DELPHI — Day 9 of the Delphi Murders Trial started with testimony from Stacy Bozinovski, a forensic scientist and DNA analyst. She was responsible for testing the sexual assault kits collected from the bodies of Abby Williams and Libby German during their autopsies.
Bozinovski testified she also tested other items from the crime scene. Under oath, she said none of the items she tested contained the DNA of Richard Allen. The following items were tested.
- Abby Williams' rape kit
- Libby German's rape kit
- Blood samples collected from the scene
- Swabs from the ground
- Swabs from the trees
- Clothing found at the scene
- A .40 caliber Smith & Wesson cartridge discovered at the scene
Bozinovski said most of the swabs from the crime scene contained blood from Abby or Libby or a mixture of both.
The single strand of hair found in Abby's hand was determined to have come from Kelsi German, Libby German's older sister. Kelsi drove the girls to the trail on February 13, 2017, the last day they were seen by their families.
Bozinovski noted there was "some male" DNA found under the girls' fingernails and also from external genital swabs, but she added, there was no sufficient DNA found.
She stated the amounts detected were "very, very little." She also said the presence of male DNA likely comes from living with a man (or men) or perhaps from sharing their clothing.
Bozinovski showed the jury the cartridge found at the crime scene. She said it had plant material on it and a light-brown dirt-like stain. She swabbed it in an effort to collect skin cells for DNA. She testified Monday morning it is "very difficult" to get DNA samples from unspent cartridges. Bozinovski found there was an insufficient quantity of DNA for an analysis.
She also told the prosecuting attorney who questioned her on the stand she did not see fingerprints on the cartridge.
The clothing she tested included the following items.
- Socks found in nearby Deer Creek
- Underwear found in the creek
- Nike shoes
Bozinovski says water from the creek made it difficult to remove any DNA and may have diluted any that was there.
"For DNA to be successful we need to detect 25-50 cells," she said.
Bozinovski noted some items were heavily soiled with plant material or covered in mud.
She also discussed the difference in the concentration of blood versus the concentration of touch samples.
“Trying to detect touch samples in an overwhelming amount of blood is nearly impossible," Bozinovski said.
Bozinovski said investigators sent 72 rootless hair fibers to the FBI for testing. Three of them came back with DNA that was inconsistent from that taken from Abby and Libby. Bozinovski decided not to do additional testing due to the likelihood the hair fibers would be destroyed.
State Prosecutor James Luttrell asked, “Did you find DNA of Richard Allen on any tested item?”
“No, I did not,” Bozinovski said.
“Did you find any male profile on any of the items?” Luttrell asked.
“No, I did not,” Bozinovski replied.
Before the lunch break, Special Judge Fran Gull addressed the courtroom. She said she noticed quite a few people sleeping. The judge warned, “I don’t conduct court in the bedroom. I would appreciate it if you didn’t sleep in my courtroom."
Bozinovski was cross-examined by defense attorney Jennifer Auger.
The defense questioned why DNA wasn't tested on the three rootless hairs that were termed "inconsistent" with DNA found from Abby and Libby. Again, Bozinovski claimed she did not want to risk it.
Auger remarked that with Allen now being on trial, "the jury will never see these possible results."
Regarding the single hair found in Abby's hand, the profile showed the DNA came from a female related to Libby.
Libby's grandmother Becky Patty and her sister Kelsi German each provided DNA samples to investigators in the past couple of weeks. The hair in Abby's hand matched the DNA profile provided by her sister.
Investigators determined that a hair found on the sheet inside Libby's body bag was determined to have come from another female. It is not known who that female is.
The defense questioned Allen's blue Carhartt coat, Ford Focus, dirty black boots, knives, and items collected during the police raid at his home in October 2022.
Bozinovski was asked if she found any of those items to be connected to Abby or Libby. She responded that no DNA profile matched.
On re-direct, Luttrell asked if Bozinovski believed she exhausted a lot if not all resources available at the Indiana State Police crime lab for this case.
Jurors had eight questions for Bozinovski.
It was a very hard afternoon of testimony for the girls' families and members of the jury. One juror had a hard time looking at the photos. Some family members could be heard crying.
Just before 3 p.m., the state called Patrick Cicero to the stand. He is a blood spatter expert from the Laporte (IN) County Sheriff's Office in northern Indiana.
Cicero has been a bloodstain pattern expert for more than 20 years. He said he has analyzed several hundred cases and teaches at Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and universities.
He explained to the jury how blood reacts based on the laws of physics.
Cicero also explained the characteristics of blood stains including:
- The size of a stain can determine the force
- The shape of a stain (i.e. round or elliptical) can show the direction the blood came from
- The volume and direction of the blood provide the ability to best explain what happened at the crime scene
Cicero reset the crime scene for the jury as part of his explanation of his analysis.
On February 12, 2024, Cicero reviewed the crime scene photos, autopsy reports, and DNA reports.
Cicero said he visited the scene on April 4, 2024.
On April 15, 2024, he examined the clothes worn by Abby when her body was found.
Exhibits 286, 287, and 288 were shown in the courtroom, including a crime scene photo of a tree with a measuring device, another crime scene photo, and a photo of Abby.
Cicero pointed to blood that was found on the tree about four feet up off the ground and to more blood found on the ground.
He referred to it as a "bowl depression if you will, where the bodies found," said Cicero.
Regarding the blood that was a stain on the tree (Exhibit 286,) Cicero said, "When force is applied to blood, it becomes droplets."
The blood was shaped like an upside-down letter L.
The blood stain on the tree shown in Exhibit 287 was about two feet from the base of the tree. Cicero called it a "transfer" and said more blood had accumulated in the area.
He used an Aqueous Leuco Crystal Violet kit to identify the blood pattern, which he said was more squared, smooth, and uniform.
Another picture shown to the jury included a closer image of a tree with chemical reactants. There was blood on the tree about two feet above the ground.
At that point, one juror had to look away.
Cicero referenced blood pools soaking into the ground as well as blood stains under Libby's leg and patterns of blood on her body. He said there was some type of water mixed with blood on Libby's face. He said it could have been a tear, suggesting she had been crying.
Based on the blood patterns, Cicero testified Libby likely sitting when she received her neck injury and then leaned over her leg.
Based on the three pools of blood that matched Libby's DNA, Cicero believes Libby likely was injured, then despite her injury ran to the spot where she died. He believes her body was dragged to the location beside Abby where the girls bodies were found.
Cicero found Abby's injury on the left side of her neck. She only had blood in the area of her injury.
He said her body was positioned as if she were a boxer — in a defensive position. Her elbows were bent and very close to her body. She did not have blood on her hands or sleeves at the crime scene.
Most of the blood pooled at the base of her neck, with no blood stains on her shirt, torso, or hands. Because of that, Cicero believes Abby died where she was initially injured.
He said it was very unusual there was no blood on Abby's hands. No evidence had been offered showing Abby would've died immediately, and Cicero said it likely took some time. Cicero said he had never seen a victim that had no blood on their hands after their veins and arteries had been injured. That led him to say Abby may have been unconscious, restrained, or bound.
Cicero also testified he believes if Libby's body had not been moved, it would have been easier to see their bodies from the creek.
Throughout the testimony, Richard Allen was taking notes and offered no visible reaction.
After court recessed for the day, Special Judge Fran Gull granted the motion to quash requested by former Carroll County Prosecutor Robert Ives. Earlier this month, a subpoena was filed by the defense calling former Carroll County prosecutor to testify in the Delphi murders case. Ives stepped down as prosecutor on December 31, 2017, years before Richard Allen was charged in the case.
