Jury Begins Deliberation in Trial of Suspected Killer in 2017 Delphi Murders

Prosecution: Richard Allen is the Man Seen in Grainy Cellphone Video

Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland told jurors that Richard Allen, 52, is the man seen in a grainy cellphone video recorded by one of the girls, known as Abby and Libby, as they crossed an abandoned railroad bridge just before they vanished on February 13, 2017.

“Richard Allen is Bridge Guy,” McLeland told jurors. “He kidnapped them and later murdered them.”

He noted that Allen had confessed repeatedly to the killings – in person, on the phone, and in writing. In one of the recordings he replayed for the jury, Allen could be heard telling his wife, “I did it. I killed Abby and Libby.”

Defense: Allen is Innocent

Attorney Bradley Rozzi closed by saying that Allen is innocent.

No witness explicitly identified Allen as the man seen on the hiking trail or the bridge the afternoon the girls went missing, he noted. No fingerprint, DNA, or forensic evidence links Allen to the murder scene, Rozzi said.

Case Background

The 2017 killings of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, drew outsized attention from true-crime enthusiasts, with repeated delays, some surrounding a leak of evidence, the withdrawal of Allen’s public defenders, and their reinstatement by the Indiana Supreme Court. It has also been the subject of a gag order.

Closing Arguments

McLeland recapped evidence that an unspent bullet found between the teens’ bodies “had been cycled through” Allen’s .40-caliber Sig Sauer handgun. A firearms expert called by the defense questioned the state police analysis, and Rozzi dismissed it as a “magic bullet,” saying investigators had made an “apples to oranges” comparison of the unspent round to one fired from Allen’s gun.

The prosecutor also said a state trooper who had listened to more than 700 phone calls placed by Allen had identified Allen’s voice on German’s cellphone video telling the teens, “Down the hill” after they crossed an abandoned railroad trestle called the Monon High Bridge. McLeland showed jurors a digitally enhanced version of the cellphone video and said Allen was the man recorded walking behind Williams.

Facts of the Case

• Richard Allen, 52, faces two counts of murder and two additional counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping.
• The 12 jurors, along with alternates, were sequestered throughout the trial, which began October 18 in the girls’ hometown of Delphi.
• A special judge oversaw the case, Superior Court Judge Fran Gull, along with the jurors, came from northeastern Indiana’s Allen County.
• The case has drawn outsized attention from true-crime enthusiasts, with repeated delays, some surrounding a leak of evidence, the withdrawal of Allen’s public defenders, and their reinstatement by the Indiana Supreme Court.

Conclusion

The jury’s verdict will determine the fate of Richard Allen, accused of the 2017 murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German.

FAQs

* What is Richard Allen accused of?
+ He is accused of murdering Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, in 2017.
* What is the evidence against him?
+ Prosecutors say he confessed to the killings multiple times, and witnesses saw him near the scene of the crime.
* What is the defense’s case?
+ The defense claims Allen is innocent, and the confessions are unreliable due to his mental health and the conditions of his imprisonment.