Delphi murders victim was found with hair in her hand that does not match suspect’s DNA, defense says
Richard Allen’s trial for the murders of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, is underway
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Defense lawyers for the suspect in the so-called Delphi murders have claimed that hair found in the hand of slain Abigail “Abby” Williams’ hand did not match the suspect’s DNA.
Richard Allen, 52, is charged with the murders of Abby, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14, whose bodies were found near Delphi, Indiana in 2017. He was arrested in 2022 and now stands trial in a shocking case that rocked the small, close-knit community of Delphi.
The startling DNA claim was made on Tuesday by defense attorney Andrew Baldwin during “mini opening statements” as jury selection in Allen’s long-awaited trial came to a close. Opening statements are expected to begin on Friday at the Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi.
On Monday, Caroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland filed a motion to ban two police sketches of the “suspect” from proceedings, citing concerns that they could be used to sway the jury.
Abby and Libby disappeared while walking near Monon High Bridge, an abandoned rail bridge, near Delphi, Indiana. Their bodies were later found along the trail. They had suffered fatal stab wounds.
Authorities had released an initial sketch of the suspect dubbed “bridge guy” in 2017 after obtaining information from witnesses in the area of the murders.
A second sketch was released at a news conference in April 2019. Officials said the second sketch was needed due to new information and intelligence. In that image, the suspect appears younger. As a result, police updated their description of the suspect as a man aged between 18 and 40.
“A composite sketch is not relevant, admission would result in undue prejudice, confuse or mislead the jury, or is impermissible hearsay, and the witnesses who participate in the preparation of composite sketch will not be presented by the State for the purpose of in-court identification of the defendant,” McLeland wrote in the filing.
A hearing will be held on Thursday in Allen County and Special Judge Francis Gull will rule on the admissibility of the sketches.
Allen’s lawyers maintain his innocence and have suggested the two teenagers died at the hands of a white nationalist pagan cult, adding the girls were killed as part of a “ritualistic sacrifice” by a group of Odinists. The attorneys have been banned from mentioning the cult during the trial.
Allen told investigators he was on the bridge trail the day the girls vanished but he has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His family home is less than a five-minute drive away from where the bodies of Libby and Abby were found.
McLeland states that the defense intends to use the sketches as “demonstrative evidence and for impeachment purposes.”
The sketches were not related to Allen’s capture, McLeland wrote. The witnesses who helped to create them testified they did not see the person in the sketch long enough to identify the defendant.
Special Judge Francis Gull will rule on the motion ahead of the beginning of the trial on Friday.
Libby and Abby went missing on February 13, 2017 after they set off on a hike along the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, a small town of just 3,000 people.
Libby managed to capture grainy video on her phone of a man dressed in blue jeans, a blue jacket and cap walking along the abandoned railroad bridge. It’s thought that the man in the footage could be the girls’ killer.
In the footage, the man can be heard telling the girls to “Go down the hill.”
Officials determined they suffered wounds caused “by a sharp object.”
A bullet that had not been fired was found by their bodies, leading investigators to believe a gun played a role in the crime as well.