DELPHI, Ind. – Abigail “Abby” Williams, wearing a sweater, jeans, sneakers and a messy bun, walks along the Monon High Bridge. Her best friend, Liberty “Libby” German, had gone before her and was recording Abby on her phone.
In the background, not far behind Abby, stands a man in a blue jacket and jeans who would later become widely known as the “Bridge Guy.” After Abby reached the end of the bridge, she pulled ahead of Libby and stepped on some gravel.
At one point in the 43-second video, one of the girls was heard saying, “There’s no path, so we have to go here.”
Tuesday October 22: Witness at Delphi trial testifies that he saw ‘Bridge Guy’ on the road: ‘I remember waving at him’
Jurors in the Delphi murder trial suspect Richard Allen on Tuesday saw what prosecutors say were some of the final moments of the two teens, who disappeared while crossing the Monon High Bridge trail on Feb. 13, 2017. As the video played, Libby’s mother, Carrie German Timmons, was seen crying as a family member comforted her.
Allen, 52, faces two counts of murder and two counts of murder while kidnapping the girls. His long-awaited trial comes more than seven years after the teens’ deaths and almost exactly two years after his arrest.
The fourth day of testimony began with a tedious recount of dozens of pieces of evidence recovered from the crime scene. The day ended with testimony from eyewitnesses who reported seeing the “Bridge Guy” on the trail. But they all gave different physical descriptions of the man they saw, and none fit Allen.
Police witness: Bridge Guy says ‘Down the hill’
For years, a grainy, zoomed-in photo from the video showing the “Bridge Guy” walking along the bridge was one of the most recognizable pieces of evidence in the high-profile case. Tuesday’s showing marked the first time prosecutors unveiled a much longer version of the video, which showed the man — who they allege is Allen — following the girls.
Allen’s defense team had previously tried to block testimony “about the words and sounds allegedly recorded in the video.”
On Tuesday, the video with enhanced audio was played in court, and the defense tried to stop a prosecution witness from saying what he thought the man in the clip said. But the witness, an Indiana State Police systems administrator, let it slip during testimony.
“My opinion,” Jeremy Chapman testified, “is that he says, ‘Down the hill.'”
Witnesses Describe Seeing ‘Bridge Guy’: ‘I Waved at Him’
Three witnesses who were on the Monon High Bridge route the day Abby and Libby disappeared testified that they saw a man who they later believed was “Bridge Guy.”
Railly Voorhies went to the Monon High Bridge trail with three friends to hike and take photos. About 2:15 p.m., the friends walked past a man on the west side of the trail where it intersects US 25. Voorhies testified that the man appeared overdressed due to the weather. It was an unseasonably warm February day, but the man was dressed in a jacket and hat. His nose and mouth were covered with what appeared to be a running mask, and he walked with both hands in his pockets.
“I remember waving at him and saying ‘hello,’ and he didn’t say ‘hello’ back, and he kind of looked at me angrily,” Voorhies testified. “He didn’t seem to be a happy person.”
After hearing what happened to Abby and Libby, she thought about the “disturbing man” she saw on the road. She made a statement to the police on February 15, 2017. After police released a photo of the man later dubbed “Bridge Guy,” Voorhies said, “I realized this was the guy I had waved to along the way. don’t respond.”
Breann Wilber, who walked with Voorhies, testified that the man was emitting “weird vibrations” and “walking with purpose, as if he knew where he was going.” Wilber was best friends with Kelsi Siebert, Libby’s older sister.
Betsy Blair, who was also out that day, said she saw a man standing on the wooden rails about 50 feet away from her as she stood near a platform at the beginning of the bridge. When the man turned to look at her, Blair said, he looked as if he expected to see someone else.
“He was looking a little upstream,” Blair said, meaning away from where she was standing, “but when I got there he turned around and it looked like he was looking for someone.”
Just before 2:00 PM that day, she saw Abby and Libby talking quietly as they walked to the bridge.
After police released the photo of the “Bridge Guy,” Blair said, “I knew right away… that was the guy I saw on the bridge.”
The defense tries to cast doubt on the testimony of witnesses
Defense attorneys tried to question the testimony of the witnesses, who described the man they saw as younger than 40 years old, taller and quite tall. Blair initially told police the man looked “boyish.” Voorhies, who is 6 feet tall, testified that the man she saw was taller than her.
Allen, who would have been 44 when the girls were killed, is described by his attorneys as 6 feet tall and in jail records as 6 feet tall.
Attorney Jennifer Auger, who questioned Voorhies, pointed to descriptions she gave to police in 2017. Voorhies was able to tell police that the man had dirty blond hair, even though he was wearing a hat. She also initially told police that the man she saw had brown eyes, a wrinkled face and a square jaw. On the stand, Voorhies said, “I don’t know how I could have said that since his face was covered.”
She then acknowledged that her memory was “affected” by the “Bridge Guy” photo and said she can’t remember exactly what she saw that day.
By the end of the testimony, Voorhies said she was confident of her identification.
“I could say with confidence that the person I saw in the photo is the person I walked past,” she said.
Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin noted that Wilber initially told police she was “as high as his upper arm.” She said Tuesday that “that was what I suspected at the time.”
Baldwin also noted that Blair initially described the man as “boyish looking.” Baldwin made his point and then alluded to Allen: The man on the bridge “didn’t look like someone who had been married for more than 25 years -“
The prosecutor objected, saying Baldwin was asserting facts instead of questioning the witness. Special Judge Frances Gull supported the objection and Baldwin was forced to proceed.
Testimonies will resume on Wednesday.
Contact IndyStar reporter Kristine Phillips at (317) 444-3026 or at kphillips@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on the Indianapolis Star: The Delphi trial of Richard Allen continues with ‘Bridge Guy’ video
