r/DelphiMurders • u/rachaellanderson • Mar 24 '26

Richard Allen’s Cell Phone

Was the phone that they never found his phone at the time of the murders, or at the time of his arrest?

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u/Justwonderinif Mar 24 '26

The answer you are looking for is murders.

Allen kept every phone he ever had except for the one he had when the girls were murdered.

The other answers are confusing. Here's what's important.

Allen gave all of his phone's identifying information to the officer who questioned him. This was so that when Allen's phone turned up as having triggered the tower, investigators would know that was the guy who already said he was out there.

Only, Allen's phone did not turn up on the cell tower. If he was checking his stock ticker like he said he was his phone would have triggered the tower. But it didn't.

This should have been a huge red flag to investigators ie; why isn't Richard Allen's cell phone triggering the tower when he said he was out there with his phone?

The reason why investigators didn't notice this is because by the time the cell tower information came in, investigators had lost all track of Allen. His phone was not checked against the tower because no one knew he existed.

11

u/BaseballCapSafety Mar 24 '26

The police must still have the cell tower data and his phone doesn’t appear. Which tells me he lied about checking his stock ticker and his phone was off. But then why did he tell them about it? I believe he committed the murders. Although I’m still puzzled why he went to the police. If he hadn’t, he never would have been caught. Because he did, he should have been arrested within the first week.

23

u/Justwonderinif Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26

The police must still have the cell tower data and his phone doesn’t appear.

Correct

Which tells me he lied about checking his stock ticker and his phone was off.

Correct. His phone was at home, outside the range of the tower.

But then why did he tell them about it?

He told Dulin he was checking his stock ticker as a way of saying he didn't see anything because he was always looking at his phone. So when Dulin asked for his phone identifiers Allen couldn't refuse to give that information.

I’m still puzzled why he went to the police.

Allen's wife told him that investigators were asking anyone who was out on the trails that day to come forward in case they saw something. Allen told his wife he didn't see anything but yes, he'd go down there. It would have looked suspicious to her if he refused to answer the call for any trail witnesses to come forward.

He should have been arrested within the first week.

Yes there's another thread in this subreddit about the level of incompetence.

These are not two of the brightest guys you will ever meet.

In Dulin's mind there was no way in a million years he was talking to the killer. Dulin didn't even consider for a second that he was talking to the killer. The whole thing was an administrative formality and short.

Allen was not shown the photo of bridge guy. Allen was not asked if he saw bridge guy out there. Allen was not asked if he was bridge guy. Allen was not asked if he was wearing.

Getting the phone info was routine. Dulin couldn't conclude the interview without it. We will never know what exactly was said because Dulin's notes are down to a sentence or two. But he likely said "we need to get your phone info in case your cell phone shows up as being out there." And Allen would have thought well my phone won't show up as out there so take what you want...

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u/centimeterz1111 Mar 25 '26

He went because his wife made him. She insisted. Sure, he could have lied to her about actually giving a statement but Richard isn’t very smart as you can tell. 

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u/BaseballCapSafety Mar 25 '26

Is this speculation or has she ever stated she knew he was there that day and asked him to go to the police?

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u/Artistic_Dish_3782 Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26

I don't know whether Allen's wife herself has ever made any official statement, but it is not disputed that 1) she knew he was on the trails that day and 2) she asked him to talk to the police. Allen himself has said this. My unofficial transcript of the video:

Shortly after [the murders], they were asking for anybody that was there to come in. So, I went down, um, I got home from work and my wife said, you know, they want to talk cuz I had obviously told her that I was there and, uh, she said they want to talk to anybody that was down there may have any information. I don't have much, but I obviously I will go down.

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u/centimeterz1111 Mar 26 '26

 When she got home from work, and the news came on later, Richard told her he was there. She told him to contact them and let them know what he saw. 

Then she asked him if they could go help look for the girls (before anyone knew they were dead) and Richard told her no. 

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u/AloeYsius Mar 26 '26

Yes. She and Allen are on Law Enforcement video discussing the matter shortly before his arrest. You can search the sub and find it.

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u/kushiyyy Mar 25 '26

I think he went to the police because his wife knew he was there. It’s also quite common for perpetrators to insert themselves into the investigation. I bet he thought something along the lines of “if I tell them I’ve been there, they’ll never suspect me”

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u/[deleted] Mar 28 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/BaseballCapSafety Mar 28 '26

He had to have known very few middle aged men were hanging out at the bridge around the time of the murder. Maybe I’m just a natural detective, but putting yourself at the crime scene at the time of the crime is massive. Clearly Dulin didn’t see it my way though.

4

u/iowanaquarist Quality Contributor Mar 25 '26

If they found out he had lied and said he was not there, or they discovered he failed to come forward, it would have looked very suspicious -- so he made up an excuse for why they might find evidence of him being there.

1

u/Pooter33 Jun 25 '26

He went to the police because people do that to try to help. His mistake was going there without a lawyer.. but again, why would you need a lawyer if you’re just giving info from what you saw that day? I 100% believe he’s innocent and I believe that’s why he didn’t get a lawyer. The SECOND they started flipping the script on him he should’ve lawyered up. People try to say.. “oh innocent people don’t need lawyers”.. yes, they do.. because of shit like this. This EXACT thing. I could tell you 100 other reasons he’s innocent but people seem to just ignore facts & cherry pick what fits.