Richard Allen, the man suspected of killing two teenage girls in Delphi, Ind., seven years ago, was convicted Monday on all charges.
Allen, 52, was found guilty on two counts of murder and two counts of murder while attempting to commit kidnapping.
Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14, disappeared on Feb. 13, 2017, in the 3,000-person town about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis. They were found dead the next day in a wooded area.
The case, which went unsolved for several years, became a spectacle for “true crime” enthusiasts. The judge and jury were pulled from other parts of Indiana because of its notoriety in and around Delphi, but the trial was held in the town.
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Abby and Libby were walking on hiking trails in Delphi before they were killed, according to video and audio from Libby’s phone. They had been dropped off by Libby’s older sister and were never seen again.
Investigators found video from Libby’s phone that showed a grainy image of a man — known to amateur sleuths as “bridge guy” — and audio of a man telling the girls to go “down the hill.”
Prosecutors said that person was Allen, claiming that he planned to kidnap and rape the girls but got spooked by a van driving in the area. Instead, Allen panicked and killed them, cutting both girls’ throats.
Though the case went unsolved for several years, Allen was arrested in October 2022. He spent extensive time in solitary confinement between his detainment and the trial’s beginning nearly two years later.
While behind bars, Allen confessed to the killings several times. He called his wife from prison and told her, “I did it. I killed Abby and Libby.” A therapist who worked with Allen testified that he provided specific details about the killings in his confessions, including that the girls’ throats were cut.
Defense attorneys claimed Allen’s confessions were not reliable because his mental state had deteriorated while in jail. A psychiatrist testified that Allen was delirious and psychotic after spending months in solitary.
Additionally, Allen’s defense team argued there was no DNA, fingerprints or other forensic evidence tying him to the scene.
The only physical evidence was an unused bullet found under the girls’ bodies. The bullet came from Allen’s gun, according to prosecutors, but it was not fired. Defense attorneys mocked it as a “magic bullet” theory and said it was not proof of Allen’s presence at the time of the murders.
Before the trial, Allen’s attorneys attempted to introduce a theory that the girls were killed by members of a pagan, white nationalist cult known as the Odinists. However, the judge denied their request, saying there wasn’t enough evidence for the theory and it was likely to confuse the jury.
Allen faces a sentence of up to 130 years in prison on the murder convictions. His sentencing hearing was scheduled for Dec. 20.
With News Wire Services
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