Indiana man found guilty of Delphi double murder

A jury convicted Richard Allen on Monday of all charges related to the 2017 murder of Abigail Williams and Liberty German, cases nationally recognized as "the Delphi murders." The jurors, who came from Allen County, Ind., but were seated in Carroll County, returned a guilty verdict after about 20 hours of deliberation over several days, following nearly three weeks of testimony, according to reporting by CNN. Allen is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 20 on two charges of murder and two charges of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, the Associated Press reported.

The defendant’s wife, Kathy, said the legal fight was far from over as she left the court on Monday, local outlet WTHR reported. A gag order placed by residing Special Judge Frances Gull will remain in place until after the December sentencing, prohibiting authorities and prosecutors from responding to inquiries about the conviction.

The bodies of 14-year-old German and 13-year-old Williams were found in a wooded area off a walking trail in February 2017. Police pulled footage from German’s phone taken just before the murders of a man walking behind the pair on a bridge about half a mile from where their bodies were found. Authorities released a blurry image of the suspect publicly dubbed “bridge guy” along with a short audio clip of a male voice believed to be the suspect saying, “guys…down the hill.”

How was Allen caught? Authorities arrested Allen in 2022, though he denied any involvement in the deaths. Though authorities had no DNA evidence tying Allen or any other suspects to the crime, county prosecutors pointed to analysis showing that an unspent round of ammunition found near the bodies had been cycled through a gun Allen owned. Allen also confessed several times to the double murder while in jail awaiting his trial, according to reporting by CNN. Prosecutors pointed to a recorded prison phone call of Allen in which he confessed to killing the girls by name.

Conversely, defense attorneys argued that Allen’s confessions were false and made during psychotic episodes. Allen’s team also alleged the munitions analysis was inaccurate and described it as comparing apples to oranges.