'Clerical error' may have delayed Richard Allen's arrest for Delphi murders for years

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Why did it take investigators more than five years to investigate Richard Allen for the murders of two teenage girls in Delphi, Indiana, when they had already interviewed him back in 2017?

Sources indicate a "clerical error" may be to blame, according to a report by FOX 59.

The investigation has been ongoing for more than five years. During that time, police released numerous pieces of evidence, including a pair of sketches, as well as an audio recording and a grainy video of the killer taken by one of the victims on her cell phone.

But Allen wasn't arrested until Oct. 31 of this year.

Earlier this week, a judge released a redacted version of the probable cause affidavit recounting the evidence investigators used to arrest Allen. It indicates that Allen was questioned by investigators in 2017, when he told them that he'd been on Monon High Bridge and the Freedom Bridge between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on the day of the murders. That timing matched the window in which the girls died.

But investigators did not follow up until recently -- and some sources say it's because that information was essentially lost.

According to a source for FOX 59, as well as The Murder Sheet Podcast, that 2017 interview with Allen was overlooked due to a "clerical error." Those sources say a civilian FBI employee either mislabeled or misfiled tip information in the system, meaning it didn't show up in the correct location during a data search.

It was later discovered after the case stalled and police went back to the very beginning of the investigation. That's when they followed up and took a closer look at Allen.

Court documents show that an unspent .40 caliber round from a gun owned by Allen was found two feet away from one of the victims' bodies. The round was tied to Allen's gun after forensic tests were done at an Indiana laboratory.

The redacted probable cause affidavit is below:

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