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Court document: Bullet found between Delphi murder victims led police to suspect

(Photo supplied/Indiana State Police)

A judge ordered the release of a redacted version of a the probable cause affidavit detailing the reasons for charging Richard Allen with the murders of the two young girls in Delphi. The unsealed document shows a single unspent round found between the girls connected Allen to the murders.

The document says a .40 caliber bullet, unspent, was found between the bodies of Abby Williams and Libby German. It was linked by ballistics tests performed a state police lab, to a pistol that Allen had owned, by his own admission, since 2001.

Allen’s name was brought up in October by a detective who had interviewed him in 2017, when Allen admitted to being on the trails and on the Monon High Bridge Feb. 13, on the afternoon the girls went missing, even stating that he had seen several females, describing some of them.

Witnesses state police interviewed said they saw a man matching Allen’s description, wearing a Carhart jacket and jeans, like the ones seen in the cell phone video. In the video one of the girls is heard to say “gun”.

One witness said the man’s jeans were “muddy and bloody”, and that he looked like he had been in a fight.

Investigators also believe several people who gave general descriptions of a vehicle that was parked near the trails saw Allen’s Ford Focus.

The document states that police believe, based on evidence from the cell phone video, that after Allen ordered the girls down the hill, that he murdered them. The document does not describe a cause or manner of death.

Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland had tried to keep the document sealed, arguing that the release of the doument to the public could jeopardize a case that’s only partially complete. He told Judge Fran Gull last week that he believes someone else is likely involved.

Defense attorneys for Allen have filed a motion for a change of venue in the murder trial, citing “extensive media attention” and a high percentage of Carroll County residents who have been involved in some aspect of the case. They seek to have the trial held at least 150 miles from Carroll County.

Allen’s trial is set to begin on March 20, 2023, a date that is expected to be moved back to provide both sides ample time to build their cases.

Network Indiana contributed to this story

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