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The man charged with the 2017 Delphi murders has been tied to a bullet found at the bloody crime scene and is believed to be the so-called “bridge guy” captured on camera by his victims, according to a newly-released affidavit.
A redacted version of the probable cause affidavit was released on Tuesday, finally revealing what led to the arrest and charging of local man Richard Allen almost five years on from the murders of Libby German and Abby Williams.
The bombshell document states that ballistics have confirmed that an unspent .40 caliber round found close to the bodies of the teenage victims came from Mr Allen’s gun.
“An unspent .40 caliber round between the bodies of Victim 1 and Victim 2 was forensically identified to have been cycled through Richard Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226,” the documents read.
The Sig Sauer Model P226, which the suspect owned since 2001, was found during a search of Mr Allen’s home last month.
Both the 50-year-old local man and his wife Kathy allegedly confirmed that he was the only person with access to the firearm.
In a police interview on 13 October, Mr Allen had “no explanation” as to how the spent bullet ended up in between the bodies of the two teenage victims, the document states.
The accused killer said he had “not been on the property where the unspent round was found, that he did not know the property owner, and that he had no explanation as to why a round cycled through his firearm would be at that location,” it says. The property owner – Ron Logan – was also previously tied to the case. He died in 2020.
The affidavit revealed for the first time that one of the victims mentions the word “gun” in chilling footage captured on Libby’s cellphone before she died – suggesting that their attacker was armed with a firearm and was using it to coerce the victims.
Detectives working on the case now believe that Mr Allen is the man captured in that video, the papers say.
Investigators had long been searching for the man – known as “bridge guy” – seen in a grainy video dressed in blue jeans, a blue jacket and a cap walking along the abandoned railroad bridge. In the footage, the man tells the two girls: “Guys, down the hill.”
The audio and a still image of the “bridge guy” was released to the public during the hunt for the killer but the full footage has never been shared.
“Detective [redacted], along with other investigators, believe the evidence gathered shows that Richard Allen is the male subject seen on the video from Victim 2’s phone who forced the victims down the hill,” the affidavit states.
“Further, that the victims were forced down the hill by Richard Allen and led to the location where they were murdered.”
The video was taken just 24 minutes after the victims had been dropped off by a family member at the start of the trail.
A vehicle matching the description of one belonging to Mr Allen at the time of the killings was also spotted by several witnesses parked close to the trail, the documents state.
Several witnesses also reported seeing a man matching the description of “bridge guy” around the time of the murders.
And – in a revelation that will likely raise questions about why the investigation rumbled on for almost five years before any arrest was made – the affidavit also confirms that Mr Allen was on the police radar at the time of the murders.
Mr Allen was interviewed by police back in 2017 and had confessed to being on the Monon High Bridge Trail on the afternoon of 13 February 2017 – at the same day and time that the victims went on a fateful walk along the trail.
At the time, he denied any involvement in the murders and insisted he had never seen the two girls that day.
The affidavit reveals that he is accused of killing the two victims in the midst of a kidnapping.
Last month, the CVS worker and married father to a daughter was arrested and charged with their murders.
The affidavit had been under lock and key ever since as prosecutors asked a judge to keep it sealed.
Prosecutors said that sealing the affidavit was important to protecting the investigation as they believe that the suspect may not be the sole person involved in the killings.
Following a court hearing last week, a judge on Tuesday ordered a partially-redacted version to be released to the public.
On 13 February 2017, best friends Libby, 14, and Abby, 13, set off on a hike along the Monon High Bridge Trail in their hometown of Delphi.
During the walk, Libby posted a photo of her best friend walking along the Monon High Bridge. It was the last known photo of Abby before she was killed.
Later that day, the teenagers were reported missing when they failed to return to a spot where a family member was picking them up.
The next day – Valentine’s Day 2017 – their bodies were discovered in a wooded area less than half a mile off the trail along the side of Deer Creek. Their cause of death has never been released.
The probable cause affidavit does not provide any further details about how the two victims died, but it does reveal that their clothes were found in a creek south of where their bodies were found.
New details were also released about the timeline of the murders, revealing that Libby and Abby were dropped off at the entrance to the trail by Mears Farm at 1.49pm.
Just over 20 minutes later at 2.13pm, the victims encountered bridge guy and filmed the incident on Libby’s phone.
The video ends with the victims following the man’s instructions and heading down the hill.
That appears to be the last proof of life of the victims.
The teenagers were never seen alive again by witnesses on the bridge and no other outgoing communications were found on Libby’s phone after that time.