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 sixth day Thursday.
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.
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Follow along with the latest updates from Thursday below:
State's 6th witness, Steve Mullin, returns to the stand
Former Delphi police chief and current investigator for the Carroll County Prosecutor's Office Steve Mullin returns to the stand.
Mullin said he was called by Sheriff Liggett on Nov. 21, 2022 about Dulan's report on Allen.
Mullin said he found Allen had a 2006 Ford 500 and a 2016 black Ford Focus.
Mullin said he checked video from the Hoosier Harvest store to see if he could find video of Allen's car.
Mullin said he then went to the CVS where Allen worked to take a picture of his license plate.
Mullin said in the review of the video at the Hoosier Harvest store, he saw Allen's car pull in at 1:27 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2017. Mullin clarified it was his opinion that it was Allen's car based on "facts of size, color, shape, etc."
The jury was shown frame by frame video showing the vehicle that passed by the Hoosier Harvest store. You cannot see the license plate or driver in the video.
Mullin pointed out some features that led him to believe it is Allen's car in the video:
- hatchback profile of the taillights
- the bumper
- the black sports-type rims with distinctive spokes
Mullin said the arrival matches when Allen told Dulan he arrived.
Mullin said on Oct. 13, 2022 he drove to Allen's home and spoke to him with the sheriff. Mullin said they told Allen he wasn't under arrest.
Mullin said he took Allen to the police station with Allen's consent in an unmarked car. He said he read Allen his Miranda Rights.
According to Mullin, Allen said he went to his mother's house in Peru on Feb. 13, 2017. He said he left his mom's house at 11 a.m . and then got his jacket and went to the trails.
Allen allegedly told Mullin that he passed three girls and was looking at a stock ticker on his phone when walking toward the Monon High Bridge.
Mullin said Allen said he arrived at the trail by noon and left at 1:30 p.m. Mullin said Allen claimed he went to the first platform of the bridge and looked at fish.
Allen allegedly told Mullin that he saw girls near the start of the trail and they passed him going in the opposite direction as he walked toward the Monon High Bridge.
Mullin said Allen told him he was driving his 2016 Ford Focus.
Mullin said Allen told him he was on the trail for about an hour.
Mullin said Allen told him that Allen had told Allen's wife he was on the trails the day of the murders.
Allen allegedly told Mullin he was wearing a black or blue jacket, jeans, a skull cap and military boots.
Mullin said Allen originally agreed to show investigators his phone then changed his mind.
Mullin said Allen "got irritated and left the room."
Mullin said he showed Allen a picture of the "bridge guy" and asked if Allen was the man in the picture.
Mullin said Allen's answer was strange. He said Allen said "if the picture was taken with the girls' camera, there was no way it could be" him.
Mullin said he took Allen home and then applied for a search warrant.
The court broke for lunch at 12:10 p.m. Mullin will be cross examined when it resumes.
State's 22nd witness: Dan Dulan, a DNR officer who interviewed Allen
10:39 a.m. - Brad Rozzi conducted the cross examination on Dan Dulan.
Rozzi said, "He (Allen) came forward, right?"
Dulan said, "Yes."
Rozzi said, "He told you he was on his way to the grocery store?"
Dulan said he didn't remember, but that was possible.
Rozzi asked Dulan to confirm that Allen said he was on the trail between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Dulan said, "Yes."
"Do you know how long he was there?" Rozzi asked.
Dulan said he interpreted Allen's statement to mean he was on the trail the whole time, based on the interview.
Rozzi asked, "There was nothing that struck you as unusual, was there?" about the interview.
Dulan said no, that there was nothing that would lead him to report Allen to law enforcement. Dulan said the part that stood out to him was Allen saying he was on his phone on the trail.
Rozzi said that Dulan said nothing stood out during his deposition. He asked if Dulan was suggesting Allen was using an alias. When he asked again, the prosecution objected.
Rozzi then said that Dulan did not ask Allen what Allen was wearing or what Allen was driving. Dulan said that was correct.
Dulan said he was confident that Allen parked at the old DCS building.
Rozzi asked if someone can register a fishing license for someone else. Dulan said, "Yes."
Rozzi asked if there were several references on previous licenses to Allen being 5'6". Dulan said, "Yes."
Rozzi said that during deposition, Dulan said he didn't think Allen was trying to be deceptive with license information.
Dulan said that was correct.
Dulan said he went to the crime scene multiple times, including early on. Dulan said his first time was on Feb. 17 when he saw sticks and branches piled up at the crime scene. He said the sticks had blood on them, but the crime scene had been released. That means there was still crime scene tape up, but it was not secured by police.
Dulan said he called the investigative center to report sticks with blood, and someone came to get the sticks.
Rozzi asked if he saw a deer stand in the area. Dulan said he did.
Rozzi asked if it is unusual to find an unspent shell casing in the woods. He asked if Dulan told him it was not unusual during deposition. Dulan said that was correct.
Rozzi asked if the Sig Sauer was a popular gun maker, and if Smith & Wesson ammunition was popular. Dulan said, "Yes."
Rozzi asked if Dulan was able to find the IP address, email and credit card used to purchase Allen's fishing license. Dulan said yes, it was paid for with Allen's credit card, but he didn't know what username was used.
Rozzi asked if Dulan looked at what was on Allen's phone. Dulan said no, he just asked Allen for his phone's ID number.
Rozzi said, "You don't know he was manipulating anything, do you?"
Dulan said, "No."
10:04 a.m. - Indiana Department of Natural Resources Officer Dan Dulan is the next interview.
Dulan said that he began following up on Delphi murders leads on Feb. 18, 2017. That day, he said he received a lead sheet about Richard Allen.
The original lead sheet was shown to the jury, where Allen's name was written "Rick Allen Whiteman."
Dulan said he called Allen by phone.
Dulan said Allen didn't want to meet at his home or a law enforcement agency. Dulan said, instead, Allen wanted to meet at a grocery store parking lot.
Dulan said they met, and Allen said he had been on the trail between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Dulan said Allen reported seeing three girls at the Freedom Bridge at the start of his hike but no one else.
Dulan said Allen said he walked to the Freedom Bridge and then toward the Monon High Bridge. Dulan said Allen told him he was looking at a stock ticker on his phone as he walked.
Dulan said the interview lasted about 10 minutes and was not recorded. Dulan said he just took written notes.
Dulan said he asked for the phone number and driver's license number of Richard Allen.
That would mean the state had Richard Allen's info within four days of the murders.
The jury was shown Dulan's notes and Allen's drivers license picture, along with a lead sheet with Dulan's interview.
Dulan said in September 2022, he received a call from Steve Mullin asking if he remembered talking with Richard Allen.
Dulan said he then did more research and found Richard Allen's fishing license information. He told the jury that on April 1, 2017, Allen changed his height on his fishing license from 5'4" to 5'6" and decreased his weight.
Dulan said that stuck out because "it was an uncommon thing to increase height 2 inches."
Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland asked Dulan to identify Allen in the courtroom.
State's 21st witness: Kathy Shank, volunteer file clerk who found Allen's file
9:57 a.m. - During cross redirect, Baldwin asked Shank, "To your knowledge, Richard Allen came forward to assist with the investigation?"
The state objected that this was speculation, which the judge sustained.
9:43 a.m. - Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin began cross-examination.
Baldwin asked Shank if she knew if the information in the file was accurate. Shank said she did not know.
Baldwin said there is no "Richard Allen Whiteman," which was the name in the file.
Shank said "it wasn't me" who wrote Richard Allen Whiteman.
Baldwin asked Shank if details and accuracy matter to her. Shank said, "Yes."
Baldwin said that many people reported seeing someone who looked like the picture of the "bridge guy." Shank agreed.
Baldwin asked Shank if Liggett was running for sheriff when she made the connection between Allen and the reports of a man on the bridge. An objection from the state was sustained by the judge.
Baldwin asked if Richard Allen self-reported.
Shank said, "Yes, he reported it."
9:06 a.m. - The first witness of the day is Kathy Shank, who volunteered to help with the case.
Shank says she told police, "I would really like to help in any way I can."
Shank was assigned to work as a receptionist at the old RMEC building starting on March 1, 2017. She previously worked for Indiana DCS for 40 years before retiring.
Shank said she would take tips from people who came in and passed the information to detectives upstairs.
Shank said she arranged bankers' boxes of information and tips. She said she would sort reports, label them and put the information into file cabinets.
Shank said she filled five filing cabinets with "person of interest" folders. She said a friend helped as a file clerk.
Shank said they moved from the REMC building to a city building. She said she took file cabinets with her. Shank said she then entered tips into a database.
Shank said Sheriff Tony Liggett was her main "go-to" for the case.
In September 2020, Shank said she was asked to start scanning. Shank said the work took two years to complete.
Shank said she entered more than 14,000 tips on the Delphi murders into the database.
At 9:30 a.m., prosecuting attorney Stacey Diener asked, "Was there something that brought your attention to Richard Allen?"
This was the first time Richard Allen's name had been mentioned since opening statements on Oct. 18.
Shank said she "found a lead sheet in a box." The sheet said that on Feb. 16, 2017, a "Richard Allen Whiteman" had self-reported being on the trails between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on the day Abby and Libby went missing. According to Shank, Allen had reported seeing three girls.
Shank said she remembered seeing another tip that a man had been on the trail. Shank said she compared the tip to the file that had Richard Allen's name in it.
Shank said she didn't know how the tip or lead sheet had gotten into that box.
Shank said the narrative summary in the database said that Allen had been interviewed. The file had the word "cleared" on it. It also had a green mark that indicated it was cleared. Shank said she took the file to Liggett.
6:30 a.m. - The sixth day of the trial is expected to begin at 9 a.m.