Joseph Paul

jpaul@jconline.com

DELPHI, Ind. — The owner of property where two Delphi teenagers were found dead visited a dump the same day as their disappearance, according to court documents.

The property owner allegedly drove to the Carroll County Transfer Station on Feb. 13, according to a petition to revoke probation filed March 16 by an adult probation officer.

As the J&C previously reported, he was arrested March 11 for allegedly violating the terms of his probation in a 2014 drunk driving case.

According to the petition, the man was prohibited from consuming alcohol, having access to a vehicle or committing a new criminal offense as part of his two-year suspended sentence.

He allegedly committed "a new criminal offense of Habitual Traffic Violator" when he drove to the Carroll County Transfer Station, where residents can drop off trash and recyclables.

Probation officers also accused him of consuming an alcoholic beverage Feb. 27 at a Pizza King in Americus.

More Delphi News: Delphi to host self defense class for women

Additionally, he allegedly had improper access to a vehicle parked across the street from his home in the 5800 block of West County Road 300 North in Delphi.

During a court hearing Monday, the property owner pleaded guilty to the probation violation and a new felony charge of being a habitual traffic violator.

As part of a plea agreement, charges of false informing and obstruction of justice were dropped, according to deputy prosecutor Jerry Bean.

Bean would not comment on the nature of the latter two charges. He declined to disclose what time the man visited the transfer station.

He will be sentenced 11 a.m. Monday and could face up to 4½ years in prison. His attorney, Andrew Achey, was not immediately available for comment.

A week after his arrest, police searched the property owner's home, outbuildings, automobiles and land as part of the ongoing investigation into Delphi's high-profile double homicide.

The search was the first time investigators had gathered evidence from inside his home. Previously, police had scoured the woods near Deer Creek where the girls' bodies were found.

As of Monday, Indiana State Police Sgt. Kim Riley said detectives are "still waiting" on that evidence to be processed. He stressed that the property owner has not been labelled a suspect.

The Journal & Courier is not naming the man because has not been arrested or charged in connection to the deaths of 14-year-old Liberty German and 13-year-old Abigail Williams, who first were reported missing Feb. 13 after hiking near Deer Creek east of Delphi.

German and Williams' bodies were found the next day near the edge of his rural property that runs along the waterway. His house and barns sit on high ground about a quarter of a mile north of the creek.

He told the J&C last month that he went to Lafayette on the day of the disappearance and came home to find search party volunteers asking permission to look over his property.

In the following weeks, police released a grainy image of a suspect and a voice recording of a man saying, "Down the hill."

The image and recording were captured by German's cellphone about the time of her death.

The property owner remains incarcerated at Carroll County Jail without bond.

Call J&C reporter Joseph Paul at 765-420-5339, email him at jpaul@jconline.com or follow him on Twitter:@JosephPaulJC.