INDIANAPOLIS — Just over 72 hours after the Indiana State Police held a press conference announcing the arrest of Richard Allen in connection to the murders of Libby German and Abby Williams, ISP Superintendent Doug Carter sat down with WRTV’s Marc Mullins to discuss the developments in the case.
Carter explained that with recent news, he feels peace, though he was never certain of what he would feel.
“I’m peaceful with it,” Carter said. “I'm peaceful. That's a word that keeps coming to my mind when I think about that. I didn't know what to expect when this finally came to -- I'm not going to say a close because we're not done -- but to this point. But I feel a sense of peace.”
Following the arrest that has given Carter a sense of peace, he says the extraordinary group of investigators on this case feel the same. They are prepared to work even harder toward getting a conviction.
“They're the most extraordinary group of people,” Carter said. “They're the ones that that were able to say, ‘now this work really begins’. And they were so energized about it.”
Carter described the next steps in the judicial process as "methodical" and he understands the desire of the community to know more about Richard Allen and what exactly happened.
At the same time, he wants the community to understand that there is a purpose behind the decisions that have led to documents being sealed.
“I don't blame the public for wanting more information,” Carter said. “I hope saying that there will be a little bit of patience given back to us. We aren’t doing anything nefarious here. Everything we’re doing has an absolute purpose. And I wish I could tell the story right now. But I just can't. Shame on me if I would ever do anything that might jeopardize the outcome of a complex criminal case, especially one, especially homicide case.”
As for Richard Allen, the Carroll County judge assigned to the case issued an order moving Allen to a state facility for safety reasons – a move Carter supports.
“I'm not opposed to him going there. Everyone's innocent until they're proven guilty,” Carter said. “But we have a duty to protect him. And that's exactly why I'm sure the judge did that.”
Allen's likeness has been shared throughout the world through sketches for many years at this point — something that may lead to danger for him in custody.
The sketches have been widely discussed since the release of the mug shot of Allen. When asked about them, Carter explained he to this day supports that both sketches — which appear different — were released.
"I've said all along, the sketches are not posted photographs," Carter said. "There are reasons that we logistically changed. The investigative strategy throughout the middle of this in multiple phases, some were not even recognized, nor did they have to be, but those detectives are going to base what they're going to do based on based upon what they know. And what they know comes from the people that live in that community and around the world, literally, around the world. So I think that was the absolute right decision at the time to do what they did. I've always said that the two sketches are simply sketches. They're not photographs. It's a piece of the investigative puzzle. And when we're all done with this, we're gonna be able to meld the two of them together. And we're going to find that individual. That's what happened."
Carter explained his agency learned a lot in the last nearly 2,100 days of investigating the Delphi murders. Without the help of the FBI, an arrest may have never happened.
“We didn't have the ability to take this much information as an agency. We relied heavily on the FBI,” Carter said. “And they were just simply magnificent early on, by bringing the Orion system in and allowing us in partnering with us and showing us how to collect and keep so much information. And it made us better. So, there are a lot of lessons. Because as all of us in our lifetime, we look back and think dang it, I missed it there. But one thing I'm sure we didn't do anything we knew is wrong. But we all wish we had some do-overs for sure.”
As the judicial process continues, Carter hopes the Delphi community and state as a whole can begin to heal.
“I hope that the community is starting to heal. It's going to take some time. I used the analogy earlier today. April of 1999, changed our world at Columbine High School. And a consequence of that is we have a whole generation of young people that grew up in an active shooter world in their schools. It breaks my heart that now it's just a part of their life. It rocked the conscience of who we were as a people now 23 years ago. I don't want Delphi to be that way. I hope that as the world convened on Delphi, over time, the world is going to see a community heal. And just maybe we can find some peace together on the planet.”
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