Records show bullet found near teens’ bodies came from suspect’s gun

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INDIANAPOLIS — An unspent bullet found between the bodies of two teenage girls killed in 2017 « had been passed through » a gun belonging to the suspect during their deaths, according to court documents an Indiana judge ordered released Tuesday. .

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Court records were sealed last month at the request of the local prosecutor, after Richard Matthew Allen, 50, of Delphi, Indiana, was arrested on October 28 and charged with two counts of murder in the Liberty German murders, 14, and Abigail Williams. , 13.

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The redacted probable cause affidavit released Tuesday says investigators seized Allen’s .40 caliber pistol during a search of his home on Oct. 13. Tests determined that an unspent bullet found within 2 feet of one of the girls’ body « passed through » Allen’s gun.

Investigators determined that Allen purchased the gun in 2001. Allen said in an Oct. 26 interview with police that he never authorized anyone to borrow the gun, according to the affidavit.

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Public and media requests for additional information about the case were granted Tuesday by order of Allen County Judge Fran Gull. The murders haunted Delphi, a northwestern Indiana town of about 3,000, where Allen lived and worked at a local CVS store.

Gull wrote that « the public interest is not served by barring access » to the documents and that witness safety and Allen’s personal information could be protected by redacting portions of the records.

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Several news outlets, including the Associated Press, had filed a brief with the court on November 21 urging Gull to unseal the affidavit and charging information detailing the evidence authorities have linking Allen to the murders.

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The affidavit says investigators « reviewing previous advice » found that Allen was interviewed by an officer in 2017.

At the time, Allen said that on February 13, 2017 – the day the girls disappeared – he was walking on a trail when he saw three “women” on a bridge called Freedom Bridge but did not speak to them. He told the officer that as he walked from that bridge to the Monon High Bridge, an abandoned railroad bridge, he saw no one but was « watching a ticker on his phone while He was walking ».

Allen was questioned again by investigators on October 13 and repeated that he had seen three « juvenile girls » on his walk. He said he crossed the first platform of the Monon High Bridge, then came back, « sat on a bench on the path, then left ».

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A relative had dropped off Liberty and Abigail – known as Libby and Abby – on a trail near the bridge near their hometown of Delphi, about 100 miles northwest of Indianapolis. A few hours later, the girls failed to show up at their pick-up location and the next day their bodies were found in a rough area near the trail.

According to the affidavit, Allen said he never went to where the unspent bullet was found between the girls’ bodies, that he did not know the owner of that property, and « didn’t no explanation as to why a bullet passed through his gun ». would be there.

The document redacted the names of witnesses, including three minors who said they were on the trail on February 13, 2017, and saw a man walking towards the bridge who was « a bit scary ». One of the miners said « she said ‘Hi’ to the male but he just looked at them. »

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Another witness told police she was traveling along a Carroll County road that day when she saw a man walking away from the Monon High Bridge wearing clothing that looked ‘muddy and bloody’ . He appears to have been in a fight, the witness said.

By Tuesday, state police had released additional details about the investigations into the 2017 murders. Libby and Abby’s deaths were ruled homicides, but police have never revealed how they died or what evidence they collected. The probable cause affidavit does not state how the girls died.

Days after the murders, investigators released two grainy photos of a suspect walking across the abandoned railway bridge and an audio recording of a man believed to be the suspect saying « down hill ».

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Authorities also released an initial sketch of the suspected killer in July 2017, followed by another in April 2019 based on cellphone video recorded by Libby showing a suspect on the bridge. The affidavit says investigators believe Allen was the man seen in the bridge video.

« As the male subject approaches Victims 1 and 2, one of the victims mentions ‘weapon’. Near the end of the video, a man is heard saying to the girls, ‘Guys, down hill’ , the affidavit reads, « The girls then begin to walk down the hill and the video ends. »

He adds: ‘The victims were forced down the hill by Richard Allen to where they were murdered.’

Earlier Tuesday, Allen’s attorneys filed a motion to move the case out of Carroll County, arguing that it would be difficult to assemble an impartial jury there due to the intense attention surrounding the case and the fact that the county is small.

Andrew Baldwin, a lawyer for Allen, said last week that the then sealed affidavit was « fragile » and that « our client is the wrong person ».