Richard Allen has been convicted of murder in the deaths of Abigail Williams and Liberty German in February 2017.
DELPHI, Ind. — Richard Allen has been found guilty on all four counts for the murders of Abby Williams and Libby German.
The jury deliberated for approximately 19-20 hours over several days, reaching the verdict Monday afternoon.
Allen was found guilty of felony murder of both girls and guilty of knowingly and intentionally killing both girls. It took the jury less than two minutes to enter the courtroom and read the verdict.
Before sentencing was read, Special Judge Frances Gull said, “Regardless of what the verdict is, people aren’t going to be happy.”
The prosecution embraced as the verdict was read. Allen’s lawyers were comforting him, before he was cuffed and led away. During discussion of sentencing, Allen looked at his wife, Kathy, and asked, “Are you OK?”
Outside the courtroom, the news that Allen was found guilty was greeted by cheers from the assembled crowd.
Becky Patty, Libby German’s grandmother, hugged family members and cried as they left the courthouse.
Libby’s sister, Kelsi, posted on Instagram writing, “Nearly 8 years, today was the day.”
Allen is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 20, 2024. Indiana State Police Sgt. John Perrine says the gag order in the case will stay in place until Allen is sentenced.
Kathy Allen, Richard’s wife, told 13 News “this isn’t over at all” as she left the courtroom.
Timeline of the case
Libby German, 14, and Abby Williams, 13, went missing on Feb. 13, 2017. After a massive search, their bodies were found near the Monon High Bridge the next day.
Libby’s phone was found under Abby’s body. From it, police were able to recover video of a man, the so-called “bridge guy.” Police used technology to extract a man’s voice saying “guys, down the hill” from the video.
“Bridge guy” became a focus for investigators. They released composite sketches, based on testimony from witnesses who say they saw “bridge guy” on the trail that day.
In October 2022, five years after Abby and Libby were killed, Richard Allen was charged with murder. He was held in state prisons for almost two years while awaiting trial.
The legal battle over evidence, Allen’s detention, and decorum was nearly constant. At one point, Special Judge Frances Gull attempted to remove Allen’s legal team, in a fight that went to the Indiana Supreme Court. The defense team also tried to have Gull removed. In the end, both Gull and the defense attorneys stayed on the case.
On Oct. 18, the trial began.
During the trial, we learned that Allen self-reported to police that he was on the trail the day the girls went missing. He reached out within a handful of days.
Police testified that his report, taken by a Department of Natural Resources officer, “fell through the cracks.” Police received thousands of leads in the days, weeks and months after the murders.
Five years later, a volunteer secretary found Allen’s report while going through files. She testified that she didn’t know how his report wound up in the “cleared” box, but that she connected Allen with “bridge guy.”
We heard from several witnesses, who testified they saw “bridge guy” on Feb. 13, 2017. But the defense pointed out that their descriptions of “bridge guy” didn’t seem to match Allen at all.
Law enforcement said they found surveillance video from a business near the trail that showed Allen’s car at the location. During cross-examination, law enforcement acknowledged they didn’t know if Allen took the route they were monitoring when he went to the trail.
The jury was played video of an interview Allen gave in October 2022 with two police officers. In it, Allen calmly tries to recall his day five years prior. Even when Allen realizes he is a suspect in the case, he mostly remained calm and continued to maintain his innocence.
Police then searched Allens’ house. They confiscated knives and guns. They did not find any DNA evidence connected to Abby or Libby in Allen’s home or car. Police also found no evidence at the murder scene that connected to Allen.
Police did find an unfired .40 caliber cartridge near the girls’ bodies. A technician with the Indiana State Police Lab testified that the cartridge had been cycled through a gun. That cycling action had left marks on the cartridge. The witness said the marks matched the ones made by Allen’s gun. But the defense got the witness to admit matching so-called “tool marks” is subjective, and that national science organizations had argued it wasn’t reliable.
The jury was shown an interrogation video involving Allen and a state police trooper. Allen maintained his innocence and that the cartridge could not have come from his gun because he didn’t bring it when he went on the trail. Eventually, Allen’s wife is brought in and cries. When the officer returns, Allen was furious over the treatment of his wife. After she left, the two men screamed and swore at each other before Allen was arrested.
Allen was held for 13 months at Westville Correctional Facility, hours from Delphi. He was held in a solitary confinement suicide watch cell. The lights were always on, and Allen was always being watched by cameras.
Multiple state’s witnesses testified that after about three months in the cell, Allen began to confess to the murders. Three different guards took notes that Allen had confessed to the murders, and the former warden testified that Allen confessed to him multiple times. One of the guards said Allen also confessed to molesting his sister and daughter.
Allen also confessed to his prison psychologist, Dr. Monica Wala. Wala took notes about a detailed confession Allen made to her. We also learned that Wala was a “true crime” fan who had deeply researched the Delphi murders even before Allen became her patient. Wala listened to podcasts and watched videos about the killings, and even posted in Delphi murders groups.
Wala told the jury she thought Allen was faking psychotic symptoms when he made his confessions.
But the defense said there was nothing fake about Allen’s symptoms. The jury was shown video of Allen in his prison cell during the time of the confessions. They showed a naked Allen hitting his head against the walls of the cell and even eating his own feces. Jury members winced and some turned away when the video was shown.
The defense called in a forensic psychologist who said Allen was not faking his symptoms. She said she gave Allen objective tests that proved his psychosis was genuine. She also diagnosed Allen with dependent personality disorder, explaining that he fell apart when his wife and daughter were not physically present.
Allen’s sister and daughter also testified that Allen’s confession to molesting them was false because he never molested them.
Another defense witness attacked the controversial science of “tool mark” matching that was used to connect the unfired cartridge to Allen’s gun.
The defense also called a witness who examined the data pulled from Libby’s cellphone. The witness testified that someone plugged headphones or an aux cable into the phone before the girls’ bodies were found but after Allen had definitely left the trails.
On Thursday, Nov. 7, both sides made their closing arguments.
The state painted Allen as a cold-blooded killer who hid in plain sight inside the community for years after the murders. The defense said Allen was a scapegoat who was charged on flimsy evidence and only confessed after solitary confinement caused him to have a psychotic episode.