Delphi murders: Defense seeks to prohibit testimony on audio from ‘Bridge Guy’ video

DELPHI, Ind. – Defense attorneys for Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen seek to prohibit testimony about the contents of a video recovered from Libby German’s phone.

The video, a key piece of evidence in the Delphi killings, was taken on Feb. 13, 2017. Investigators obtained it from Libby German’s after she and her friend Abby Williams were found dead.

Investigators extracted audio from the video and released an infamous still of the man who would come to be known as “Bridge Guy.” Police later released a short video clip of the man walking.

Allen is charged with four counts of murder in connection with the girls’ deaths. Indiana State Police announced his arrest in October 2022 and Allen’s trial started last week in Carroll County.

The defense’s motion in limine seeks to prohibit testimony “as to the words and sounds allegedly contained in the video.”

In the early days of the investigation, police released an audio clip from the video in which a man, presumably Bridge Guy, says “down the hill,” a phrase that has been inextricably linked with the Delphi case after the teens were found murdered near the Monon High Bridge.

The defense said the state planned to introduce audio and video enhancements of the video recovered from Libby German’s phone into evidence.

One enhancement contains a phrase uttered by one of the victims, the motion said, while another contains an audio clip of a man speaking. Both are repeated on a loop, according to the motion, and are “very difficult to understand.”

The defense is asking the court to prohibit the state from eliciting testimony concerning the contents of the words contained in the clips.

The defense argued that interpreting words and sounds is “speculative” and that the enhancements were “investigatory tools.”

The motion argued that the video and sound were not used to identify Richard Allen as a suspect, keying on the same argument the prosecution used to stop two composite sketches associated with the case from being admitted as evidence .

“Allowing a witness to speculate as to the words and sounds on the recordings would put ideas in the jurors’ heads that would be confusing and misleading,” the motion said. “It is up to the jury to determine what words or sounds exist on the recordings.”

Judge Fran Gull has yet to rule on the motion.

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