close
close

Jury finds Indiana man guilty on all counts

Topline

After days of deliberations, an Indiana jury found Richard Allen guilty of murdering two young girls on a hiking trail in 2017, ending a high-profile four-week trial.

Important facts

The jury – made up of seven women and five men – found Allen guilty of two counts of murder and two counts of murder for committing kidnapping in connection with the deaths of 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German had tried, multiple outlets reported on Monday.

The jury began deliberating last Thursday and announced its verdict on Monday afternoon.

Allen, 52, was arrested for the murders in 2022 and pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors focused primarily on confessions Allen made in prison to his wife, a prison psychologist and correctional officers, ABC News reported, as well as an unspent cartridge from a .40-caliber gun found near the girls' bodies which they said came from Allen's gun.

Allen's defense team tried to cast doubt on the confessions by arguing that he was experiencing a mental health crisis following solitary confinement, NBC News reported.

Big number

130. That's how many years in prison Allen faces, the Associated Press reported. His sentencing is scheduled for December 20.

Important background

Williams and German were on a hiking trail in Delphi — a town of about 3,000 people located about 70 miles north of Indianapolis — in 2017 when they disappeared. Their bodies were found the next day and their throats were slit. In closing arguments, prosecutors identified Allen as “the bridge guy” in a grainy Snapchat video that German recorded and found on her phone and said Allen “kidnapped her and later murdered her… He stole Abby and Libby's youth and “Stolen life.” In the defense's closing arguments, Allen's attorney reportedly said that no witnesses had identified Allen, that no DNA was found at the crime scene that would link him to the murders, and that Allen had Delphi in the five years between the murders and his arrest. Allen had worked at a local CVS in Delphi, and his wife and mother were both present when the verdict was read. The murder and trial of Allen captured the attention of true crime followers across the country for several reasons, including that Allen was not arrested for five years, there was an evidence leak, a gag order was issued, and Allen's public defender tried them left the case and were later reappointed, the AP reported.

Surprising fact

Allen's arrest came after a volunteer found a years-old tip he left shortly after the girls were murdered. He let police know that he was in the area where they were killed on the day they were killed, and the information was “inadvertently marked as clear,” NBC News reported. He was arrested about a month after the tip was rediscovered.

What you should pay attention to

An appeal. Outside the courtroom, Allen's wife, Kathy Allen, told reporters, “This is far from over,” local news outlet WTHR reported Monday.

Further reading

NBC NewsDelphi Murders: The jury has reached a verdict in the double murder trial of Richard Allen
wthr.comJury has reached verdict | Delphi murders trialAP NewsAn Indiana man is convicted of murdering two teenage girls in 2017

You may also like...