Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Two women, who were teens walking near the Monon High Bridge trail in Delphi, Ind., on the same day two younger girls were murdered nearly eight years ago, testified Wednesday that they recognize the suspect.
Railly Voorhies said she was 16 and on the trail on Feb. 13, 2017, with her two sisters and a friend, Breann Wilber, when they passed a man they say was White and overdressed for the warm weather.
Voorheis testified in court that the man wore dark clothes and a hat and had his hands in his pockets when she walked past him near Freedom Bridge, waved and said hello.
A prosecutor showed Voorheis a grainy photo of a man and asked if it's the same man Voorheis saw on the trail. She said it is the same man, whom the prosecutor identified as defendant Richard Allen.
Allen, 52, is accused of kidnapping and killing Abigail "Abby" Williams, 13, and Liberty "Libby" German, 14, that day and was arrested in October 2022.
He is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of murder while kidnapping.
Allen's defense attorney Jennifer Auger argued Voorheis' description of the man when interviewed before differs from the man in the photo.
Voorheis originally said the man she saw was in his 20s or 30s with a large build, brown eyes, curly hair, a square jaw and a wrinkled face. She also said he wore black jeans, a black hoodie, a black mask and black boots.
Prosecutor Stacey Diener later asked Voorheis if she ever made any statements to police estimating the pictured man's height or weight, to which she said "no."
"I was certain that was the man that I saw," Voorheis told Diener. "I can say with confidence the person in the picture is the person I saw."
Auger asked Voorheis if seeing the photo might have influenced her change in the suspect's description, which Voorheis said it is possible.
Wilber also testified that the man she and Voorheis saw that day was overdressed for the warm weather, adding that he walked with a "purpose" and didn't respond when Voorheis waved and said hello.
Wilber referred to the man in the picture as the "bridge guy" and said it's the person she saw on the trail.
Auger also asked Wilber why her description of the suspect changed over the years.
A third witness, Delphi resident Sarah Carbaugh, also testified Wednesday and said she saw a man who was covered in blood and mud walking along a road in the area at about 4 p.m. on the day the two girls were murdered.
Carbaugh said she looked at the man but he did not make eye contact. She said she later received the AMBER alert about the missing girls and saw a photo of the suspect on local news, which she recognized as the man she saw covered in blood and mud.
Williams and German were reported missing and later were found dead after a man with a gun forced them off the trail. The two girls' bodies were found a day later.
German had noticed the man following them and started recording him with her cellphone until he pulled the gun and told them to exit the trail. Then the recording stopped.
Prosecutors on Tuesday showed the jury the video and said is shows Allen while he was following the two girls.
On Wednesday, Indiana State Police Sgt. Christopher Cecil testified he extracted data from 23 of Allen's devices while investigating the murders in November 2022.
Cecil said he didn't find anything connecting Allen to the girls' murders but said someone used Allen's electronic devices to find information on the girls online.
There was no evidence showing direct contact between the girls and Allen, Cecil said.
The trial began Friday in Allen Superior Court in Fort Wayne, Ind., with Special Judge Frances Gull presiding.
