How Richard Allen Went from Cleared to Charged - Delphi Trial...

DELPHI, Ind. — Richard Allen, the man currently standing trial for the deaths of Delphi teenagers Abigail Williams and Liberty German, was interviewed by investigators within one week of the murders and originally labeled “cleared.”

So far today the jury has heard from two witnesses: Kathy Shank, retired Department of Child Services worker and Captain Dan Dulin with the Department of Natural Resources.

Kathy Shank

Shank is the woman who found Allen’s 2017 discussion with Captain Dulin. Shank was volunteering to help with administrative duties having to do with file management. She testified to handling around 14,000 tips related to the Delphi murders investigation.

Shank testified that she stumbled upon a folder that was not with the others that she was tasked with managing. That folder was labeled “Richard Allen Whiteman.”

This individual, later corrected to Richard Allen, reported being on the trails during the day of February 13th, 2017, when Abby and Libby are said to have gone missing and then killed, according to the State’s timeline. Shank alerted Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett, now lead investigator, of the file. The file was labeled “cleared.”

Shank could not answer why the file incorrectly listed the name “Richard Allen Whiteman.”

Captain Dan Dulin

Captain Dan Dulin was up next. He testified to being assigned with assisting investigators with any leads after the murders took place. Allen and Dulin agreed to meet at the Save-A-Lot parking lot on February 18th, 2017. Allen denied the idea of conducting the interview at his home or a police station.

Allen reported he lived on Whiteman Street, and that he “self-reported” he was in the area of the Monon High Bridge between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on February 13th, 2017. Allen later corrected that timeframe to 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., but claimed he wasn’t really paying attention to anything on the trail.

Allen reported seeing three girls, but he was more focused on watching the stock ticker on his phone. Allen also confirmed he parked near the Hoosier Haverstore.

Dulin testified that the conversation lasted around 10 minutes and that he typed up the notes in his car and filed the Word document into “the system.”

Dulin testified to never thinking about the conversation again until he was contacted by investigators in 2022 after Shank found Allen’s file.

Dulin testified to going into DNR files in 2022 to see if there was anything more that he could find relating to Allen, which led to the discovery of Allen’s fishing license application. Allen had reported a change of height from 5 foot 4 inches tall to 5 foot 6 inches tall. Dulin found that change unusual.

Dulin also testified to collecting information off of Richard Allen’s phone in 2017 but did not look at the contents.

The end of testimony Tuesday revealed the State of Indiana collected 23 electronic devices from Allen when he was arrested. Nothing relating back to the murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German was found on those devices. Allen’s phone from 2017 was apparently not included with those devices as he no longer has it.

During cross-examination, Dulin confirmed he did not ask Allen what he was wearing on February 13th, 2017, doesn’t know who changed Allen’s height on his fishing license application, and Dulin also confirmed he was the person who told police to go collect the blood-covered sticks from the crime scene weeks later.

Dulin also testified that it would not be uncommon to find ammunition in the woods. Allen’s defense team has been trying to build grounds for reasonable doubt by pointing to several other potential sources for the .40 caliber unspent cartridge found near the bodies of Abby and Libby.

The rest of this article was constructed using media pool reporter notes and a recap from our news-gathering partners at WISH-TV, specifically News 8’s Kyla Russell and Jason Ronimous contributed to this report.

On Thursday, jurors in the Delphi Murders trail again watched and listened to video from the phone of one of the two girls murdered.

This time, the sheriff shared with jurors what he had heard.

Suspect Richard Allen’s trial continued Thursday. Prosecutors on Thursday afternoon called Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett to the stand. Liggett was a detective in the sheriff’s office in February 2017.

Allen, 52, is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in the deaths of 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams and 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German. The girls’ bodies were found near the Monon High Bridge near Delphi on Feb. 14, 2017, a day after they went missing.

In the latter half of February 2017, state police first shared a portion of the audio from the video, a short clip of the man walking on the Monon High Bridge near Delphi. Police had said the voice saying “Down the hill” was a suspect. Authorities had not released any other portions of the cellphone recording before Tuesday.

In 2017, police had called Libby a “hero” for getting the recording, which has subsequently been referred to as the “bridge guy” video.

An audio expert testified Tuesday as the full video was shared publicly for the first time.

In the video, the girls are walking along the bridge, and Libby says, “See, this is the path. There’s no path there, so we have to go down there.”

Twelve seconds later, “bridge guy” said, “Guys.”

Abby says, “Hi,” very timidly.

The “bridge guy” says, “Down the hill.”

Then the video is sort of thrown around and cuts off.

Fast-forward to Thursday.

Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett testified about the process of enhancing the video on Libby’s phone. For example, Liggett said the video was “altered to be upright all the time.”

The prosecution showed the video to the jury again. Liggett described what he heard in the video:

Abby: “Is he right here? Don’t leave me up here.”

Libby: “This is the path, that be a gun, there’s no path here.”

“Bridge guy”: “Guys.”

Girls: “Hi.”

“Bridge guy”: “Down the hill.”

Indiana State Police Trooper David Vido and Lieutenant Jerry Holeman

A lieutenant and an investigator for the Indiana State Police on Thursday afternoon revealed for the first time what was found during a search of suspect Richard Allen’s home in 2022.

After a 15-minute break, the trial resumed at 3:40 p.m. Thursday with Indiana State Police Trooper David Vido taking the stand. He’s served as an investigator in the Delphi Murders.

Vido was involved in searching Allen’s home on Oct. 13, 2022, and taking photos there that day and other days. Jurors were shown the photos.

Some photos showed a workbench at Allen’s home that contained knives and box cutters. Knives were also photographed in the master bedroom.

The photos included a gun and ammunition found in Allen’s home. A closet gun case was also photographed.

Coats, including a blue jacket, also were photographed.

Some items, including two dozen box-cutter knives, were taken to a state police post.

Vido, in response to a question from defense attorney Jennifer Auger, said he was not aware of any connections to the murdered girls, Abby Williams and Libby German, from the blue jacket, his car, or the knives that investigators found.

Next to testify was Indiana State Police Lt. Jerry Holeman. He supervised the search of Allen’s home on Oct. 13, 2022. He did an initial walk-through of the home, and then waited outside while police searched inside.

Holeman sat inside a car with Allen while the search was underway. At one point while they were in the car, the lieutenant asked if Allen wanted to fill out a form for items damaged in the search. Holeman said Allen responded, “It doesn’t matter. It’s over.”

Holeman then opened a box containing the gun found at Allen’s home. He gave it a quick check to assure it was safe before displaying it to jurors.

On cross-examination, Holeman confirmed that Allen was a suspect at the time his home was searched. Holeman also noted that a bullet can be damaged when it’s handled for investigations.