DELPHI, Ind. — It's been more than seven years since the bodies of Abby Williams and Libby German were found near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi. Richard Allen, the man accused of killing the two teenagers, will stand trial for the second day.
The trial began Friday, Oct. 18.
Sixteen Allen County residents were selected earlier this week to serve on the jury. Twelve of those people will begin the trial as jurors and four will serve as alternates. Testimonies will continue on the second day.
The jury is made up of eight women and four men. The four alternate jurors are two men and two women.
From opening statements to verdict, 13News will be at the Carroll County courthouse every day of the trial to explain what happened inside the courtroom.
One the first day of the trial, Special Judge Frances Gull read the jury their instructions, and both the prosecution and defense made their opening statements to the jury.
Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland said the state's case centers on the man on the Monon High bridge, an unspent bullet found at the scene, and the murders of Abby and Libby.
Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin said the state's case was built on a faulty timeline and evidence that didn't match up. He highlighted witness statements and forensic evidence that cast doubt on the state's case.
Becky Patty, Libby German's grandmother; Kelsi Siebert, Libby's sister; and Derrick German, Libby and Kelsi's dad; all took the stand.
Click here for a full recap of the first day of the trial.
Follow along with the latest updates below:
11:38 a.m. - The jury was told the next witness is lengthy so they are released for the weekend. The jury will be back Monday morning.
State's 6th witness: Pat Brown, one who found Libby and Abby's bodies
11:25 a.m. - Attorney Andrew Baldwin, part of Richard Allen's defense team, asked Brown if officers with guns came down to the scene.
Brown replied "yes."
Baldwin asked if there were "lots of police" and Brown replied with "a few."
The jury asked Brown a few questions. One of the jury members asked how long it took for police to get to the bodies, to which Brown replied with "5 minutes."
10:55 a.m. - It's now Brown's turn to testify. He lives two miles away from High Bridge.
He said he's known Mike Patty since high school. Brown's wife told him Becky Patty posted on Facebook that Libby was missing. He called Mike and told him he would help look. He also called his friend, Tom Mears, who said he would meet Brown by the cemetery.
Brown showed the jury on a map the areas he searched. He said he stopped at Ron Logan's house to see if Logan had seen them, then he went to the cemetery.
Brown said he walked down the ravine near Deer Creek and saw people setting up a drone. He then went to Mears' entrance and drove around the countryside to see if the girls were walking.
He described the ravine area as "really steep" near Deer Creek.
Brown said he saw people searching with flashlights and a flying drone.
He then drove into town looking for the girls, stopped at the fire station and then went home.
He started searching again early Tuesday morning. He said he met people at Stone House Restaurant and got coffee. He saw Mullin coordinating with people to search and got Mullin's phone number and started searching again with Mears.
Brown said he picked up his daughter from school mid-morning, because she didn't feel well, and then had lunch.
Mears called him to say he got a call that Shane Haygood had found clothing and asked Brown to check the area.
Brown parked near the cemetery and talked to a relative of Libby's family.
During his testimony, Brown told the jury, “First I thought they were mannequins.” He then began crying as he told jurors he realized, “We found ‘em.”
Brown said he was five feet from Libby and Abby's bodies. "I stood there facing away from them," he said. Then, police came.
Brown said you would not have been able to see the bodies from the water. He also noted that he did not have a gun on him.
The families of the girls cried in the courtroom after hearing Brown's testimony.
State's 5th witness: Jake Johns, lifelong Delphi resident
10 a.m. - The next witness to take the stand was lifelong Delphi resident Jake Johns.
Johns knows the German family, his wife worked with Becky Patty, Libby German's grandmother, and he helped search for the missing girls.
The day he searched for the missing girls, he said he parked at Riley Park near downtown. He said it took him four hours, following River Bed, to reach High Bridge during the search.
During the search, Johns said he found Libby’s tie dye shirt in Deer Creek, which isn't far from Monon High Bridge. He ended up telling a fireman on Local Drive 625 he found clothing in the water. The fireman walked across the bridge to check the other side of the bank and found black Nike shoes.
Johns said nobody else was searching the area where they were on the south side of the water. However, he said he did see people on the north side.
Johns said Brown came to search from the other side. Brown knows Mike Patty and helped search for the missing girls. Libby's family also came to search the area.
Brown ended up finding Libby and Abby's bodies. Johns said he didn't see the bodies, but found a shirt and Nike shoes. Johns said the shirt was "easy to see," but he didn't go in the water. Johns said he could hear Brown, but he couldn't see him.
State's 4th witness: Steve Mullin, former Delphi police chief
9:49 a.m. - The jurors asked Mullin a few questions. One of the jurors asked why he was looking downstream.
Mullin replied because the "girls might have."
Another juror asked for clarity on where the bodies were exactly found.
Mullin clarified that the bodies were found on dry land and not in the creek.
9:08 a.m. - Prosecutor Nick McLeland, on behalf of the state of Indiana, questions Former Delphi Police Chief Steve Mullin.
Mullin was chief when Libby and Abby went missing. Mullin said he heard on police radio that the girls were missing on Feb. 13, 2017. In court, Mullin, now a Carroll County prosecutor, pointed out on a map where the girls were dropped off at the trail. He said the search for the girls lasted until just before 2 a.m.
"I still believed at that time they would returns home," he said.
The girls were still missing at 7 a.m., so Mullin said he set up a command center at the Delphi Fire Department and coordinated searches. He noted that the original searches were "downstream."
Mullin showed the jury where Abby and Libby’s bodies were found on a huge aerial map showing Monon High Bridge trails. He also took drone footage on Feb. 13, 2024 to show jurors the trails from Freedom Bridge and Monon High Bridge.
Mullin pointed out improvements to the jury made to the Monon High Bridge since the 2017 murders and original areas of the unimproved railroad ties.
The Hoosier Harvest store has security cameras. Mullin said he looked at the security camera footage to record information on cars that had traveled in that area on Feb. 13, 2017.
At 12:15 p.m. on February 14, 2017, Mullin said he received a call from Delphi resident Pat Brown that Abby and Libby's bodies were found south of Morning Heights Cemetery, along Deer Creek.
9:05 a.m. - The second day of the trial started approximately 5 minutes late.
Allen, who is wearing a green shirt and khaki pants with reading glasses on top of his head, turns frequently to look at his wife and family in the courtroom.
9 a.m. - The second day of the trial has started. Not all of the seats were filled in the courtroom. There will not be any updates available until there is a break because the people in the courtroom cannot have cameras, cellphones or any other electronic devices.
8 a.m. - Senior investigative reporter Bob Segall prepares to enter the Carroll County Courthouse for the second day of Richard Allen's trial. 13News has one of 12 media seats inside the courtroom for Saturday, Oct. 19.
7:50 a.m. - The line is already building up for the second day of testimony in the Delphi murders trial. Doors to the Carroll County Courthouse open in 10 minutes. Saturday's session will start at 9 a.m.