The Associated Press
By Áine Cain and Kevin Greenlee | The Murder Sheet
For the Daily Journal
DELPHI, Ind. — The Delphi murders trial kicked off Friday with opening statements and testimony from several family members of murdered teenagers Liberty German and Abigail Williams.
Testimony continued on Saturday, with prosecutors focusing on the scene where the two teens were found.
Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland delivered the opening statement from the state Friday, introducing jurors to the two teens, the events leading up to their murders and the prosecution’s theory that 52-year-old defendant Richard Allen abducted and killed the girls. The two teens disappeared on Feb. 13, 2017. A day later, searchers found their bodies. Their throats were both slit. German was naked, and Williams was wearing several articles of her friend’s clothing. Allen teens a former CVS worker and Delphi resident who police arrested in 2022 for the crimes.
The start of the trial saw both the prosecution and the defense begin to outline their respective cases. The state is seeking to prove that Allen is the so-called “Bridge Guy,” an individual that German captured in a video recording on his cell phone as he walked toward her and Williams on the Monon High Bridge, part of a rails-to-trails path in Delphi. The suspect was captured on the recording threatening the girls with a gun and ordering them “down the hill.”
Investigators allege that an unspent round found at the murder scene was cycled through Allen’s Sig Sauer. Since his arrest, Allen has reportedly confessed to the murders at least 61 times.
McLeland said in his opening statement that these confessions include information on “how he did it, why he did it” as well as “details only the killer would know.”
In his opening statement, Franklin defense attorney Andrew Baldwin urged the members of the jury to keep their minds open.
“There’s reasonable doubt in this case,” he said.
Baldwin indicated the defense will attack the law enforcement investigation into the murders and also focus on phone data. He also clarified that the hair evidence found on Williams he alluded to in jury selection belonged to a female, and very likely one belonging to German’s family. Notably, Williams’ body was discovered wearing German’s swimming sweatshirt, which could result in the transfer of hair.
He also spoke about how incarceration can result in individuals making wrongful confessions.
“Please wait,” Baldwin told jurors Friday. “Richard Allen is innocent. He is truly innocent.”
Deputy prosecutor Stacey Diener then led the examination of several family members of the victims. First up was Becky Patty, German’s grandmother and guardian. She became emotional on the stand as she recounted seeing German for the last time, when she urged her granddaughter to wear a jacket in case it got chilly.
She said 14-year-old German replied, “‘Grandma, I’ll be okay.’”
Patty, along with German’s father Derek and older sister Kelsi Siebert, recalled the day leading up to the girls’ disappearance, their search for German and Williams, and the moments they learned the pair had been found dead.
Williams’s mother Anna also testified, recalling her 13-year-old daughter as a “kind,” “funny,” and “reserved” girl. She also became emotional during her testimony, and also smiled as she recalled several memories involving Williams.
There were also some early issues pertaining to the public access around the case.
On Friday, Special Judge Frances Gull of Allen County also notified the parties that a group of four journalists, including individuals representing NBC and the Associated Press, had violated the court’s orders by attempting to film jurors outside the courthouse. They were barred from the court and their cameras were confiscated. That equipment will not be returned.
Before the jury came in Friday, the judge condemned the incident, which she described as “nonsense of the media.”
“I think it’s important that Mr. Allen get a fair trial,” Gull said.
Numerous members of the public were also turned away from the courtroom due to a lack of available seats. Many who obtained a seat were also shut out after a lunch break, when other members of the public who had been lined up for hours took their places.
The trial entered its second day on Saturday; Gull previously ordered that sessions of the trial take place on Saturdays. The jurors and alternates will be given time to communicate with their families on Sundays.
The prosecution continued to present its case against Allen during Saturday’s court session.
Carroll County Prosecutor’s Office investigator Steve Mullin, who was Delphi’s chief of police in 2017, was called to the stand. He testified about the geography of the Monon High Bridge and the murder scene, as well as his own role in the early search for the girls, before the discovery of the bodies.
“We had no idea that anything nefarious had happened to the girls,” Mullin said.
Prosecutors also called two searchers and Delphi residents, Jake Johns and Patrick “Pat” Brown. Johns testified that he noticed German’s brightly colored tie-dyed T-shirt in Deer Creek and alerted a nearby fireman. Brown talked about he and other searchers came across the bodies near the creek, and how he at first believed them to be mannequins. Diener asked him how he raised the alarm about the discovery.
“I said, ‘We found them,’” Brown said before becoming choked up.
The trial will resume on Monday.
The Murder Sheet is a podcast that takes a journalistic and analytical approach to true crime coverage. They are partnering with the Daily Journal to provide coverage of the Delphi double-murder trial. Check out their podcast at murdersheetpodcast.com.
