Delphi Murder Trial: Libby German's Phone Data, “Down The Hill” Video with Abby Williams Analyzed in Case Against Richard Allen

DELPHI, India – The family of two eighth-graders killed in Delphi, Indiana, is preparing for the sixth day of a grueling trial against the man accused of killing the girls.

Testimony in Richard Allen's double murder trial focused on data found on Libby German's phone Wednesday afternoon.

All are accused of killing German and Abby Williams in 2017.

The girls went missing on February 13th. Their bodies were found the next day near the Monon High Trail.

Indiana State Police Sergeant Christopher Cecil re-analyzed Libby's cell phone and SIM card in 2019. He told jurors that investigators used cell towers to ping Libby's phone.

Libby and Abby were dropped off on the trail around 1:40 p.m

Cecil said cell phone pings confirmed Libby's cell phone was near the bridge at 2:05 p.m

Then, at 2:14 p.m., Libby filmed the infamous “Bridge Guy” video, in which a man is seen walking behind the girls and telling them, “Guys, down the hill.”

At 2:31 p.m., Cecil said a change in longitude, elevation and elevation was detected in cellphone records, which meant the phone was moving.

At 2:32 p.m., Cecil testified that the phone stopped and never moved again. He told the court there was no ping outside the trails, Deer Creek and the spot where the girls' bodies were found the next day.

According to investigators, Libby's phone was found under Abby's body.

Cecil testified that the phone gradually shut off over the course of the night, dying at 10:32 p.m., then waking up with a power surge at 4:33 a.m. He says at that point the phone was receiving 15 to 20 text messages at once.

One of the messages had been sent almost twelve hours earlier by Libby's grandmother. It said: “You have to call me now!!!”

Prosecutors asked Cecil, “Why the time gap?”

He replied, “I don’t know.”

The state told the court that 23 devices were seized from Richard Allen's home in 2022. Cecil testified that nothing was found to link Allen to the girls or the crime scene.

Allen, a Delphi resident, was arrested in 2022 and pleaded not guilty to murder. Allen admitted to police that he was on the trail that day but denied any involvement in the murders, according to court documents.

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Ritualistic killing theory

On Wednesday, Allen's lawyers filed a new motion to present evidence they say is related to Odinism, Norse paganism and ritual killing.

Allen's lawyers cited the testimony of a state witness, Indiana State Police crime scene investigator Brian Olehy, who said sticks over the bodies of Libby and Abby were intended to hide their bodies.

On Tuesday, Olehy testified, “They appeared to have been placed there by an individual.” Olehy also noted that it appeared to be an “attempt to cover up.”

The defense also wants the testimony of Odinism expert Dr. Allow Dawn Perlmutter.

The lawyers argue that blocking the Odinism theory and explanation would violate Allen's constitutional right to provide alternative explanations to the explanations the state plans to present in the case.

The judge had previously ruled that the defense could not present the theory to the jury due to lack of evidence.

It is not clear when a decision will be made on the application.

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“Down The Hill” video

On Tuesday, jurors in Allen's trial were played a 30-second video that Libby filmed shortly before she was killed.

The video, played during Indiana State Police digital forensic scientist Brian Bunner's testimony, showed Libby filming herself and Abby walking across the Monon High Bridge. At some point the camera panned up and no one was behind Abby. In a later shot, the video shows a man walking behind her.

According to WRTV, an Indianapolis ABC affiliate, a girl's voice can be heard in the video saying, “There's no way – the path ends here, so do we have to go down here?”

Libby's mother cried in court when she heard the voice.

The unenhanced video was only played once to the jury.

Libby posted a photo of Abby on Snapchat as they walked across the Monon High Bridge, prosecutor Nick McLeland told the jury in his opening statement last week. After the girls crossed the bridge, they saw a man behind them and Libby started a recording on her phone at 2:13 p.m., he said.

The man pulled out a gun and ordered the girls to go “down the hill,” McLeland said. The girls obeyed, he said, and then the video stopped recording on Libby's phone.

A day later, the bodies of the eighth-graders were discovered near the trail.

Delphi murder trial: Jury gasps after seeing graphic crime scene photos of girls' bodies in court

ABC News' Janel Klein contributed to this report.