Delphi Case Without Richard Allen's Confessions Comes Down to This

Anyone who follows the Delphi murders case knows the two pillars: the unspent round and Bridge Guy. On September 21, 2026, both were argued in front of the Indiana Court of Appeals, and Richard Allen's lawyer told the judges that without the confessions, that's all the state has.

The round first. An unfired .40-caliber cartridge was found in the ground between Abby Williams and Libby German, and Indiana State Police examiner Melissa Oberg testified it had been cycled through Allen's Sig Sauer P226. The defense wanted William Tobin, a former FBI metallurgist, to tell the jury the science behind that match is contested. Judge Frances Gull excluded him as a witness who isn't a firearms examiner and hadn't examined the evidence.

Mark Leeman's summary of Tobin's message: a casing found in the ground in the middle of nowhere is about as useful as astrology. One judge pointed out that Virginia's highest court reversed a conviction over excluding the same man; the state's lawyer wasn't familiar with the case.

Then Bridge Guy. Betsy Blair, who saw a man on the first platform from about 50 feet away, helped produce the second police sketch, and the jury never saw it. Leeman held it up and told the judges Blair saw the killer and did not see Richard Allen. The state's answer is that Blair identified the Bridge Guy photo at trial, mostly from the clothing, and that composites are investigative tools that can't identify or exclude anyone.

The state's real anchor is Allen's own statement to a conservation officer in 2017 that he was on the trail. Deputy Attorney General Ellen Meilaender argued it gave police probable cause and outweighs anything the defense wants suppressed.

Defense attorney Bob Motta and I go through the clips and the harmless-error question that could decide this appeal.

Allen is serving 130 years, and the panel has not ruled.

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This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

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