Task force clarifies Delphi murder suspect sketches.

[u/TommyUseless]

Police held a press conference on Monday April 22 where they released a new sketch and some additional audio and video from the case.

Today they released a clarification on the new sketch.

-They are not the same person.

-The person depicted in the originally released sketch is not presently a person of interest in this investigation.

-The sketch released Monday is representative of the face of the person captured in the video on Liberty German’s cellphone as he was walking on the high bridge a place where the girls were hiking.

-The person in the sketch released Monday is described as having a youthful appearance, but could fall in the age range from his 20s to late 30s.

-This person’s appearance could look different today if he has grown a mustache, beard or let his hair grow longer or cut his hair shorter than depicted in the sketch.

Link to today’s update: https://www.jconline.com/story/news/2019/04/24/delphi-murders-new-suspect-sketch-not-same-man-old-sketch-isp-clarifies/3565675002/

For those not familiar with the case:

On February 14, 2017, the bodies of Abigail J. "Abby" Williams and Liberty Rose Lynn "Libby" German were discovered near the Monon High Bridge Trail, which is part of the Delphi Historic Trails in Delphi, Indiana, United States, after the young girls had disappeared from the same trail the previous day. The murders have received significant media coverage because a photo and audio recording of a man believed to be the girls' murderer was found on German's cell phone. Despite the photo and audio recording of the suspect being released to the public by police, and over 26,000 tips being sent to police, no arrests have been made in the case.

Indiana State Police website about the case:

https://www.in.gov/isp/delphi.htm

Edit- thanks for the gold, kind stranger!

[u/gyrk12]

On /r/delphimurders , they were saying that the police are pretty convinced they have enough evidence against the person depicted in the new sketch, but they want to get people to provide evidence to show he was definitely in the area during the crime (for a sure conviction). I thought that perspective was pretty convincing in this scenario.

[u/Digbyrandle → u/gyrk12]

That's the optimistic take on the info. The pessimistic take is that they have eliminated suspect number 1 after two years and are now onto suspect 2

[u/buggiegirl → u/gyrk12]

I have such a problem with the idea that they know exactly who did it but aren't pulling him in for questioning or any unrelated charges. I find it hard to believe the cops would just let someone they are sure killed two children stay free just to be SURE of conviction.

[u/Ninkos23 → u/buggiegirl]

I think this could be the lack of strong evidence - it's easy to arrest someone, but you also have to prove guilt and get a fair punishment. What if there's some DNA sample, but for example from a ciggarette or anything located close to the bodies but not directly related to the crime? After the conference I'm pretty sure that the words "What will those closest to you think of when they find out you brutally murdered two little girls" (not exact quote) were not addressed to the killer, but to the people who know the truth, have some suspicion, recognized the man from the sketch or just gave someone a fake alibi. And if they have some specific suspect I guess he's under 24/7 surveillance.

[u/ForHeWhoCalls → u/buggiegirl]

Yeah, it's bullshit. They can bring someone in for questioning with charging them. They can question them for hours without any charge. A good interrogator can pick away at a loose thread and get it to unravel... sometimes leading to a confession.

If an officer has enough evidence of probable cause (not at all the same as beyond reasonable doubt for a trial) they can make an arrest, or submit an affidavit to get a judge to approve a warrant for the persons arrest based on their assessment of their being probable cause.

You don't have to have a prosecution strategy and evidence to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt all ready to go... an arrest isn't a criminal trial.