DELPHI — Saturday was an abbreviated, emotional second day in court for the Delphi double murders trial.
Jurors heard testimony from Delphi’s former police chief and two people who searched for Abby Williams and Libby German in 2017.
Saturday’s session centered around the initial reports of the day the girls went missing and the efforts to find them.
Steve Mullin, who is the current investigator for the prosecutor’s office and was the Delphi police chief in February 2017, described his timeline of what happened February 13th.
"I figured the girls would return home. I didn't think anything bad happened," Steve Mullin said.
Mullin said he was off duty when he heard police scanner traffic that the girls were missing.
He went to the Carroll County dispatch office and stayed there the remainder of the night.
Mullin testified police ended their search around 2 a.m.
Mullin spent time explaining the geography of trails and the surrounding area for the jury to better understand. He circled on a map different locations the prosecution thought the jury would want to know of.
Jake Johns, a Delphi resident, took to the stand next and testified to finding Libby’s shirt while searching an area near the riverbank below the Monon High Bridge on February 14th. Johns said he was searching with another Delphi resident when they noticed Libby's tie-dye shirt in the water.
Johns said the water was calm that day, but it was too deep and they didn't try to cross to look in the area on the other side of Deer Creek.
The final witness on the stand was Pat Brown. He too is a Delphi resident and a friend of Libby’s grandparents. During emotional testimony, he described searching for the girls on February 13th and 14th.
After getting a phone call he says he headed to an area near the high bridge, ultimately discovering the bodies.
When describing the moments he came across Abby and Libby, he started crying, and had to pause to collect himself before saying “We found 'em.”
He went on to say that he first thought they were mannequins.
Brown says he called police and had to turn his back to the bodies while waiting for their arrival.
The jury asked a couple of questions, including clarification on Brown's phone provider the day he called from the area the bodies were found, and a timeline for the arrival of police.
The jurors were dismissed around 11:35 a.m. and will be back in court on Monday at 9am.
This is a developing story, this article will be updated.
