Delphi murders verdict: Richard Allen found guilty of all charges in the deaths of Libby German, Abby Williams on Indiana trail

DELPHI, Ind. — Delphi, Indiana, resident Richard Allen was found guilty of all charges on Monday double murders of best friends Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14.

The jury’s verdict came on the fourth day of deliberations in the high-profile case that shocked the nation.

“It’s creepy. It’s uncomfortable. It’s a scary feeling to be so close to something so horrible,” said Delphi resident Kaitlyn Cotner. “Over the years we haven’t gotten much news about the real details of what happened. It’s finally coming out and we’re finding out how horrible it was for them.”

Allen was stoic in court and did not react to the verdict, but his mother and wife cried: ABC News reports this.

Allen was convicted of murder for the killing of Abigail Williams during an attempted kidnapping; felony murder for the killing of Liberty German during an attempted kidnapping; murder for knowingly killing Abigail Williams; and murder for knowingly killing Liberty German.

Help has settled in the small Indiana town.

It has been more than seven and a half years of grief, fear and uncertainty.

“Today is the day. It’s been a long time coming,” Delphi resident Sarah Ausbrook told ABC News. “Always believe in prayer. I just had a positive feeling that God would guide them, which direction to go.”

She praised prosecutors, saying they “did an excellent job presenting the evidence they had.”

“Today, for me, represents great healing for this community,” Ausbrook said. “I’m sure the families are reliving that pain, but also happy to have gotten an answer.”

But it was not an easy undertaking: the two and a half year investigation or the four week trial.

A gag order is in place, preventing the girls’ families from commenting until the sentencing is over.

Allen’s sentencing is scheduled for December 20.

Williams and German were killed on a local hiking trail on February 13, 2017. The girls’ throats were slit and they were dumped in a wooded area near the trail. Their bodies were found the next day.

“As you can tell, a lot of them in this community had signs on their doors. They supported these families all these years. We raised so much money. They were part of the community,” Ausbrook said.

On the day of the murders, German posted a photo of Williams on Snapchat as they walked across the Monon High Bridge. After the girls crossed the bridge, they saw a man behind them, and German started recording on her phone, prosecutor Nick McLeland said.

As police hunted for a perpetrator, they released a snippet of the unknown suspect’s voice – a recording of him saying “down the hill” – which was recovered from German’s phone. Police also released a grainy image of the suspect on the trail: a man who came to be known as “bridge guy.”

The jury, consisting of eight women and four men, reviewed that evidence, among other testimony, over four days at the Carroll County Courthouse.

Allen, who was arrested for murder in 2022, admitted to police he was on the trail that day but denied any involvement in the crime.

Allen’s many confessions while in prison and his mental health at the time became a major focus of the trial.

The defense argued that Allen was in a psychotic state when he made numerous confessions to corrections officers, his wife and a psychologist.

“I hope they found the right guy? I’m not sure. Honestly, I think he’s innocent,” Devin Chapin said. ‘I hope I’m wrong. I hope there isn’t anyone around here.’

The prosecution’s key evidence was the police analysis of Allen’s gun, which showed that an unspent .40-caliber bullet, discovered through the girls’ bodies, had cycled through Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226. But the defense dismissed the accuracy of those tests, calling it an “apples to oranges” comparison because the technician compared the first round — which was cycled and not fired — to a bullet fired from Allen’s gun.

No DNA was found at the location that could tie Allen or anyone else to the crime scene, a forensic scientist testified.

“The absence of DNA here was clearly a hurdle the prosecution had to overcome, and it was clearly at the forefront of the defense’s argument. And with good reason, jurors expect this. But this case teaches us that you can win the case. if the state, if the government, without DNA evidence, if you have any other kind of evidence that they have enough and in this case, again, confessions, they go a long way,” said ABC7 Chicago political analyst Gil Soffer.

Now that Allen is locked up and convicted, Delphi can truly begin to heal.

‘Tonight we can go to sleep knowing that we are all safe again, knowing that we can ask and look at each other again in the hands of love and help. The man will now be put behind bars for what he did,” said resident Timothy Harper. “I believe this city had a lot of love waiting for this day, and we are one again.”

Symbols of hope around Delphi will become signs of healing and lasting memories of the murdered girls.

Allen will likely remain incarcerated for the rest of his life.

“It’s a permanent scar that will stay here. It won’t leave anyone in this city,” Cotner said.

Alex Perez of ABC News and Liz Nagy of ABC7 Chicago contributed to this report.