Sister of Delphi murder victim does NOT believe pedophile cops have linked to killings is murderer

The sister of one of the two Delphi Bridge murder victims says an alleged pedophile being looked at as a possible suspect is not the right man.

Kelsi German – the sister of Libby German, 14, who was killed alongside her best friend Abby Williams, 13, as the pair went for a walk over an old railroad trestle in February 2017, said she does not believe James Chadwell II is their killer. 

Last month, 42-year-old Chadwell was charged with the kidnapping and attempted murder of a nine-year-old girl, in Lafayette, Indiana, about 20 miles from Delphi. He abducted and molested her after inviting her into his home to see his dogs, then locking her in a basement. 

Investigators said they are ‘looking into’ the possibility Chadwell ‘might’ be connected to the Delphi murders. His lawyers have declined to comment on the claims – but Kelsi German thinks nothing will come of them. 

Kelsi said: ‘Yes, I’ve seen his name all over. No new updates. No press release. There is no suspect in custody in this case. LE (law enforcement) is looking into a tip that was sent in that is now being made way bigger than it is. Until LE says he’s a suspect, he is no more than another name they are looking at,’ Kelsi German wrote on Twitter.

‘They won’t tell me how, they won’t tell me why. They won’t tell me what they are looking at. I think he is hiding in plain sight. It could be someone I know or it could be someone who is only in town sometimes,’ she said in a separate interview to the Washington Times Herald.

German said police meet with her monthly, and regularly assure her they are making progress. Investigators refuse to tell her any specific details, and she added that when police finally catch their man, she does not want him to be put to death.

‘I do not want him to receive the death penalty. When they catch him, I want to see him rot in prison,’ she said. ‘I have learned that you can’t go on without forgiveness, so I have forgiven him for what he did.

The girls’ murders have haunted the town of Delphi for years. 

Authorities released a grainy photo of a suspect they said was on the trail the same day the eighth-graders disappeared in 2017. 

When no arrests were made, video footage was later released, recovered from German’s cell phone, along with audio that is believed to be the suspect’s voice saying ‘down the hill.’ 

Police said they believe Libby German recorded it because she feared the pair were in danger. Superintendent Doug Carter said at a police press conference that he believed the suspect was ‘hiding in plain sight.’ 

‘It is frustrating,’ Kelsi German said. ‘I know the police are doing their job. I know they are frustrated, but sometimes it just takes patience.’     

‘Abby and Libby could be any one of us,’ said German. ‘I think we can all see a little bit of ourselves in those girls. I think that is why it blew up so fast. It’s such a small town. You feel safe. You can hang out with your friends and it would be OK, but it turns out it’s not. Bad things are happening, even in small towns, that felt very safe.’ 

‘It’s so sad,’ she continued. ‘Most of us want the world to be safe and we want to be able to go out on the trails and enjoy time with our friends. Unfortunately, we are learning we cannot do that anymore. The world is just not as safe as it used to be. Delphi is a safe place. That was our mindset, and now that has changed forever.’ 

Detectives said they are continuing to look into Chadwell although they have yet to declare him an official suspect. 

Back in 2017, a search was launched to find the murdered teens. Their bodies were  discovered a day after they disappeared in a secluded wooded area off the main trail.

Their cause of death has never been released by authorities.

Investigators believe the girls were approached by an unknown man while they were walking along a disused railway bridge. 

The case has long focused on a man captured on Libby’s phone walking along the abandoned railroad bridge on the day they went missing. Days after the killings, authorities released two grainy photos of the suspect found on her phone, with the sinister images causing a sensation. 

The man was dressed in blue jeans and a blue jacket. 

Investigators later released a brief video of the man walking, as well as audio clip from her phone which they believe she recorded ‘during possible criminal activity’.

In it, the suspect is heard telling the girls: ‘Go down the hill.’

That man has never been identified, with Delphi Police remaining tight-lipped on how the girls died.

They have refused to release other material recorded on Libby’s phone during the girls’ final moments, amid fears it is too disturbing to share.  

Meanwhile, Chadwell remains in prison after being charged over last month’s alleged kidnapping.

He allegedly hit the girl he invited into his home multiple times in the head and choked her, according to court documents. 

‘Chadwell was also choking her with his hands on her neck and also using his arm in a headlock, to the point where she passed out,’ prosecutors say. 

When the girl came-to, she said most of her clothes were off and Chadwell took her down to the basement where he forced her to perform sexual acts, the documents state. 

The girl told police Chadwell had warned her that if she screamed or told anyone what happened he would kill her. 

The girl was reported missing by her mom at around 7pm – around 30 minutes after she said she had last seen her at their home.

When officers were searching the neighborhood for the missing girl, Chadwell allegedly told them she had entered his home earlier but had left, the documents state. 

Police said they asked Chadwell if they could search his home and he said yes.

Officers then  found the girl ‘visibly distraught and crying, with her clothing on the floor beside her’ in Chadwell’s basement, which was locked with a chain lock, the documents state. 

She had suffered multiple injuries and was covered in bruises, strangulation marks and had a dog bite mark on her leg.

Police said she told investigators she thought she was going to die.   

Chadwell has been in and out of prison since he was a teenager, his brother, Ashley, told Inside Edition last week, saying he is ‘absolutely’ capable of committing the heinous murders.

‘He’s shown numerous times not only to his friends, but his family as well that he has that evil kind of streak to him,’ Ashley said, noting that his brother once even tried to drown him. 

‘He’s a monster,’ he said of his brother. ‘He’s an absolute evil person.’ 

Anyone with information on the Delphi case is asked to contact abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com