Delphi murders: Day 3 of testimony includes graphic crime scene photos

DELPHI, Ind. – Monday marked the third day of testimony in the Delphi murders trial.

Judge Fran Gull cautioned on Saturday that Monday’s testimony would be lengthy. She wrapped up Saturday’s proceedings early as a result.

Monday’s session included testimony from Carroll County Sheriff’s Deputy Darron Giancola, the first deputy to arrive at the scene, and Sgt. Jason Page, a crime scene investigator with Indiana State Police.

The state entered more than 40 crime scene photos into evidence. The photos included shots of the general area as well as closeups of both Abby Williams and Libby German.

The images showed Abby Williams was dressed while Libby German was not. Abby’s clothes appeared to be damp. Blood stains were visible on the girls, the ground and nearby trees.

Both girls had suffered lacerations to their throats. Abby’s body was three to five feet away from Libby’s, according to the images.

Libby’s left arm was raised above her head, while her right arm was at her side. Abby was lying on her back with her right knee bent slightly and her right foot under her left leg.

Some jurors and observers expressed shock at the images during the mostly subdued court session.

Tree branches were on top of the girls—they appeared set in a V- or cross-shaped pattern, according to FOX59/CBS4 reporter Russ McQuaid. Some of the branches were large, with a large tree limb noted on Libby’s left shoulder.

Richard Allen, charged with four counts of murder in connection with the February 2017 deaths of the girls, showed no significant reaction from the defense table as the photos were displayed.

Giancola’s testimony

Deputy Darron Giancola told the court he’s been with the sheriff’s department since 2011. He wasn’t on duty when the girls disappeared. However, he began looking for them around midnight after hearing about Abby’s and Libby’s disappearance on social media.

He had a flashlight but noted the area was extremely dark. The search ended around 2 a.m. He didn’t believe any harm had come to the girls at that point.

“I have worked in this field for a while,” he told the court. “We usually would have juveniles go missing [and it turns out] they were at a movie or something with friends… but would usually show back up.”

The next day, he arrived at the scene and encountered a “distraught” woman. He soon learned searchers had found the girls’ bodies.

“Both had a large laceration on their throat,” Giancola said. “Both had a substantial amount of blood on their person and underneath.”

He didn’t perform life-saving measures on the girls because it was “apparent they were deceased,” he told the court.

Giancola secured the area and called his superiors. Indiana State Police soon arrived, he recalled. He stayed at the location for the rest of the day and night to preserve the crime scene as the investigation began.

During cross examination, defense attorney Andrew Baldwin asked Giancola to further describe the search timeline and the terrain near Deer Creek and the Monon High Bridge.

He also said Abby Williams’ clothing appeared to be wet. He recalled that Abby primarily had blood near her wound while Libby German had blood all over her body.

Page’s testimony

Jason Page has been with the Indiana State Police for 24 years and has worked as a detective and member of the SWAT team. He’s been a crime scene investigator for 16 years and estimated he’d been at between 950 and 1,000 crime scenes as a CSI and many more as a detective.

He arrived at the area around 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 14 and met with other crime scene investigators. Page took several photos and walked the jury through each one shown in court.

He described the area where the girls were found as “ground zero”—an approximately 30- to 40 -foot area containing most of the physical evidence.

The terrain is “pretty rough and steep,” he told the court. He showed the jury a map of the area and walked them through the topography. He described how investigators carefully marked the area near ground zero and the path leading to the girls’ bodies. He said investigators searched the scene with metal detectors and recalled a dive team conducting another search.

Page showed photos from the crime scene and described what each one showed.

One photo showed what appeared to be black marks on Libby’s body. Another showed an aerial view of the bodies with Deer Creek in the background. Jurors also saw photos of blood on Libby’s right hand and another of her left hand. Another photo showed a closeup of Libby’s face.

As Giancola had suggested, Page said the area was “saturated” with a large amount of blood on the ground. Blood was also on nearby trees; investigators used a chemical to check trees for additional traces. He also recalled that Abby’s clothes were wet.

“Her clothes were damp. I just remembered the clothes seemed damp,” he recalled.

Notes from the media pool described Page’s testimony as “calm” and almost “mechanical” as he explained what was contained within each image.

Page spoke for about 90 minutes before the court took a break. He resumed his testimony around 1 p.m.

During cross-examination, defense attorneys questioned Page about the unspent bullet reportedly found at the crime scene that has been integral in linking Allen to the murders. Investigators claim the tool marks on the cartridge, which wasn’t fired but ejected, were a match for a Sig Sauer pistol owned by Allen. The defense has repeatedly attacked the science of linking tool markings from an ejected cartridge to a specific gun.

According to Page’s testimony, the cartridge wasn’t easy to find. It was located after the bodies were already moved and found with the assistance of a blue light — which revealed a sparkle.

Page said the cartridge was pointed straight down and found depressed into the ground.

Allen’s attorneys revealed that no photographs or video evidence reportedly exist showing the cartridge being removed from the ground at the crime scene.

The sticks removed from atop the girls’ bodies were not collected for testing, Page said. When asked why, the investigator said that he has never collected DNA evidence of value from branches.

When Page was asked if a sexual assault forensic exam, commonly called a rape kit, was performed on the girls, the investigator said he assumed a test was conducted during the autopsy but was unaware as he did not attend the autopsy.

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