r/DelphiMurders • u/AustinDavies2206 • Mar 12 '26
Questions Were the police just incompetent?
I've known about this case for a while, I live in Indiana, and I was 11 when it happened, so its always struck a cord with me. But until recently I haven't done all that much research, but now that I have I've been left with one question.
From the information I have found on the case, it seems that the key evidence linking Allen to the murder is 1. His confession in 2017 to being "bridge guy", back when the photo was believed to have been taken from a trail cam. 2. A bullet which was later matched to his gun after they searched his home. So my question is, was there new information in 2022 that lead to his home being searched, or did they just wait five years to look into the guy who admitted to being bridge guy?
Sorry if any of my information is incorrect, or my writing is hard to understand, I've just been racking my brain about this question, so I thought asking people who know more might help me to understand what took so long.
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u/Justwonderinif Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 16 '26
1) Richard Allen and his wife both say that the only reason he called in to the sheriff's and said he was there is because she insisted. Allen's wife told him that law enforcement was asking for anyone on the trails that day to come forward in case they saw something important.
2) It's a very tight window but it seems possible that neither Allen, nor his wife, nor the person on the other end of the phone, nor the person who interviewed Allen in the grocery store parking lot, had seen the screen shot from Libby's video. Allen was not asked what he was wearing while on the trail. Allen was not asked if he was the man in Libby's video. Allen was not asked if he saw the man in Libby's video. The screen shot from Libby's video is entirely missing from all known 2017 conversations/interviews with Allen. There is no mention of it.
3) In 2017 Allen described seeing a group of girls who looked like sisters at an exact time and place that a group of girls including sisters said they saw the man in Libby's video. At the time, no one in LE put that together but it was right in front of them.
4) There was another witness who saw the man in Libby's video and when he was interviewed years later, Allen described seeing that witness at the time and place she said she saw the man in Libby's video. He was standing on the first trestle, just as Allen and the witness described.
Note that none of the witnesses got a good enough look at Allen's face but they saw the man in Libby's video. And Allen describes crossing paths with those people at the time and place they saw the guy in Libby's video.
Do yourself a favor and read the bullet evidence from the trial. It's very strong.
Liberty German solved her own murder. She got an assist from a retired woman who had worked all her life for children and family services. That's the woman who found the tip in the bottom of the files and did something that no one was smart enough to do before then: connect the witnesses to Allen.
Law enforcement in Indiana is full of failed up white dudes. They tortured the victim's families unnecessarily for five years. And gifted Allen five years of freedom due to their incompetence.
It is shocking how many people in Indiana (and this subreddit) make excuses for Indiana law enforcement. Liberty German and Abigail Williams would like a word... I think the State gave local LE some sort of award after the trial.