Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Delphi Murders Trial Jurors Shown Extended Version of "Down the Hill" Video
A witness reported seeing a man "covered in mud and blood" the same day Libby German captured a video on her cell phone of a man instructing her and best friend Abby Williams to go "down the hill."
On day four of the Delphi murder trials, prosecutors showed jurors an extended version of the now-infamous video Liberty German took just before she and friend Abigail Williams were murdered in 2017.
Richard Allen, a Delphi, Indiana resident, is on trial for killing German and Williams, 13, on the afternoon of Feb. 13, 2017 after the teens had gone to the Delphi Historical Trails to enjoy a day off from school.
That afternoon German took a video on her cell phone that captured a man on Monon High Bridge, dressed in jeans, a blue jacket and hoodie.
A small portion of the video, which seemingly shows the man instructing the girls to go “down the hill,” was released by the Indiana State Police years ago as part of the investigation, but jurors saw an extended version of the video for the first time Tuesday, according to WRTV.
Indiana State Police Lt. Brian Bunner, a digital forensic expert, took the stand to testify about data he was able to retrieve from German’s phone when it was first processed Feb. 15, 2017.
Authorities discovered a video, approximately 35 to 40 seconds in length, taken by German at 2:13 p.m. on the afternoon of February 13, 2017 that showed the teen and Williams walking down the Delphi High Bridge. While she’s recording, German pans up at one point and no one appears to be behind them, however, later in the video, a man can be seen following behind them.
The unenhanced version of the video was played for the jury Tuesday afternoon, which captured one of the girls seemingly saying as they walked to the end of the bridge, “There’s no path. The trail ends here so we have to go down here?”
Several screenshots taken from the cell phone video of the man, who would later become known in the media as the “Bridge Guy,” were also shown to the jury.
Later that afternoon after forensic examiner Jeremy Chapman took the stand, jurors saw an enhanced version of the video, according to WRTV, where the man could be heard instructing the girls, “Guys, down the hill.”
The girls then began to descend down the bank of Deer Creek before the video ended, Indianapolis station WXIN reported.
Earlier this week, Indiana State Police crime scene investigator Brian Olehy testified that both girls were discovered dead near the trail the next day with their throats cut, according to ABC News. German’s cell phone, which recorded the video, was discovered lying underneath Williams’ body. Some of their clothing was recovered in the nearby creek.
RELATED: Delphi Murder Suspect Richard Allen's Attorneys Claim Victims Were Sacrificed By Pagans
Witness testifies to seeing man "covered in mud and blood"
Several witnesses also took the stand to report seeing a suspicious man fitting the description of the man in the video on the trail that afternoon.
Railly Voorhies, who was 16-years-old at the time of the murders and was friends with both victims on Snapchat, testified that she saw a man walking on the path that afternoon that “did not seem to be a happy person,” according to WRTV.
Breann Wilber, who was a student at Delphi High School at the time, was also on the trail that afternoon and recalled seeing a man shortly before the video was taken that she described as matching the description of “Bridge Guy.” According to her testimony, the man gave her “weird vibes.”
“It was a warmer day, and he was dressed in many layers, walking with a purpose,” she said.
Sarah Carbaugh testified that she spotted a man as she drove by the trail later that day, around 4 p.m., walking with his hands in his pockets and seemingly “covered in mud and blood,” The Indianapolis Star reports.
Carbaugh initially didn’t tell police about seeing the man, who she believed was “Bridge Guy,” because she said on the stand that she was scared, but came forward about three weeks later.
Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin challenged her account by pointing out during the cross-examination that Carbaugh initially described the man as being covered in “mud” not blood in two separate interviews in 2017. She didn’t use the word “blood” until a third interview in 2019, he asserted.
The trial continues this week.
Allen, who was arrested in 2022, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
