Richard Allen, a 52-year-old man from Delphi, Indiana, was found guilty on Monday of killing two teenage girls on a wooded trail in 2017.
Liberty German, 14, and her friend Abigail Williams, 13, went missing during a hike in Delphi, Indiana, on February 13, 2017. A day after their disappearance, their bodies were found near a wooded area.
Years later, the suspect, Richard Allen, was arrested and charged with,
"Two counts of murder and two counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping," according to The Associated Press. "Allen is scheduled to be sentenced on December 20; he could face up to 130 years in prison," AP reported.
What was the evidence against Richard Allen?
According to court records, on February 13, 2017, at around 1:49 p.m., the girls were dropped off at an entrance of a hiking trail near Monon High Bridge in Delphi by a family member.
Hours later, when the relative arrived to pick them up, the girls were nowhere to be found. Family members went to the police and filed a missing report at 5:30 p.m. that evening.
The next day, their bodies were recovered from a wooded area a few miles away from the bridge where they were dropped off. The murders shook the small town, leaving many to wonder who could commit such a horrific act.
Two days following the girls' murders, Indiana State Police released photos of a suspected man who was seen on hiking trails around the same time as the girls and asked the public to help identify him.
The pictures, taken on Libby's phone, were crucial evidence in this case as they showed an unidentified man heading across a bridge and toward them.
Later, Indiana State Police released video and audio of the man they were suspecting to be the killer. The footage was found on one of the girls' phones, just minutes before their deaths, according to police.
They further released a composite image of the suspect. The video showed the girls being followed by a white man in a blue jacket and jeans. One of the girls mentioned a “gun” and a man’s voice ordering them to go “down the hill,” based on the affidavit filed by a detective with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.
The investigator also found an unspent round from a.40-caliber gun near the girls’ bodies, the affidavit said.
Detectives interviewed multiple hikers and witnesses during the investigation, who all admitted seeing a man whose clothes and stature matched the man seen in the victims’ video, according to the 7-page affidavit.
Allen was also interviewed by the investigators in 2017. At the time, even though he admitted to being on the trail during the same time as the girls, he did not remember what they looked like.
The composite sketch of the suspect showed the man was between 18 and 40 years old "but might appear younger than his true age." The sketch was "representative of the face of the person captured in the video taken from Libby's cellphone," police stated.
Five years later, on October 13, 2022, Allen was interviewed again, and investigators found a gun from his home that they believed to have at one point held the unspent round that was found near the girls’ bodies, the affidavit said. However, Allen denied being involved in the deaths of the two girls.
Arrest and sentence of the Delphi Murderer, Richard Allen
In October 2022, Allen, a drugstore worker from Delphi, was arrested and formally charged with two counts of murder. Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland stated,
"During the initial hearing, Allen entered a primary plea of not guilty."
Allen’s lawyer, Andrew Baldwin, stated that his client is "truly innocent."
According to NBC News, "In court filings, Allen's legal team has stated the killings could have been part of a ritual sacrifice, and at trial, they’ve challenged the prosecution’s timeline as well as accounts from witnesses that, in one instance, placed a man covered in mud and blood near the area where the teens' bodies were found."
During the trial, prosecutors stated that Allen planned to sexually assault the teenage girls and had admitted to killing the girls with a box cutter. These confessions were allegedly made by Allen when he was held in prison.
However, Allen’s lawyers doubted the truthfulness of these confessions by arguing that Allen suffered mentally while being held in solitary confinement.
Allen was ultimately found guilty of two counts of murder and two counts of murder while kidnapping. The jury of seven women and five men—who were selected in another county—ruled on Monday.
"Maybe when this is over ― we will learn to move forward ― maybe not," Libby's grandmother Becky Patty wrote in a Facebook post on the first day of the trial. "One thing is for certain though ― we will live our lives loving and honoring you. Love you and miss you so much, Libby."
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The 43-second video taken by the girls played an integral part in identifying the suspect.
"Reporters inside the courtroom said Allen, 52, showed no reaction as the verdict was delivered, but he looked back at his family at one point. Allen is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 20. He could face up to 130 years in prison," Associated Press reported.
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