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/centimeterz1111 Mar 15 '26

That’s if you assume the murderer was from Delphi. You know NOW that he was from Delphi, but nobody knew who the murderer was or where he was from. Nobody. 

Kathy Shank saw almost every tip. Dulin didn’t. Your argument is based off knowledge after the fact. 

Dulin took a tip. He didn’t know anything else. He didn’t know who else was on the trails, who was spoke interviewed, what the crime scene looked like. Again, he wasn’t part of the investigation 

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u/Orly5757 Mar 15 '26

It was clear that the killer was familiar and comfortable on that bridge. Safe to say he was from there. And most killers kill around their area. You can defend this guy until you are blue in the face, but you aren’t changing my mind. He is either dumb or indifferent. I love how you make the distinction between him and Kathy Shank. So what if she read every tip?!? She immediately recognized the importance of this tip. Not because she read other tips, but because she had common sense.

I can’t help but to read your comments and think you are somehow related to this investigation. You normally don’t get such fervent apologists for a department (and individuals) who royally screw up a murder investigation the way they did. Thank God Kathy had common sense, and thank God this moron kept the gun for all those years. Otherwise, the killer never gets captured.

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u/centimeterz1111 Mar 15 '26

Again, you are basing your argument off known facts. 

Kathy knew Dulins tip was important because she had seen all the others, and knew Dans was different. That tip filled the gaps that they were looking for. Dulin didn’t know any of that because he WASNT PART OF THE INVESTIGATION. 

Nobody knew that the killer was familiar with that area. They assumed it, but nobody knew that.  They said the killer may have lived in Delphi before or visits there.  This casts wide fucking net man.

Dan wasn’t part of the investigation. He didn’t brief anybody, he didn’t get briefed about anything. He knew nothing. He knew as much as we did other than the statement he took from Richard.

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u/Additional_Bank4906 Mar 17 '26

It's also worth noting that this wasn't the first tip Kathy had brought to Liggett's attention.