DELPHI, Ind. – As Day 6 of testimony in the Delphi murders trials began, the state began to lay the groundwork for its case against Richard Allen.
Allen is charged with four counts of murder in connection with the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge. Indiana State Police announced his arrest in October 2022. His trial started last week.
Day 5 of the trial included combative defense exchanges with a “Bridge Guy” witness, an account from the pathologist who performed autopsies on the girls and testimony from a state police digital forensic examiner on cell phone pings and data extracted from Libby’s phone.
On Thursday, jurors learned how Allen became associated with the case.
Misfiled report leads to scrutiny
The first witness was Kathy Shank, a retired DCS worker who volunteered to help with administrative duties like organizing files and tips into a database. She estimated she handled about 14,000 tips related to the Delphi murders case. She told the court she volunteered on the case because she wanted to help.
On Sept. 21, 2022, she came across a file folder that was not with the others she was managing. Inside was a report with the name “Richard Allen Whiteman.” The report indicated that Allen was on the Monon High Bridge on the day of the murders.
She immediately notified Tony Liggett, lead investigator on the case and the current Carroll County sheriff. Shank noted that the tip sheet said “cleared” and wasn’t sure why Allen’s name was entered incorrectly as “Richard Allen Whiteman.”
The discrepancy surrounded Allen’s address, which was located on Whiteman Drive. Shank determined the name on the tip was incorrect, with “Richard Allen” being the person’s name and “Whiteman” referring to his home address.
Shank told the court the report caught her attention because she recalled three girls reported seeing a man on the bridge and thought there was a “possible correlation.”
During cross examination from defense attorney Andrew Baldwin, Shank said she never saw any other tips regarding Richard Allen or “Richard Allen Whiteman.” She simply thought the report was “something to look in to.”
DNR officer recounts interview
The state next called Capt. Dan Dulin with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, who was tasked with helping investigators track down leads in the Delphi murders case.
He met with Allen on Feb. 18, 2017—just a few days after the murders. He was a lieutenant at the time. Allen had contacted investigators to “self-report” that he had been on the Monon High Bridge on the day the girls disappeared.
Dulin initially wanted to meet at Allen’s house, but Allen didn’t want to meet there. Dulin then suggested the police station. Again, Allen preferred a different location. Allen suggested they meet in the parking lot of a Save A Lot store. Dulin agreed.
He confirmed Allen’s name and noted he lived on Whiteman Drive.
Allen told Dulin he was in the area of the Monon High Bridge between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on the day the girls disappeared. Over the course of the conversation, Allen changed the timeline to 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
He told Dulin he saw three young girls when he was walking. By Allen’s account, he wasn’t paying much attention to his surroundings as he walked and checked a stock ticker on his phone. He said he went to the Freedom Bridge and then to the Monon High Bridge. Dulin was confident Allen had parked at the old DCS building.
Dulin told the court the conversation lasted about 10 minutes. He typed up on the notes on Microsoft Word. The information was then filed into the system.
Dulin told the court he didn’t think much of the interview until investigators contacted him in 2022 after Shank found his 2017 report. He was asked if he’d spoken to Allen. He searched his computer, found a document he’d typed and turned over his files.
Dulin went into the DNR files in 2022 to see if there was any additional information about Allen. He discovered that when Allen applied for a new fishing license on April 1, 2017, he reported a new height and weight, changing his height from 5’4” to 5’6”. He also listed a different weight.
Dulin found that “uncommon.”
When defense attorney Bradley Rozzi cross examined Dulin, he asked if anything about Allen struck him as unusual.
“No,” Dulin answered.
Dulin testified that he gathered info from Allen’s phone during their encounter in 2017 but didn’t look at the contents. While investigators said Wednesday that they collected and analyzed 23 of Allen’s electronic devices, his 2017 phone was not in the possession of law enforcement and hasn’t been found.
Five weeks after Shank discovered the misfiled report, Allen was arrested in connection with the murders.
Mullin returns to stand
Once Dulin finished his testimony, Steve Mullin took the stand.
Mullin is the former Delphi police chief who went on to become an investigator for the Carroll County Prosecutor’s Office. He testified on Saturday about the early days of the case.
Mullin said he received paperwork about Richard Allen on Sept. 21, 2022. That would’ve been the same day Shank flagged the report. Tony Liggett contacted him, Mullin recalled.
Mullin spoke with Dulin about the 2017 report and discovered no one had followed up on Allen. He did some additional research and found Allen had two vehicles registered to him: a 2006 Ford 500 and a 2016 Ford Focus.
Liggett went to CVS and took a photo of Allen’s Ford Focus. Mullin went to retrieve video from the Hoosier Harvest Store to see if Allen drove by there. He told the court he saw a vehicle entering the frame that matched Allen’s vehicle around 1:27 p.m.
He couldn’t see the license plate or the driver in the video. Mullin, however, said the car looked like Allen’s and the rims were similar. Allen had said to Dulin that he arrived at the CPS building around 1:30 p.m.
On Oct. 13, 2022, Mullin and Liggett went to Allen’s home. They informed him he was under no obligation to go with them, but he agreed to an interview and left with them for the police station.
Mullin advised him of his rights.
When asked about Feb. 13, 2017—the day the girls disappeared—Allen said he’d gone to his mother’s that morning and said he was off from work that day.
He returned home, got a jacket and went to the trial. He recounted passing three girls and said he was looking at a stock ticker on his phone.
He recalled arriving at noon and leaving at 1:30 p.m. and said he walked on the Monon High Bridge to look at the fish. He believed he’d driven his 2016 vehicle and estimated he was on the trails for about an hour.
In the 2017 DNR report, Allen said he was in the area from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
He recalled wearing a black or blue Carhartt jacket and blue jeans.
He initially agreed to let investigators look through his phone and provided them with the passcode before changing his mind. At one point, he became “agitated” and walked out of the room, according to Mullin.
When the interview resumed, Mullin showed him the “Bridge Guy” picture. Allen said if the photo was from one of the Delphi victims’ phones, “there’s no way” it could’ve been him.
He then terminated the interview, Mullin said. The court took a break.