Defense in Delphi murder trial questions validity of firearms analysis under cross-examination

On Friday in Carroll County Circuit Court, the focus was on a small item: an unspent cartridge found at the scene where two teenagers were found dead and linked to Richard Allen of Delphi.

Allen, 52, is accused of killing two teenagers who went missing on Feb. 13, 2017 and were found dead the next day. He was arrested in 2022 and faces two counts of murder and two counts of murder during kidnapping in connection with the deaths of Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German.

Melissa Oberg, an Indiana State Police firearms expert, testified that her analysis linked the unspent cartridge found among Abby and Libby's bodies to Allen's Sig Sauer Model P226 .40 caliber. Under cross-examination, she said that the error rate in the firearms testing industry was about 2% and that she was not aware that she had ever made any mistakes in her 17 years in the profession.

Reporters from the Indianapolis Star and the Lafayette Journal & Courier will cover the case as it moves through the justice system.

▶ Friday, October 25th: Delphi trial jurors will hear from an expert who tied Allen's gun to an unfired cartridge at the crime scene

▶ Thursday, October 24th: Richard Allen was not on the radar of the Delphi investigators. Then a volunteer found a box of tips.

This story will be updated throughout the day.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Expert in Delphi murder trial links unspent cartridge to Richard Allen