The suspect in the Delphi murders may never have been prosecuted if it weren’t for a volunteer receptionist who made a breakthrough in the cold case.
The trial of Richard Allen, accused of murder, began this month and brought to light new evidence along with the backstories of the people involved in his arrest in October 2022.
On Thursday, Kathy Shank, a volunteer tasked with organizing the filing system for tens of thousands of tips and leads, explained her critical role in the case.
She described finding the document relating to ‘Rick Allen Whitehead’ among the hoard, after his information ‘fell into oblivion’ leaving it ‘hidden in plain sight’ for years.
Allen, now 52, had been interviewed by police as a potential witness after he contacted them to say he had been on the Indiana trail where victims Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14, disappeared on February 13. , 2017.
The suspect in the Delphi murders may never have been prosecuted if not for a volunteer receptionist who made a breakthrough in the cold case, leading to the arrest of key suspect Richard Allen (pictured), who is now He is on trial in Indiana.
Libby and Abby were kidnapped and murdered while hiking the Monon High Bridge Trail outside Delphi, Indiana, on February 13, 2017.
In September 2022, Shank filed Allen’s tip in an online database and realized that the time he said he was on the Monon High Bridge Trail coincided with the time the girls were thought to have gone missing.
He reviewed the files and discovered that Allen’s interview had been mislabeled with Whitehead’s name and marked “authorized,” meaning no follow-up was ever done.
It was his investigation of the apparent correlations in timing that led police to update the case focusing on Allen, leading to his ongoing trial in Indiana. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The court also heard from Department of Natural Resources official Danial Dulin, who conducted the first brief interview with Allen in a grocery store parking lot on Feb. 18, 2017.
He recalled finding it “strange” that Allen did not come into the office or allow officers to go to his house and that Allen told him he was on the road between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.
Dulin didn’t remember anything particularly unusual about his encounter with Allen back then. But years later, when then-police chief Steve Mullins and his colleague Tony Liggett, now sheriff, brought him in for a more official interview, both his story and his demeanor had changed.
Mullins took the stand to recall how Allen voluntarily went with him and Liggett to a more formal interview on October 13, 2022.
The trial of Richard Allen, accused of murder, began this month and brought to light new evidence along with the backstories of the people involved in his arrest in October 2022.
The so-called ‘bridge boy’ filmed during the girls’ final moments and who, according to prosecutors, is Richard Allen.
By then, officers had removed the roadside surveillance camera to the trailhead and identified a vehicle they believed to be Allen’s, which arrived around 1:27 p.m. on February 13, 2017.
But when questioned in 2022, Allen, who told officers he had shown up at the suggestion of his wife Kathy, said he had gone to the trail around noon.
He claims he did this after visiting his mother in the morning and going home to pick up a jacket.
Allen insisted and said he only stayed an hour.
He said he had walked toward the bridge and saw three girls leave the path when he entered.
The alleged killer then walked across the bridge to the first platform, where he stood and searched for fish before returning home, he claimed.
By then, officers had removed the roadside surveillance camera to the trailhead and identified a vehicle they believed to be Allen’s, which arrived around 1:27 p.m. on February 13, 2017.
But when questioned in 2022, Allen, who told officers he had come forward at the suggestion of his wife Kathy, said he had gone to the trail around noon after visiting his mother and had gone home in the morning. to pick up a jacket. He said he only stayed an hour.
He said he had walked towards the bridge and saw three girls leave the trail as he entered, and he walked towards the bridge to the first platform where he stood and looked for fish before returning home.
When asked what he was wearing that day, Allen said a blue or black Carhartt jacket, blue jeans, a cap and combat boots or sneakers.
Allen initially said officers could examine his phone before changing their minds.
Mullins then told the court: “We showed Mr Allen a photo of Bridge Guy and the way we phrased the question was that we needed to determine if the person was him and his response was strange.”
Allen, now 52, had been interviewed by police as a potential witness after he contacted them to say he had been on the Indiana trail where victims Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14, disappeared on February 13. , 2017
“He said, ‘If the photo was taken with the girls’ camera, there was no way it could be him.’
The interview ended when Allen became nervous and left.
Allen was arrested in October 2022 and charged with murdering German and Williams.
His lawyers have claimed that he is innocent and that the girls were killed as part of a “ritual sacrifice” by a group of Odinists, although they have been banned from mentioning the cult in court.