Delphi trial jurors hear from blood specialist who says Libby German was likely dragged

DELPHI, Indiana ― The third week in the double-murder trial of Richard Allen began with testimonies from a forensic scientist who examined a key piece of evidence that allegedly tied Allen to the killings of Abigail "Abby" Williams and Liberty "Libby" German, and a blood specialist who testified that one of the teens was likely dragged to the spot where she was found.

Maj. Patrick Cicero, of the LaPorte County Sheriff's Office, told jurors he believes the killer slashed Libby's throat and then pulled her by her arm, which was lying above her head when first responders found her and Abby in the woods next to Deer Creek, just south of Delphi Cemetery. Cicero said he drew this conclusion based on a blood stain on Libby's foot ― indicating she stepped on blood ― and because he would've expected to see more blood around her body.

Abby, on the other hand, was likely killed on the same spot where she and Libby were found. Cicero said he believes the lack of blood on Abby's hands suggested she was either restrained or unconscious when the killer slashed her throat. This is because it's unusual for people who are injured in that way to not touch their wounds in response.

Cicero's testimony gave some of the few revelations during Monday's proceedings. Allen, 52, is facing two counts of murder and two counts of murder while kidnapping the girls. Prosecutors alleged that he followed the girls while they were traversing the Monon High Bridge trail on Feb. 13, 2017, threatened them with a gun, and forced them into the woods, where he killed them. Abby and Libby were found the following day, bloodied with their throats slit.

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Allen's defense team has maintained that he's an innocent man caught in a messy police investigation that's been marred by a turf war between federal and local law enforcement officials. His attorneys have, instead, alleged that Abby and Libby were killed by Odinists ― members of a pagan Norse religion hijacked by white nationalists ― during a sacrificial ritual.

Special Judge Frances Gull has so far prevented Allen's attorneys from presenting their theory to jurors, saying they have not produced admissible evidence linking Odinism or Odinists to the killings. The long-awaited trial comes more than seven years after the girls' deaths and two years since Allen's arrest on Oct. 26, 2022.

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Jennifer Auger, one of Allen's defense attorneys, pointed out during cross-examination of Cicero that he did not join the investigation until February, seven years after the teens' deaths, and he reached his conclusions by examining only crime scene photos, not the bodies in person.

Earlier on Monday, Indiana State Police forensic scientist Stacy Bozinovski testified that she did not find enough genetic material from an unspent round recovered between the girls' bodies to develop a DNA profile.

Bozinovski, who specializes in paternity or kinship analysis, told jurors that she took a swab of the entire surface of the unspent round to collect potential skin cells, but she said it's too difficult to obtain a DNA sample from such a small item. Prosecutors have alleged that the round, a key piece of evidence they believe links Allen to the crime scene, had been cycled through his Sig Sauer, Model P226, .40-caliber handgun.

Bozinovski, though, acknowledged that no DNA evidence tied Allen to the crimes.

Bozinovski also testified she did not find evidence that the teens were sexually assaulted. She said she tested samples taken from the girls, including vaginal swabs and fingernail scrapings, and did not find semen or other types of male DNA consistent with such an assault.

Bozinovski said she did find some male DNA, but the amount was not unusual and could have been passed on from normal, day-to-day contact.

Allen's defense attorneys revealed during jury selection that a strand of hair found in Abby's hand belonged to an unknown female, likely Libby's relative. Bozinovski told jurors that the DNA profile from the hair was consistent with Kelsi Siebert, Libby's older sister. Bozinovski said she was able to conduct further testing after Siebert provided a hair sample earlier this month.

Allen's trial has drawn international attention, with journalists, true crime podcasters and YouTube content creators from out of town coming to Delphi to watch the trial. People have been camping out overnight to try to get seats inside the courtroom.

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At some point during Bozinovski's testimony, Gull called out members of the audience for falling asleep.

"I don't conduct court in your bedrooms," Gull said. "I would appreciate you not sleeping in my courtroom."

The jury of five men and seven women have so far heard from several witnesses, including the girls' family members, the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsies, eyewitnesses who reported seeing a suspicious man on the trail the afternoon the girls disappeared, and law enforcement officials. Jurors have also seen gruesome photos of the girls' bodies and the infamous video showing Abby crossing the high bridge while a man known as the "Bridge Guy" followed her.

Last week, jurors heard from a retired government employee whose discovery of an old tip ultimately led investigators to look into Allen, and a digital forensics expert who provided jurors with a detailed timeline of the girls' activities leading up to their disappearance.

Jurors also heard from a firearms expert whose findings tied Allen to the unspent round found at the crime scene. Melissa Oberg, an Indiana State Police firearms examiner, testified that the piece of ammunition found between the teens' bodies had been cycled through Allen's pistol.

Testimony will resume Tuesday.

Contact IndyStar reporter Kristine Phillips at (317) 444-3026 or at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Delphi murders trial witness says Libby was dragged, Abby killed on spot