State makes its case
McLeland went first, delivering closing arguments that lasted a little more than an hour.
He described how Abby and Libby went to the trails on Feb. 13, 2017, and never came back. He described it as a “day this community will never forget.”
He said Libby’s older sister drove them to the trails and dropped them off at 1:48 p.m. When Libby German’s father arrived to pick them up around 3 p.m., they didn’t show up at the prearranged meeting spot. More alarmingly, no one could contact them.
He went looking for the girls but didn’t find them. He called Libby’s grandmother, Becky Patty, at 3:30 p.m., leading to additional family searches. Still, no one could find or contact the girls.
The search grew throughout the day and lasted until 2 a.m., when it became too dark and too dangerous.
“No one thought anything bad had happened to Abby and Libby,” McLeland said. “That doesn’t happen around here.”
Searcher Pat Brown found the bodies on Feb. 14, 2017, and said they “looked like mannequins.”
‘Bridge Guy’ and a bullet
Next, McLeland showed crime scene photos, telling the court that “these next pictures are hard to see.” While processing the crime scene, investigators found Libby’s phone and the bullet that became central to the state’s case.
McLeland mentioned the “Bridge Guy” video found on Libby’s phone and played it for the jury. The video was taken at 2:13 p.m. and, in McLeland’s estimation, showed the “moment Abby and Libby were kidnapped.”
He said “Bridge Guy” ordered them down the hill and used a gun to intimidate them. He played an “enhanced” version of the video with the “down the hill” part amplified.
He recounted numerous witnesses who saw someone on the high bridge and mentioned Sarah Carbaugh, who told investigators she saw a man who was “muddy and bloody” walking along the road around 4 p.m.
McLeland noted that descriptions from the witnesses varied somewhat, but all were “adamant” they’d encountered “Bridge Guy.”
McLeland mentioned Steve Mullin, the former Delphi police chief and investigator for the prosecutor’s office, who looked at video from the nearby Hoosier Harvest Store. Forensic experts analyzed Libby’s phone, which indicated the girls arrived on the trails at 1:48 p.m. and walked to the Monon High Bridge.
At 2:32 p.m., the analysis found, Libby’s phone stopped moving and stayed where it was.
McLeland then brought up a map and reviewed the timeline of events. One witness and her friends encountered “Bridge Guy” at 1:26 p.m. Another witness saw “Bridge Guy” and passed the previous witnesses, he said.
“If we determine who ‘Bridge Guy’ is, we can find out who killed them,” McLeland said.
Suspicion falls on Allen
He recounted how in September 2022 Kathy Shank, a volunteer who helped police organize tips related to the Delphi murders, came across a “tip sheet” from 2017 that indicated a person told a DNR investigator he’d been on the bridge between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2017.
The man’s name was Richard Allen. It appeared no one had followed up on him.
Further investigation found Allen owned a black 2016 Ford Focus SE. McLeland said, only one such model of that car was registered in Carroll County in February 2017. Investigators believe the car matched video from the Hoosier Harvest Store.
Police called Allen for an interview. He said he was wearing clothes similar to “Bridge Guy.” The interview started out polite but soon turned hostile, with Allen refusing to let investigators look at his phone or search his house.
Police obtained a search warrant. The search turned up knives, box cutters and a blue Carhartt jacket.
“Surprise, surprise,” McLeland said, “Same as ‘Bridge Guy’ was wearing.”
The search turned up a .40 caliber round kept in a “hope box” and a Sig Sauer P226 handgun. McLeland described it as the “‘Bridge Guy’ starter kit.”
Investigators recovered numerous electronic devices from Allen’s home, but they didn’t find the phone he had in 2017.
An Indiana State Police crime lab technician determined that the bullet found at the crime scene was cycled through Allen’s Sig Sauer.
“Oh, and her results were verified,” McLeland said of the analysis from Melissa Oberg.
During a follow-up interview with police, Allen said he never loaned his gun to anyone and had no explanation for how a bullet matched to his gun ended up at the scene of one of Indiana’s most infamous murder cases.
Police suggested that Allen racked his gun to intimidate the girls into doing what he told them. Allen grew angrier during the interview.
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