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Richard Allen Delphi murder trial updates: focus on DNA, bullet

Pabio October 29, 2024

The trial against Richard Allen continues October 28 in Delphi, Indiana, with DNA experts on the stand.

Allen, 52, is accused of murdering two teenagers who disappeared on February 13, 2017 and were found dead the next day. He was arrested in 2022 and faces two counts of murder and two counts of murder during a kidnapping in connection with the death of Abigail “Abby” Williams and German Liberty “Libby”.

Journalists from Indianapolis Star and the Lafayette Journal & Courier will cover the case as it moves through the court system.

A crime scene investigator trained in bloodstain analysis said Libby German was likely dragged after her throat was slit, one of the few revelations during Monday’s proceedings.

Major Patrick Cicero of the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office said he reached that conclusion based on a bloodstain on the teen’s foot – indicating she had stepped on blood – and because he would have expected to see more blood collected around his body. He said he believed German was pulled by her arm, which was above her head when she was found.

The opposite was true for Abby Williams, according to Cicero’s testimony, with the officer telling jurors he believed Williams was injured where she was found.

Cicero further mentioned that Williams did not have blood on his hands, saying that this was unusual because people with these types of injuries usually touched their wounds. He speculated that Williams was either restrained or unconscious.

Jennifer Auger, one of Richard Allen’s lawyers, pointed out during cross-examination that Cicero was only invited to join the case in February of this year and that he had only seen photographs of the crime scene, not the evidence in person. She mentioned that trees and terrain can change.

She also mentioned that the bloodstain analysis diagrams contained no mention of “drag marks,” indicating that German’s body had been moved.

Stacy Bozinovski, an Indiana State Police forensic pathologist, said Monday that she did not find enough DNA material from the unspent cartridge recovered at the crime scene to develop a DNA profile.

Bozinovski, who specializes in paternity or parentage analysis, testified that she took a sample of the entire surface and attempted to collect potential skin cells, but said it was difficult to obtain a sample of DNA from such a small object. Prosecutors alleged — and an Indiana State Police firearms examiner testified last week – that the unspent cartridge had been put into the same Sig Sauer handgun, model P226, .40 caliber, that Allen owns.

Bozinovski also said she found no evidence that the teens were sexually assaulted. She said she tested samples taken from the girls, including vaginal swabs and fingernail scrapings, and found no sperm or other types of male DNA.

There was some male DNA in the samples taken from the girls, but she said the amount she detected was not unusual and could have been transmitted through normal everyday contact.

A strand of hair discovered around Abby’s finger was initially found to have belonged to an unknown womanprobably a relative of Libby, Bozinovski testified. Earlier this month, Bozinovski determined the DNA profile matched that of Kelsi Siebert, Libby’s older sister. Bozinovski said she was able to conduct additional testing after Siebert provided her with a hair sample.

Previously from the Delphi test: Officer recalls interview leading up to Richard Allen’s arrest in Delphi murder trial

At one point during the testimony, Special Judge Frances Gull called out to audience members who were falling asleep.

“I’m not running the court in your chambers,” Gull said. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t sleep in my courtroom.”

We don’t know who fell asleep. People camped out overnight to try to get places for the trial which attracted international attention.

Richard Allen trial: Delphi jurors hear from expert who attached Allen’s gun to unspent cartridge at crime scene