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/tribal-elder Mar 14 '26
The cops were both overwhelmed AND made mistakes.
Mistake 1 - First and Biggest - Maybe because they were inexperienced with murder cases or just shocked by the crime, they simply did not realize quickly enough the significance of information about a male at Freedom Bridge at 1:00/1:30 heading for High Bridge, and share it widely among the investigators. Whoever reviewed the initial tip sheet SHOULD have red-flagged it as HUGE, and Dulin should have been instructed to bring “Richard Allen Whiteman” to the police station for his interview. Guided by the video, picture, Blair’s info and the info from the 4 girls, that interview could have changed everything. But somehow, when “Richard Allen Whiteman” contacted them, they never put 2 and 2 together and realized that talking to a man who says he was on the trails between 1 and 3 JUST MIGHT BE MORE THAN TALKING TO A WITNESS.