Richard Allen, 52-year-old, was found guilty on all counts in the 2017 double murder case that shocked the small town of Delphi, Indiana. The verdict was delivered on Monday (November 11) after a four-week trial and four days of jury deliberation. Allen was convicted of the murders of 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German, who were found dead near a hiking trail in Delphi on February 14, 2017. He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 20.
The case, which drew national attention, was marked by repeated delays, a leak of evidence, and the withdrawal and reinstatement of Allen’s public defenders. The jury heard from dozens of witnesses over 17 days of testimony. The prosecution’s case hinged on a grainy cellphone video recorded by one of the victims, showing a man following the girls on an abandoned railroad trestle known as the Monon High Bridge. Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland identified Allen as the man in the video, dubbed “the bridge guy,” and argued that Allen used “power and fear” to force the girls down a hill and cut their throats.
The prosecution also presented an unspent bullet found near the girls’ bodies, which they claimed had been cycled through Allen’s .40-caliber Sig Sauer handgun. However, the defense challenged this evidence, calling the markings on the cartridge “insufficient” to link the bullet to Allen’s gun. They also argued that Allen’s repeated confessions to the murder were “false,” attributing them to a mental health crisis induced by solitary confinement.
Despite the defense’s arguments, the jury found Allen guilty on all counts. His conviction marks a significant milestone in a case that has haunted the Delphi community for over five years. Allen’s wife tearfully told reporters after the verdict, “This isn’t over at all.”
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