DELPHI — Crime scene photos and reaction to those images was the main focus of Day 3 of the Delphi Murders Trial. Richard Allen is charged with the 2017 murders of Libby German and Abby Williams.
PREVIOUSLY: Delphi Murders Trial: Day 2 | Search efforts and the discovery of murdered Delphi teens
Court started shortly after 9 a.m. Some members of the general public were turned away due to limited seating.
The jurors were asked a number of questions, including if anyone had talked to them about the case. All 12 jurors and four alternate jurors answered no.
The defense took time most of day three to cast doubt on what they believe were shortfalls in the crime scene investigation and the security of the crime scene.
More than 50 crime scene photos were shown on a large-screen television inside the courtroom. A Crime Scene Investigator from the Indiana State Police narrated as the photos were being shown. It took about 90 minutes before the court broke for recess.
Family, jurors, and the court gallery were visibly emotional as photos of Williams and German were shown.
In the photos, both girls had large lacerations to their throats.
Abby’s body was found a few feet away from Libby’s, according to the images. Abby was fully clothed, but Libby was nude.
Testimony shared that Abby was wearing Libby's jeans and sweatshirt.
One crime scene investigator testified to Abby's jeans and jacket being found in the river, as well as Libby's t-shirt.
Deputy Darren Giancola, a detective for the Carroll County Sheriff's Office, was the first witness called to the stand for the state on day 3.
Giancola testified that he was off-duty on February 13, 2017, the day the girls went missing.
After seeing social media posts about the disappearance of the girls, Giancola testified he was reported to the Carroll County Sheriff's Department on February 13, 2017.
He went to the trails near the Monon High bridge where he started to search with other first responders.
“I have worked in this field for a while. Not knowing who they [Abby Williams and Libby German] were, we usually would have juveniles go missing and they would be at a movie or something with their friends. But they would usually show back up,” Detective Giancola said.
Giancola continued his testimony regarding the search efforts on February 14, 2017. He said he was the first law enforcement officer to arrive at the crime scene.
He said he was called to the area to view footage from a possible trail camera. He was asked to head to Deer Creek because, “We were told members of the search party had found something, possibly bodies.”
Giancola testified to seeing multiple people in the area of Deer Creek and said he saw a multicolored shirt and a shoe in the water. He said when he first saw the bodies of Abby and Libby, “One was nude, the other was clothed.”
He told the court he did not perform life-saving measures on the girls because it was “apparent they were deceased."
He recalled Abby had blood near her wound, but Libby had blood all over her body. The ground beneath their bodies was also saturated in blood.
Giancola said he secured the crime scene and called for backup. Indiana State Police then arrived.
The second witness called by the state to testify Monday was Jason Page. Page is an ISP Crime Scene Investigator responsible for photographing the scene.
He referenced the topography of the crime scene and said there was a substantial amount of blood found on Libby and in the area where the girls were found. Tree branches were found on the girls' bodies. A large branch appeared over Libby's upper body.
When asked to describe the terrain, Page said it is “pretty rough and steep.” While showing the jury a map, he described the area he called "ground zero," and the path leading to the girls' bodies.
Page described a water search conducted by the dive team and the areas they searched with metal detectors.
As the photos were being shown in the courtroom, many jurors put their hands on their heads, squirmed, sighed, and turned red as they saw photographs of the girls' bodies. One juror put a hand over their mouth. Some family members had to turn away, while visibly sobbing at the images.
Richard Allen looked at the photos and was taking notes. He did not show any visible emotion.
Special Judge Fran Gull took a longer recess to allow the jury to break after a "tough morning."
Court proceedings resumed at 1 p.m.
During a heated cross-exam between defense attorney Brad Rozzi and Jason Page, Rozzi asked several questions regarding the unspent bullet.
That bullet is one of the main pieces of evidence investigators say ties Allen to the crime.
Rozzi asked why there weren't more photos taken of the bullet on the ground and why there are no pictures of the bullet while it was being removed from the ground, and after it was removed from the scene.
Attorneys raised several questions about the sticks and branches found on and around the girls' bodies during Monday's sessions.
Photos of Libby's body, the sticks, and blood found in the area were shown in court. The defense questioned investigators on whether they think the sticks may have been placed there by someone. Page said, "It was reasonable to believe it was placed there by a human act."
The third witness called to the stand Monday was Duane Datzman. He was an ISP Crime Scene technician at the time who was also responsible for taking photos of the crime scene.
Dautzman testified to being the CSI who discovered the bullet found between the girl's bodies.
He stated he was responsible for aerial photos of the crime scene from a helicopter.
Datzman was cross-examined by defense attorney Andrew Baldwin.
Poignant with his questions, Baldwin tried to emphasize the defense's interest in the bullet at the crime scene. Arguing that they believe more photos should've been taken of the bullet found at the scene.
"Would you agree with me that a bullet found at a crime scene should be photographically documented?" Baldwin asked.
"Yes," Dautzman responded.
Baldwin then asked why no videos were taken of the bullet.
Dautzman said photos would be better.
Baldwin was working to cast doubt on the crime scene investigation techniques.
Baldwin asked, "If you had to do it all over again, would you have taken a photograph of the other end of that bullet?"
"If I had to do it, I imagine I would have," Dautzman said.
Indiana State Police CSI's photographed the scene. Testifying to hundreds of images taken to preserve what the scene looked like and the evidence.
The big question was why didn't they take the sticks and branches originally from the crime scene that were found on Abby and Libby's bodies.
This is after Dautzman testified to coming back to the crime scene in March to retrieve the branches they had moved off the bodies of Abby and Libby.
Dautzman said, "For the most part, those branches were a very rough texture and they were crumbly. I am not confident DNA would've transferred well."
Baldwin continued to ask about why sticks weren't tested for DNA or removed from the crime scene originally.
"We can't go picking up every stick and every leaf that is in the forest there just because they might have a drop of blood on it," Dautzman said.
The state called Brian Olehy, an ISP crime scene investigator, to the stand.
Olehy was responsible for photographing the crime scene.
He explained how ISP took photos of the crime scene, and the way it was when they found it before carefully removing items, individually packaging them and sending them to an ISP lab to store them.
All witnesses were asked if they had weapons on them the day they were at the crime scene. Two of them stated they were not carrying them.
This is a point driven heavily by the defense who say it could be possible the bullet at the scene could've come from a law enforcement officer's weapon, not Allen's.
During Olehy's testimony, he shared crime scene photos of both Abby and Libby's bodies.
In the photos, Olehy testified to Abby wearing Libby's jeans that were muddy and wet. He testified to silt or dirt being on Abby's clothing and feet, despite her having a shoe on. Olehy also stated that they found Libby's phone and shoe under Abby's body.
His testimony described the way blood spatter was found on the bodies.
During these photos, family could be audibly heard crying, sharing tissues and comforting each other.
Olehy shared a bit about their efforts to preserve evidence, describing their chain of custody.
Judge Gull ended the court hearing during Olehy's testimony, just before 6 p.m. Monday, after a sidebar conversation with attorneys.
She stated the jury had a long day and they will have many more long days to endure.
They will gavel back in at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
FOLLOWING: Delphi Murders Trial: Day 4 | Focus on examination of physical evidence recovered at crime scene
WATCH | Second day of testimony in Delphi Murders trial
