DELPHI, Ind. — It's been over 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 13th day Friday.
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 Friday below:
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Defense's 8th witness, Darrell Sterrett, former Delphi Fire Chief
2:07 p.m. - The 8th witness for the defense is former Delphi Fire Chief Darrell Sterrett.
Sterrett said he served 36 years as a volunteer with the fire department. He was chief from 2009 through 2021.
Sterrett said on Feb. 13, "word came in we had two missing juveniles."
Sterrett said he went to the command center and fire fighters helped with the search.
An exhibit was entered as evidence, showing that fire department leadership, fire fighters and cadets were helping in search.
Sterrett said there were already many volunteers and staff on hand due to a planned training.
Sterrett said that volunteer fire fighters got to the bridge "around 9:30 or closer to 10" on the night of Feb. 13, 2017.
Sterrett said he took a crew of six to the bridge area. Sterrett said he took his personal car down 625 and parked at the end where it turns into a gravel road.
Sterrett said "my thought was they were hunkered down, cold and scared... waiting for us to find them."
Sterrett said he focused the search mostly south and west of the Monon High Bridge. The girls' bodies were ultimately found east of the bridge.
Sterrett left the scene at 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 14, 2017.
Sterrett said he ordered his fire fighters to conduct a general search of the area around the bridge on both north and south sides of Deer Creek and both east and west.
Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin asked Sterrett about the search. Sterrett frequently said he did not remember, and Baldwin had him refer back to his deposition.
Sterrett said he may have had a vehicle with flood lights but couldn't remember if there were bright lights. Sterrett said it was "very dark" and the crew used flash lights.
"They look fancy but they're not," Sterrett said. "They cost more than they should."
Baldwin asked if Sterrett checked the creek.
Sterrett said "Somebody may have."
Sterrett consulted the deposition and then remembered he and his team did look in the creek and did not see any clothes.
Sterrett said he could hear people on both sides of the creek.
The jury asked how long it had been since Sterrett was deposed, and was he given a copy then. Sterrett said it had been 3 weeks.
Another juror asked if Sterrett searched the area southeast of the cemetery. Sterrett said no.
Defense's 7th witness, David McCain, Delphi resident
2:05 p.m. - Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin performed the redirect.
Baldwin asked McCain if he may have been on the trail for more than an hour or less than an hour.
McCain said yes, probably more than an hour.
1:57 p.m. - State's attorney Jim Luttrell performed the cross-examination.
Luttrell gave McCain the notes from the FBI agent that interviewed McCain. Luttrell asks if the notes were accurate.
The defense objected, saying the witness doesn't know if the notes were an accurate reflection of what he said. The judge overruled the defense.
McCain recalled hearing a man shouting at him. McCain said it was a large man with a bright orange jacket. McCain said he didn't see the man's face but the man shouted "have you seen two girls?"
Luttrell asked if McCain arrived at 3:15 p.m.
McCain said that sounded right "but it could have been 2:30... I wasn't paying attention to time."
1:32 p.m. - The 7th witness for the defense is David McCain, a resident of Delphi.
McCain said he has lived in the area for 24 years and worked as a project manager for the development of the Delphi portion of the Monon Trail.
McCain said he would go to the Monon High Bridge as a child. McCain said he knows a lot about the bridge and crossed it many times.
McCain said he was on the trail and bridge on Feb. 13, 2017.
McCain said he was not sure when he arrived. McCain said it was between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and that he was there for about an hour.
McCain said he parked at Mear's entrance.
McCain said he thinks he arrived between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. McCain says he saw no other cars there, and that he walked toward the bridge.
"I just enjoyed the day," McCain said, remarking the weather was exceptionally nice.
McCain said he went to the bridge and took pictures. McCain said the bridge is 852 feet long and 65 feet above the water.
McCain estimates he was on the bridge for fewer than 30 minutes.
McCain said he saw a couple while he was leaving the bridge and heading to the parking lot. McCain said that might have been before he left, he isn't sure.
McCain said he was surprised by the number of people and vehicles around when he left before 4 p.m.
McCain said he did not see any pedestrians on 300 N. When he left, he said someone shouted toward him to ask if he had seen the girls.
McCain said he did not hear any screams or unusual noises while on the bridge.
By 7:30 p.m. that night, McCain said he heard police were looking for the girls.
McCain said he called police to tell them he had been on the bridge.
McCain said two FBI agents and an Indiana State Police officer came to McCain's home to interview him.
McCain said he gave investigators the card from his camera.
McCain said he was interviewed several times by law enforcement. McCain said they called him a few years later to ask him if he had seen a specific car.
Defense's 6th witness, Brad Heath, lives near Delphi
1:32 p.m. - State's attorney Stacey Diener performed the cross examination.
Diener asked Heath if a picture she provided roughly matched the car he thought he saw.
Heath said yes.
Diener asked if the car was parked in the CPS lot. Heath said no.
1:12 p.m. - The 6th witness for the defense is Brad Heath, a retired exterminator living outside Delphi.
Heath said he was working as an exterminator at Anderson's Mill near the Monon High Bridge on Feb. 13, 2017.
Heath said he was at the building from 1:43 p.m. to 2:06 p.m. that day.
The defense provided his time log for the day as evidence.
Heath said he got his activity log because of a vehicle he saw that day. He said he first saw it at 8:45 a.m. when he left his car parked at the old CPS building.
Heath said the vehicle was halfway down the road and parked along the side. Heath estimated it was 150 yards from him.
Heath described the vehicle as an older vehicle that "looked out of place." He estimated it was from the late 1980s or early 1990s.
A week after the murders, Heath went to tell police what he saw. Heath said he had seen a car like the one he had seen in a movie.
Defense's 5th witness, Max Baker, a legal intern
10:49 a.m. - The 5th witness for the defense is attorney Brad Rozzi's legal intern, Max Baker.
Baker has worked for Rozzi for the past 2 years.
Baker said he listened to and watch Allen's calls and video from Westville Correctional Facility.
Baker also prepared videos for the jury to view.
The defense enters two videos as evidence to show the jury. The state objects and the jury is asked to leave after attorneys for both sides approach the bench.
The issue is that the timeframes for the videos being shown are inexact. The judge will not let the defense show the videos until the defense can confirm they were taken between April and June of 2023.
Max Baker is not brought back to the stand before the lunch break. Court is set to resume at 1 p.m.
Defense's 4th witness, Dr. Deanna Dwenger, a behavioral health specialist for the Indiana Department of Corrections
10:07 a.m. - Every question defense attorney Rozzi attempted on redirect was met by an objection that was sustained.
A juror asked Dwenger if safekeepers are ever placed in the general population. Dwenger said yes.
A juror asked if Allen may have faked mental health symptoms to stay out of the general population where Allen may have been harmed. Dwenger said that was possible but she had no knowledge.
A juror asked if Dwenger ever heard threats against Allen herself. Dwenger said no.
A juror asked if, while faking mental health concerns, a person could slip truths in a confession. Dwenger said she has seen psychotic people confess sincerely and psychotic people make things up.
A juror asked how a psychiatrist can tell if someone is faking psychosis. Dwenger said in a brief psychotic episode where someone is detached from reality, the clinician has to listen to body language and the chain of the story. Dwenger said if the story is organized the person is probably faking psychosis. If the story is disorganized, not easily followed, and out of chronological order it is more likely the person is psychotic or delusional.
A juror asked what the process is for an inmate with SMI who is a safekeeper. Dwenger said it is the same as for any other inmate.
A juror asked what IDOC's primary responsibility for safekeeper inmates is. Dwenger said safety.
At 10:25 a.m., Dwenger was released and court took a morning break.
10 a.m. - State's attorney Stacey Diener started the cross-examination of Dr. Dwenger.
During cross, Dwenger said that Allen was not diagnosed with serious mental illness when he first arrived at Westville. He was diagnosed with SMI when his decline started in April of 2023.
Dwenger said she discussed whether Allen was feigning his mental illness in April of 2023.
That is when a psychiatrist met with Allen.
The first document determining Allen's "grave disability" that Allen couldn't care for himself was produced on April 13, 2023.
Around that time, a multidisciplinary team determined that Allen was deteriorating enough that intervention was required.
Dwenger testified that Allen was given the drug Haldol, which is an anti-psychotic drug. This was delivered involuntarily.
Diener asked if Allen was kept in his cell because of the need to keep him safe.
Defense attorney Rozzi objected, saying Dwenger already said she didn't know why Allen was being held. The judge sustained Rozzi's objection.
9:32 a.m. - The fourth witness for the defense is Dr. Deanna Dwenger, with the Indiana Department of Corrections.
Dwenger is the director of behavioral health for IDOC. She took that role in 2021.
Dwenger oversees contract employees, like Centurion, which employed state's witness Dr. Monica Wala. Dwenger works closely with Wala's supervisor.
Dwenger said she did not determine which IDOC facility Allen stayed at. Dwenger said she didn't know who did determined it.
Dwenger said New Castle is the highest level IDOC mental health facility in the state. Pendleton and Wabash are a step down in terms of mental health units.
Allen was not held in the mental health unit at Wabash or any other IDOC facility.
Dwenger said Wala disclosed her personal interest in Allen's case only after she had been assigned. Wala then told Dwenger that Wala was a true crime fan who listened to Delphi podcasts. Dwenger knew that Wala visited the Monon High Bridge before Allen arrived at DOC.
Dwenger testified that Allen was classified as a safety risk when he arrived at the DOC. Dwenger said Allen was classified as a Code D for mental health, which meant Allen needed an individual therapist.
Dwenger said she did not know why Allen was placed at Westville.
Dwenger testified that she regularly heard Allen threatened by other inmates.
Dwenger said she was aware that Allen was on camera at all times and it worried her. Dwenger said she recommended the cameras be removed to improve Allen's mental health. But Dwenger said the cameras were never removed.
Dwenger testified that solitary confinement is not good for mental health.
Dwenger said that the DOC has a mental health policy that someone with a serious mental illness (SMI) should not be held in solitary for more than 30 days. Allen was diagnosed with a SMI but remained in solitary confinement for 13 months.
Allen was diagnosed as "gravely disabled" by mental health staff at Westville Correctional Facility.
Dwenger testified that someone left in solitary confinement for a long time period could suffer more mental health problems.
Defense attorney Brad Rozzi asked if a new prison was bring built to replace the Westville facility. The state objected and the judge told Rozzi to only ask Dwenger about Allen.
Dwenger testified that restrictive housing is "toxic" to mental welfare of mentally ill inmates.
Rozzi asked if IDOC was sued over its mental health treatment, but he was cut off by an objection by the state that was sustained.
Defense's 3rd witness, Christopher Gootee, a Hammond Police Department officer
9:17 a.m. - The third witness for the defense is Ofc. Christopher Gootee who has served with the Hammond Police Department since 2005.
Gootee interviewed Brad Weber as part of the Delphi investigation.
The state objected and the judge told the jury that was not substantive evidence.
According to Gootee, Weber said he went home after work the day the murders happened.
A report, written by an FBI Special Agent working with Gootee, was entered as evidence.
4 a.m. - The 13th day of the trial is expected to begin at 9 a.m. Check back for updates.