Richard Allen Probable Cause Affidavit: Delphi Murders Document

Richard Allen is a pharmacy technician and married father who is accused in the 2017 murders of two girls, Abigail Williams and Liberty German, near an old railroad bridge in Delphi, Indiana.

Allen was arrested in October 2022, more than five years after the February 14, 2017, killings. Allen had not previously been identified as a suspect publicly. At the time of his arrest, officials said court documents associated with the case should remain sealed to protect the identities of witnesses and for the integrity of the case and ongoing investigation. Members of the media objected to the sealing of a probable cause affidavit that details what led to the arrest of Allen. After a legal battle, and over prosecutor’s objections, a judge lifted the seal on the documents on November 29, 2022. A redacted version, hiding the names of witnesses, was released. You can read the documents here:

The court documents indicate that the key evidence against Richard M. Allen consists of witness statements, his admission that he was on the bridge, the fact he owned similar clothing, and, most critically, that ballistics tests indicated a bullet found between the victims’ bodies matched his gun.

Allen’s attorney released a statement proclaiming his client’s innocence and saying that Allen is confused by he has been accused of the crimes.

Here’s what you need to know:

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The Affidavit Says Police Knew Richard Allen Was on the Bridge That Day as Far Back as 2017

How did it take so long to identify Allen as a suspect? According to Fox59, an investigative source claims a 2017 interview with Allen, in which he volunteered that he had been on the trail that day, “was overlooked due to a ‘clerical error.'”

The television station reported that “someone mislabeled or misfiled tip information in the system, which means it didn’t show up in the correct location during a data search,” but added that the FBI insists that agency “correctly followed established procedures.”

The two victims were found “deceased in the woods,” their bodies located on the north side of the Deer Creek, according to the affidavit, which was written by police. The affidavit gives additional details about the video recorded by one of the victims on Snapchat. The previously released portion captured the man saying “guys, down the hill.”

The probable cause affidavit says that “as the male subject approaches Victim 1 and Victim 2, one of the victims mentions ‘gun’.” The girls began to proceed down the hill after being instructed to do so and the video ended, according to police.

According to the affidavit, clothes were found in the Deer Creek belonging to the victims, south of where their bodies were located. There was also a .40 caliber unspent round less than two feet away from one of the victims, between the victim’s bodies, police said. The round was unspent and had extraction marks on it, investigators said.

Three juveniles, whose names are redacted in the documents, told police they were on the Monon High Bridge Trail on February 13, 2017, and they were walking toward Freedom Bridge to go home when they encountered a male walking from Freedom Bridge toward the Monon High Bridge, according to the affidavit. They described him as “kind of creepy” and wearing “like blue jeans a like really light blue jacket and … his hair was gray maybe a little brown and he did not really show his face,” police said.

The jacket was a dark canvas-type jacket, according to the juveniles. One of the juveniles told police she said said hi to the male but he just glared at them, according to the affidavit. He was dressed in all black with something covering his mouth and was “not very tall” with a bigger build and not bigger than 5 foot 10 inches, according to the affidavit. He was wearing a black hoodie, black jeans and black boots and had his hands in his pockets, police said.

The man was also described as wearing a blue or black windbreaker jacket with a hood up from clothing underneath his jacket and he was wearing baggy jeans, police wrote in the affidavit. He was walking with a purpose and kept his head down. She believed he was a white male. Another witness also observed a man matching the suspect in the victim’s video. She described him as a white male, wearing blue jeans and a blue jean jacket, according to the affidavit.

He was standing on the first platform of the Monon High Bridge, the witness told police. She then saw the two victims walking toward the bridge. She noted a vehicle parked in an odd manner at the old Child Protective Services building. Police said another witness saw a purple PT Cruiser or small SUV-type vehicle parked on the south side of the old CPS building and it appeared it was backed in as to conceal the license plate.

Another witness reported seeing the man in a blue-colored jacket and blue jeans and said he was “muddy and bloody.” It “appeared he had gotten into a fight.” That was around 3:57 p.m. Investigators reviewing prior tips encountered a tip narrative from an officer who interviewed Richard M. Allen in 2017.

The narrative written by the officer stated:

Mr. Allen was on the trail between 1330-1530. He parked at the old Farm Bureau building and walked to the new Freedom Bridge. While at the Freedom Bridge he saw three females. He noted one was taller and had brown or black hair. He did not remember description nor did he speak with them. He walked from the Freedom Bridge to the High Bridge. He did not see anybody, although he stated he was watching a stock ticker on his phone as he walked. He stated there were vehicles parked at the High Bridge trail head, however he did not pay attention to them. He did not take any photos or videos. The tip included the line, ‘Potential follow up information: Who were the three girls walking in the area of Freedom Bridge?’

Investigators believe Allen was referring to the former Child Protective Services Building, according to the affidavit. Investigators said they discovered Richard Allen owned a 2016 black Ford Focus and a 2006 gray Ford 500 in 2017. They observed a video resembling his Ford Focus on the Hoosier Harvestore video at 1:27 p.m. traveling westbound, which coincided with his statement that he arrived around 1:30 p.m. at the trails, according to the probable cause affidavit. Investigators believe the witnesses described cars similar to a Ford Focus, the affidavit said.

On October 13, 2022, Allen was interviewed again by investigators. He advised he was on the trails that day and saw juvenile girls, according to the affidavit. Investigators wrote that ALlen claimed he went out onto the Monon High Bridge to watch the fish and that he walked out to the first platform on the bridge and then walked back, sat on a bench on the trail and left.

He said was wearing blue jeans and a blue or black Carhartt jacket with a hood, according to the affidavit. He also said he owns firearms and they are at his house, police wrote.

His wife, Kathy Allen, confirmed that Richard had guns and knives at home and still owned a blue Carhartt jacket, according to the affidavit. Officers executed a search warrant at Allen’s home and located jackets, boots, knives and firearms, including a Sig Sauer Model P226, .40 caliber pistol, investigators wrote in the affidavit.

The Indiana State Police Laboratory examined the firearm and used a ballistic matching program called NIBIN. They determined the unspent round located within two feet of the victim’s body had been cycled through Richard M. Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226, according to the affidavit.

“Sufficient agreement is related to the significant duplication of random striated/impressed marks as evidenced by the correspondence of a pattern or combination of patterns of surface contours,” investigators wrote in the affidavit. Allen told police he purchased the gun in 2001, according to the affidavit. Allen had no explanation for why the bullet was found between the bodies but said he never allowed anyone to use or borrow the gun, investigators wrote.

Authorities believe Allen is the man seen on video recorded by one of the victims, according to court documents.

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Richard Allen Is Accused of Killing the Girls While Kidnapping Them or Attempting to Kidnap Them, Court Documents State

Richard Allen, 50, lives in Delphi, about five minutes from the murder scene. His full name is Richard Matthew Allen. According to charging documents, Allen was accused of killing the victims while committing or attempting to kidnap them. Allen is charged with two counts of murder and is being held in jail without bond.

Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter confirmed in a news conference on Monday, October 31, 2022, that Richard M. Allen was arrested on two counts of murder in the notorious case. Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland revealed that Allen has been charged with the slayings of Williams, also known as Abby, and German, also called Libby, and called him a “local guy.”

Allen, who was not on the radar as a suspect in the case publicly before his arrest, has already appeared at an initial hearing and entered a not guilty plea. He will be tried in March 2023.

“Today is different. I do not want there to be any confusion or ambiguity about what I will say. Today is not a day to celebrate. But the arrest of Richard M. Allen of Delphi on two counts of murder” is a step toward a conclusion in this “long and complex investigation,” Carter said.

He added: “Last Friday was the day … an arrest was made.” Carter said the investigation will continue so that any other person who could have been involved in the murders in any way will be held accountable. He said he hoped Allen’s arrest would bring the girls’ families a measure of peace.

News first broke of Allen’s arrest on October 28, when Fox59 reported that Allen was in custody. Posts by family members of German, who was 14 when she was murdered, quickly indicated something major was going on. “At long last we have a face to go with our monster,” German’s grandmother Becky Marchand Patty wrote on Facebook after Allen’s arrest. Williams was 13.

The case was one of the most famous unsolved homicides in the Midwest. One of the girls recorded a snippet of video of the suspected killer, when they encountered a man walking on a bridge, and he could be heard mumbling “down the hill.” The case has spawned true-crime groups and podcasts; many have worked to get justice for the two girls.

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Photos of Richard Allen Have Gained Attention

Two photos have drawn attention since Allen’s arrest.

In 2018, Allen’s wife posted a photo of their daughter on the same bridge. You can see it below. Allen lives on Whiteman Drive in Delphi, Indiana, in a 3-bedroom, 2-bath home, according to property records.

In addition, he was photographed in December 2021 in a Delphi bar with his wife sitting in front of what appears to be a police sketch of the Delphi killer.

Daily Beast spoke to the bar owner, Bob Matlock.

“He would come in and we would always talk about the girls and everything,” Matlock told Daily Beast. ‘We would carry on conversations about it, he would say, you know, it’s such a tragedy, and we’d say we felt sorry for the families and all that, but we tried not to talk about it too much because we all knew the families.”

Before the news broke about Allen, German’s sister said on social media that there was a break in the case.

On October 28, 2022, Kelsi German, tweeted, “Just know how grateful I am for all of you. No comments for now, any questions please refer to the Carroll county prosecutors office. There is tentatively a press conference Monday at 10am. We will say more then. Today is the day💜.”

Williams, 13, and German, 14, had gone for a walk on an old railroad bridge along Monon High Bridge trail near Delphi on February 13, 2017, when they were murdered, according to police. Authorities previously released a short video and audio of a man the girls encountered on the trail.

Allen lives five minutes from the bridge. Online records indicate he’s lived at the Delphi address since about 2006. He previously lived in Peru, Greenwood and Mexico, Indiana. The Delphi house was a cash purchase; it’s assessed at $142,800, online records show.

The girls were discovered near the Monon High Bridge Trail, Fox59 reported, which is part of the Delphi Historic Trails.

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