she passed who seemed unhappy.
When the prosecution asked Voorhies to give a description of the man she passed, Voorhies said he was overdressed for the weather, had on dark clothes, his face was covered, he was wearing a hat, he was Caucasian, he had a running mask over his mouth and up to his nose, and he had his hands in his pockets.
When the prosecution pulled up a photo of the "bridge guy," Voorhies said, "That was the man I had waved at on the trail."
Voorhies said she got to her friend's house at 2:20 p.m., five minutes after she saw the "bridge guy."
During the cross-examination, defense attorney Jennifer Auger noted that Voorhies previously told former Delphi Police of Chief Steve Mullin about the man she saw on the trail that day. This is how Voorhies allegedly described the man then:
- In his early 20s/30s
- Bigger build, larger man, Caucasian
- Brown eyes, square jaw, wrinkly face
- Wearing black jeans, a black hoodie, black boots and a black mask
- Dirty blonde, curly hair that was visible outside of the hoodie
"You are 5'7", and the man you saw was taller than you?" Auger asked Voorhies.
"Yes," Voorhies responded.
"Around 5'10," Auger said.
"Yes," Voorhies said.
During the redirect, prosecuting attorney Stacey Diener asked Voorhies if she had ever given a statement to police or asked to give a statement about estimating someone's height or weight, which Voorhies responded, "No. I was certain that was the man that I saw. I can say with confidence the person in the picture is the person I saw."
Auger then asked Voorhies if the photo of the "bridge" guy influenced her memory, which Voorhies said, "Possibly, yes."
State's 14th witness: Jeremy Chapman, Indiana state Police assistant administrator
2:08 p.m. - Jeremy Chapman said he retired three years ago as a forensic examiner. He was with the Indiana State Police for more than 30 years. His previous work with ISP included audio/visual technician and sergeant.
Prosecuting attorney Nick McLeland questioned Chapman, who said he takes media and makes it more for for trier-of-fact. Chapman explained this as "turning a light on" to make media better and brighter, as well as filters "to make things sound better" by filtering out background noise.
The 43-second video found on Libby's cellphone was played for the second time, which showed Libby and Abby, as well as a man in the background.
In order to break the video down frame-by-frame, Chapman said he put the video through a filter to enhance them and tried to get video of the man's face at the end of the video.
Chapman said he was able to pull three frames from the video, which ultimately became three photos.
Chapman's report on the video happened Feb. 16, 2017.
Chapman also enhanced the last portion of the video, where the man can be heard saying, "down the hill," which was played for the jury.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Jennifer Auger asked Chapman if he had a specialized skill in linguistics, hearing or listening, which Chapman responded, "No."
State's 13th witness: Brian Bunner, Indiana State Police digital forensic examiner
11:15 a.m. - Brian Bunner said he has been with Indiana State Police for 24 years. As a lieutenant, he oversees the digital forensic program, which used to be called the cybercrime unit. He specializes in cellphones and computers.
Prosecuting attorney Nick McLeland questioned Bunner, who said he has examined "hundreds, if not thousands," of phones.
Bunner is testifying on the cellphone extraction of Libby's cellphone, which was found at the crime scene.
Bunner looked at the exterior of the phone and data inside; took screenshots of images on the phone; used software to extract info and data; and noted the photos, texts, videos, and activities from the apps on the phone.
"You get an exact copy of everything on that phone," Bunner said, who noted he got Libby's phone on Feb. 15, 2017.
Bunner noted that Libby's phone battery was dead, so he plugged it in to charge it.
Here is a list of photos Bunner took of Libby's phone:
- Package content
- Property record receipt
- Front of the phone
- Back of the phone
- Back of the phone with the case removed
- SIM card and tray
- Screen lock
- Unlocked homepage
- Settings, with the name of the phone "Liberty's iPhone"
- Settings on iCloud "liberty.german@icloud.com"
- Screenshot of the Apple ID
- Settings in iMessage
- Snapchat settings showing username "Liberty"
Bunner said there were hundreds of pages of data exported off of Libby's cellphone. Bunner said he didn't go through every piece of data.
"Time was of the essence, so we wanted to get data off the phone and in the hands of investigators as soon as possible," Bunner said.
When looking through the camera roll, Bunner said it showed a video that was taken in the last day or two.
"That was the last activity on the timeline," Bunner said, determining the video was taken Feb. 13, 2017.
The video found on the phone was played for the jury. The video contained audio of sniffling and a voice saying, "There's no path."
The 30-second video was recorded at 2:13 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2017. Visually, you can see the railroad ties of the Monon High Bridge.
Then, Bunner explained five photos that were found on Libby's cellphone. In four of the photos, you can see a man behind Abby.
Bunner said he got the phone back on Feb. 21, 2017.
"I wanted the phone back so I could use every tool available in my toolbelt," Bunner said, noting that he used several more softwares to get even more infomation and data off of the phone. However, Bunner said this didn't turn up any new information.
On a third check of the cellphone on Sept. 5, 2017, Bunner still did not get new data.
On a fourth check of the cellphone on Oct. 12, 2017, Bunner said he reached out to the Department of Human Services in Washington, D.C. to do a Method 3 extraction. There was a new report with some additional data and information.
Bunner checked Libby's cellphone a fifth time in 2019 with updated software.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Jennifer Auger asked Bunner if the photo of Abby on the bridge was on Libby's cellphone, which Bunner responded, "Not that I recalled."
Cellebrite has the capability to show longitude and latitude coordinates. Auger asked Bunner to circle the location on the map where the cellphone was found.
Bunner said he did not look at GPS data in 2017.
Auger then asked Bunner if it was true that every time data is extracted from a phone, some data is lost.
"We know that now but didn't know that in 2017," Bunner said, noting there is a possibility some data was lost, such as being overridden or had fallen off over time.
Auger said, "That's data you can never get back and data the jury will never know," with Bunner responding, "Yes."
Bunner said GPS location capability through Cellebrite in 2017 shows the general location but may not pinpoint the exact location. The longer the phone is on, the more it can pinpoint a location.
Auger asked Bunner if the only GPS coordinates he got were those from video extracted from the phone, which Bunner responded, "Yes."
Auger then asked if there was additional GPS coordinates from the later extraction in 2024, which Bunner responded that he did not know.
The jury asked what time the Feb. 13, 2017, latitude and longitude coordinates were taken on the phone, which Bunner said was 2:13 p.m.
The jury also asked what info is contained on knowledgeC database, which Bunner responded that Apple tracks a lot of data, such as health data, GPS, frequency location, number of steps walked and elevation. Bunner said he did not know that database existed until 2018 or 2019.
Bunner said he believed the knowledgeC database was produced by the Department of Human Services.
Bunner said he was not aware of any deleted photos or videos on the phone or through Snapchat as of Feb. 14, 2017.
Bunner also said he did not screenshot the homescreen of the phone while it was locked to show the notifications since it was last used.
The court adjourned for lunch at 12:52 p.m.
State's 12th witness: Brian Olehy, Indiana State Police investigator
9:10 a.m. - Indiana State Police investigator Brian Olehy continued his testimony Tuesday morning.
Prosecuting attorney Jim Luttrell handed Olehy a brown bag, and Olehy was asked to describe what was inside the bag, of contents of which were all recovered from Deer Creek and taken to the Putnamville Post:
- Pair of Hollister blue jeans
- Tie-dye XL shirt
- Gray-hooded medium sweatshirt
- Sonoma pink underwear
- Black and purple sock
- Pink sock
- Green head scarf
- Black spaghetti strap large shirt
Olehy also said the following items were found at the crime scene and taken to the Lafayette Post:
- Converse right tennis shoe
- Converse left tennis shoe
- .40 caliber Smith & Wesson cartridge
- Stranded material taken from between Abby's fingers
- Stranded material from Abby's left hand
- Swab from inside Libby's left wrist
- Swab from inside Libby's right wrist
- Swab from Libby's belly button
- Swab from Libby's thigh
- Strand of fibrous material from Libby's left hand
- Swab of blood stain on a tree
- Black Nike tennis shoe that Abby was wearing
- Swab from area of blood found on the ground
- Swab from the ground near Libby's feet
- Swab from the ground below Libby's head
- Swab from the ground near the tree that had blood on it
- Swab of red stain on the ground below Abby's head
- Swab sample from the tree with red stains
- Swab from the red stain on the north side of the tree
- Swab from Libby's left index finger
- Swab from Libby's left pinkie finger
- Cellphone found at the scene
- Swabs collected from the cellphone
Olehy said very few people had access to the items placed in storage. Olehy said all items were placed in separate packages, and Olehy was the person who recorded each item and discovery.
According to Olehy, the autopsies for Libby and Abby were conducted on Feb. 15, 2017.
Here is what was collected from the autopsies, with the evidence then taken the Lafayette Post:
- Swab collected from Libby's left thigh
- Swab from Libby's right breast
- Swab from Libby's left breast
- Sex assault evidence collection kit for Abby
- Sex assault evidence collection kit for Libby
- Trace fiber from Abby's upper left arm
- Black sweatshirt 2XL with Delphi swimming on it and "German" on the back. The sweatshirt had red stains on it.
- Blue jeans XL with red stains and dirt on them
- Gray cotton bra with red stains
- Pink sleeveless shirt
- Black bra with red stains
Libby's mom wiped away tears as Olehy explained the sex assault evidence collection kit.
Then, Converse tennis shoes and the .40 caliber cartridge were passed among the jurors in unsealed bags, so they could see samples of how Indiana State Police investigators packaged and collected evidence.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Brad Rozzi asked if any DNA evidence taken from the swab of Libby's wrists linked to Richard Allen, which Olehy responded, "No."
Rozzi then asked if Olehy was aware of any evidence from swabs taken from trees or the ground that were linked to Allen, to which Olehy also said, "No."
Senior investigative reporter Bob Segall said Rozzi became frustrated, evident through his tone and volume, when Special Judge Frances Gull sustained multiple objections from the prosecution about the relevance to Olehy's awareness of whether DNA collected would link to Allen.
Rozzi then asked Olehy if it seemed the sticks in between the girls' bodies were placed there intentionally.
"They appeared to be placed there by an individual," Olehy said, noting it seemed to be an "attempt at concealment" but "they were not completely covered."
Olehy said a logical assumption was that Abby's clothes were taken off of her and then put on Libby.
Rozzi asked Olehy if he was aware a blood spatter expert wasn't hired to look at the tree evidence until this year, to which Olehy responded, "Yes" and said they did have a blood spatter expert available to them in 2017.
"I can't give you the time of death, and I think the time of death is an inexact science," Olehy said.
Rozzi asked Olehy if it was unusual to find an unspent round on a wooded lot.
"I wouldn't find it unusual to find a round anywhere in the state of Indiana," Olehy responded.
While showing a photo of Deer Creek, Olehy said he didn't know how or where items from the girls were discarded and got into the creek. Olehy said he was never asked to investigate areas north of 300 North or Mears trailhead area.
Gull then sustained the prosecution's objection when Rozzi referred to the bullet cartridge as a "magic bullet," with Gull saying it was an "inappropriate reference."
"Do you wish you had taken more pictures of that round?" Rozzi asked Olehy of the cartridge.
"Not particularly, no," Olehy responded.
Olehy said holding a sock with his bare hand to take a photo wasn't his "preferred method" of photographing the cartridge, but he said wasn't necessarily unprofessional.
During redirect, Olehy said only one piece of ammunition was found and collected from the crime scene.
Olehy said the documentation of the scene and preservation of the evidence was the most important role for crime scene investigators.
During the cross-redirect, Olehy said there was no insect activity that time of year, which reduces the chance of more critter activity.
The jury asked Olehy if the undergrowth under Abby's body appear to be disrupted to suggest she was dressed in Libby's clothes at the crime scene? Olehy responded and said he did not see or notice a disruption.
The jury also asked Olehy if the bullet was collected in an envelope or pill box, with Olehy saying an envelope.
The court took a break at 10:53 a.m.
9:10 a.m. - The jury entered the jury box.