Delphi murders: Combative testimony from another ‘Bridge Guy’ witness; pathologist testifies on autopsies

DELPHI, Ind. – Day 5 of the Delphi murders trial included testimony from a pathologist and another witness who reported seeing “Bridge Guy.”

Richard Allen faces four counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge in February 2017. Indiana State Police announced his arrest in October 2022. He’s been in custody awaiting trial.

Wednesday marked the fifth day of testimony since the trial began on Friday.

Tuesday’s proceedings included an account of items found at the murder scene and testimony on the infamous “Bridge Guy” video. Witnesses who reported seeing a man on the Delphi trails also testified.

Latest ‘Bridge Guy’ witness

During Wednesday’s session, Sarah Carbaugh testified.

Carbaugh described herself as “local as you can get” and said she went to the trail daily to walk her dogs. As a teenager, she used to walk on the Monon High Bridge—although she stopped when she was an adult.

She testified that she saw “Bridge Guy” walking down County Road 300 North by the cemetery around 4 p.m. on Feb. 13 while she was driving by. He was hunched over and plodding along with his hands in his pockets.

“I looked at him but he did not make eye contact with me,” she told the court.

According to Carbaugh’s account, the man’s clothes were bloody and muddy, with blood visible on his lower legs, feet and ankles. The rest of him was muddy—as if he had fallen down a hill or into a muddy creek.

“I’m going to label him ‘Bridge Guy’ because that’s what I know him by,” she said. She added that she recognized the image later released to the public of the man sought in connection with the girls’ deaths. She saw it on the news.

Carbaugh waited three weeks to contact police. She blamed her inaction on trauma and panic, telling the court she was “overthinking” and “having a moment.”

She saw an officer taking tips at a roadblock and saw that as a “sign” to reveal what she had seen. She helped police identify her vehicle on cameras from the Hoosier Harvest Store.

The state didn’t ask her opinion on whether “Bridge Guy” was Richard Allen. Carbaugh’s testimony appeared to be the strongest account among those who testified about seeing “Bridge Guy.”

Cross examination was more difficult and charged at times, however, and Carbaugh became combative with the defense.

Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin said her 2017 statement consistently said the man was “muddy” and not “bloody.” He noted that “blood” didn’t appear in a transcript of her interview.

That led to an objection from the state.

Baldwin mentioned a second follow-up interview from Carbaugh in which she said “mud” and not “blood.”

Carbaugh responded that she did mention blood, but police didn’t write it down. She also said her videotaped interview was lost due to problems with the police’s recording system. The state has said some early interviews associated with the case were lost due to an error.

Baldwin gave her a transcript of an interview and asked where it said blood.

“I do not see it in here, but I do remember talking to the officer about it,” she said.

Baldwin brought up a third interview from 2019. In that one, he said Carbaugh used blood and not mud.

“I understand you’re doing your job,” she told Baldwin. “I saw a man on the side of the road with mud and blood, and that’s that.”

Baldwin also took issue with her description of “Bridge Guy’s” coat color, saying Carbaugh didn’t say his coat was blue until after the infamous photo was released to the public. Baldwin said she called it tan while she recalled it was more brown—something she explained by reminding the court that “Bridge Guy” was covered in mud and blood.

Carbaugh’s frustration was apparent during cross examination, becoming combative and sarcastic at times in response to the defense’s questions.

When asked why she waited three weeks to talk to police, she replied, “Cowardly liar here. Just a chicken.”

Baldwin said Carbaugh told police that “Bridge Guy” had “effeminate” eyes. She didn’t recall making the statement and asked if Baldwin was “romanticizing” her deposition. He wanted her to check the transcript, but she replied, “No, I’m good.”

She later said she recalled seeing a hat (a “funky looking hat”) on “Bridge Guy” and told the court she’d been presented with so many samples that “it was like a Tinder profile of hats.”

During jury questioning, she said her car was “less than three feet” away from “Bridge Guy.”

Pathologist testifies

After Carbaugh testified, pathologist Roland Kohr took the stand.

Kohr conducted the autopsies on Abby Williams and Libby German on Feb. 15, 2017—one day after they were found dead.

Abby’s autopsy was first, Kohr said. She was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

A sexual assault kit was administered. Kohr said there were no overt injuries indicating a sexual assault.

Deputy prosecutor James Luttrell asked Kohr if that meant there was no sexual contact. Kohr answered it simply meant there was “no trauma” left behind as evidence.

He observed no blunt force trauma or defensive wounds. Kohr testified that he saw a faint linear mark—a reddish mark near the bottom of her lip. He told the court it could’ve been from duct tape or cloth but added that there was no glue/tape residue and provided no definitive answer as to what may have caused the mark.

Abby suffered a single mortal wound to the left side of her neck that hit the jugular vein. He estimated she bled out in five to ten minutes and said death was not instantaneous. He later said she would “definitely” have had the chance to react to her injuries.

While Abby suffered the single wound, Libby had at least three injuries to the right side of her neck. It could have been as many as five, Kohr said, because it appeared the knife made a second pass at some of the wounds. She was hit in the carotid arteries, which would have accelerated her death.

She had no defensive wounds and no signs of sexual trauma or restraint, according to Kohr. He noticed some “very small abrasions” on her chest. She suffered cerebral edema (swelling to the brain) and, due to the severity of her wounds, would’ve likely died more quickly than her friend.

He couldn’t tell if the attacker was right- or left-handed in either case.

In his autopsy reports, Kohr wrote that some of the wounds were serrated and suggested multiple weapons may have been used. He told the defense during a February deposition that there may have been “some class of serration” in some of the wounds.

He later told the court he was “unsettled” over the serration issue. He now believes the wounds could have been caused by something like a box cutter. He said the “minimum” number of weapons needed for the murders was one.

Defense attorney Brad Rozzi then asked, “You don’t know how many knives were used, do you?”

“No,” Kohr responded.

Toward the end of the session, Rozzi expressed frustration that Kohr met with the prosecution three times after his deposition without contacting the defense about his changing thoughts on the murder weapon.

After Kohr’s testimony, court broke for lunch.

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