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Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen was found guilty

Richard Allen, 52, the man accused of killing Liberty “Libby” German, 14, and Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, has been found guilty of double murder in 2017.

The verdict was announced on Monday, November 11, 2024, after a fourth day of deliberations and a three-week trial at the Carroll County Courthouse in Indiana. According to the CW, jurors found the 52-year-old former CVS pharmacy technician responsible for the teens' deaths and convicted him of two counts of murder and two counts of murder during the commission or attempt of kidnapping WISH TV.

The decision marks the end of a trial filled with motions, nearly eight years after the brutal double murder and two years after his arrest.

News of the guilty verdict is still current, but statements are expected to be made soon.

What evidence was shared in the Delphi murders trial?

Allen was accused of killing German and Williams after the middle school friends disappeared on the afternoon of Feb. 13, 2017, while walking along Delphi's historic trails along the Monon High Bridge, about 70 miles north of Indianapolis. Their bodies were discovered the next day – less than a mile from the bridge – after suffering cuts to their throats, a medical examiner testified at the trial.

The case came into the national spotlight when authorities released a clip of a video from German's cell phone in which the murder suspect said to the girls, “Guys, down the hill.” Indiana State Police (ISP) authorities described German as “a Heroine” for her quick decision to register the suspected murderer.

In a probable cause affidavit released on November 29, 2022 – made possible after a gag order was lifted following much back-and-forth over documents the state wanted to keep under seal – prosecutors stated that at the crime scene An unspent .40 caliber bullet was found to be linked to a gun later found in Allen's home.

Allen confessed to the murders several times in prison. However, his mental state at the time of his telephone statements raised concerns during the recent trial.

What was Richard Allen's defense?

Allen, represented by lawyers Andrew Baldwin of the Criminal Defense Team and Brad Rozzi, claimed Odinists were responsible for the murders.

Special Judge Fran Gull blocked the alternative theory in the courtroom, which raised concerns as the trial progressed.

In their applications that the Odinism expert Dr. Perlmutter took the stand, the defense explained that the sticks placed on the girls' bodies were “arranged in a pattern” that supported their theory. They also pointed to the positioning of German and Williams' bodies – including that German was unclothed and Williams was wearing German's clothes – as evidence that the murders were ritualistic in nature.

Odinism refers to those who worship the Norse god Odin and is a neo-pagan movement most commonly found in Indiana state prisons and associated with white suprematism.

At trial, blood spatter expert Patrick Cicero of the Laporte County Sheriff's Office in Indiana testified that physical evidence suggested German did not die immediately from the fatal wound to her throat, according to an ABC Indianapolis affiliate WRTVand that she was probably dragged back to the place where she was found next to Williams.

The forensic pathologist Dr. Roland Kohr testified that he found no evidence of sexual assault on the victims, but claimed that it was still possible, as previously reported Oxygen.com.

What's next for Richard Allen?

Prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty, but Allen now faces up to 130 years behind bars, according to the NBC affiliate in South Bend, Indiana WNDU-TV.

Accordingly WISH TVSentencing is scheduled for Friday, December 20, 2024.

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