RICHARD Allen has been convicted of the brutal 2017 Delphi double murders of Liberty German and Abigail Williams.
Allen, whose defense team claimed confessed multiple times to butchering the two teenagers only after his mental health deteriorated while behind bars, was found guilty on all counts on Monday.
A courtroom sketch of Richard Allen (left) as he sat next to one of his defense attorneys, Andrew Baldwin, during his trial on November 2AP
The grandparents of Liberty German, Becky Patty (left) and her husband, Mike Patty, and in the background, Liberty “Libby” German (left) and Abigail Williams (right)AP:Associated Press
FBIState prosecutors set out to prove Richard Allen was the ‘bridge guy,’ the man captured on Liberty’s final Snapchat post walking behind the girls[/caption]
Richard Allen pictured in November 2022, less than a month after he was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murderAP
After nearly 19 hours of deliberations, the verdict closes the chapter on the horrific and sickening fatal knifing of Liberty “Libby” and Abigail, whose relationship state prosecutors described as “more like sisters” than best friends.
Allen, a 52-year-old father, sat at the defense table unfazed as his wife and mother sobbed after the fourth guilty count was read, according to WISH-TV.
Sentencing was set for December 20. Allen is facing life in prison.
A gag order is in place until Allen’s sentencing.
The murders, which occurred on February 13, 2017, near the Monon High Bridge in Delphi, Indiana, sent shockwaves across the tight-knit community, rocking the town’s foundation after investigators arrested Allen in 2022.
“[February 13, 2017] is a day this community will never forget – a day Abigail Williams and Liberty German went to the trails for a walk and never came back,” Carroll County prosecutor Nick McLeland said during closing arguments.
McLeland reminded the jury that the last thing Liberty told her family as she and Abigail headed out to the trail was, “Grandma, it’ll be OK.”
The prosecution painted a picture to jurors of the final moments Liberty and Abigail spent together, frozen in fear as they were held at gunpoint by Allen.
Investigators argued that years after Allen slit the throats of Liberty and Abigail, he hid and roamed freely around Delphi, camouflaging in the town of less than 3,000 residents, working as a local CVS pharmacy technician.
Liberty, 14, and Abigail, 13, were found dead on February 14, 2017, in a wooded area covered in leaves and dirt, according to gory photos shown in the courtroom during the trial.
Branches were placed on top of the girls’ lifeless bodies as Liberty lay fully nude, and Abigail wore her best friend’s sweatshirt and jeans.
Five years after the murders, investigators were able to link a .40-caliber bullet found near the girls’ bodies to a gun that belonged to Allen, who was arrested on October 28, 2022, and charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
When confronted by investigators about the cartridge found at the scene, Allen had no explanation.
“See how the pieces are starting to fall into place,” McLeland told jurors.
However, Allen’s defense team stressed the prosecution’s case was riddled with inconsistencies, including a broken timeline, bumbled ballistics, false confessions, and digital forensics data.
“You should question the credibility of this investigation,” Brad Rozzi, one of Allen’s attorneys, said during closing arguments.
Rozzi underscored that investigators only arrested the defendant because of a “magic bullet,” which he claimed the state tried to use as leverage against Allen.
‘BRIDGE GUY’
The prosecution set out to prove and convince jurors without a reasonable doubt that Allen was the “bridge guy” captured in the video on Liberty’s final Snapchat post.
In the picture, the man was seen wearing a blue jacket with his hands in his pockets and his head facing downward as he walked several feet behind the girls on the Monon High Bridge.
Indiana State Police also recovered an audio recording in Liberty’s cell phone where the “bridge guy” was overheard telling the girls, “Guys, down the hill.”
The video, McLeland said, “shows the moment Abby and Libby were kidnapped.
“You can hear the fear in Libby’s voice and see the fear on Abby’s face,” he added.
Investigators initially interviewed Allen about the murders and confirmed to police that he was wearing the same clothing as the “bridge guy.”
After becoming combative with investigators questioning him, authorities obtained a search warrant and combed through Allen’s car and home.
“Surprise, surprise, the same jacket as ‘bridge guy’ was wearing,” McLeland said after investigators found a similar blue Carhartt jacket in Allen’s car.
The search also uncovered a .40 cal Sig Sauer handgun and images of the bridge in a photo album.
Between January 2022 and April 2022, McLeland said Allen conducted 11 Google searches about Delphi, including “Delphi IN news.”
I killed Abby and Libby. I’m sorry.
Richard Allen
During the 18-day trial, jurors watched more than a dozen videos of Allen’s incarceration at Westville Correctional Facility, where he was held while he awaited trial and where his defense team said his mental health declined.
The defense emphasized that Allen was placed in solitary confinement for 13 months and was under suicide watch between November 2022 and April 2023.
Deanna Dwenger, a clinical psychologist who worked for the Indiana Department of Corrections Behavioral Health, testified for the defense that he diagnosed Allen with a serious mental illness in April 2023 and that a team of mental health professionals concluded he had a “grave disability.”
Allen developed strange behaviors while in jail, including refusing to wear clothes, banging his head on the wall, and eating his feces, the defense argued.
In the days that followed, Allen would confess multiple times to a prison psychologist and during phone calls to his wife and mother.
“I killed Abby and Libby. I’m sorry,” Allen allegedly told prison psychologist Monica Wala during an April 5, 2023, session.
During two sessions with Wala in May 2023, Allen allegedly told the prison psychologist, “I killed Abby and Libby. I will kill everyone,” and “I just want to sign my confession.”
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