Cold Case Heats Up

The dude owns a car that matches the one reported by witnesses as being "parked oddly", admits being on the Monon High Bridge Trail that day, and also happens to own a Sig Sauer P226 in .40S&W...

On Oct. 13, 2022, investigators questioned Allen, who stuck to his story. He insisted he hadn’t seen anyone on the trail that day back in 2017 other than “the juvenile girls” near the Freedom Bridge. Allen said he owned guns, and that he kept them at home.

That same day, investigators executed a search warrant at his house and located “jackets, boots, knives and firearms, including a Sig Sauer, Model P226, .40 caliber pistol with serial number U 625 627,” the affidavit states.

Over the next five days, the Indiana State Police crime lab tested the weapon, and “determined the unspent round located within two feet of [the girls’ bodies] had been cycled through Richard M. Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226.”

Allen was at a total loss to explain how an unused bullet [sic] from that very gun wound up beside two dead bodies.

On the one hand, proving that the .40 round had been cycled through that particular gun beyond a shadow of a doubt is going to be tricky. A lot of that sort of ballistic evidence has turned out to be science-y guesswork. On the other hand, that's an awful lot of circumstantial evidence.

There are bunches of .40 cal P226's out there, but the proximity of Allen's to the crime is pretty sketch.

Picture of .40 cal P226 for illustrative purposes. I sold this one a long time ago.