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    • Richard Allen found guilty of murdering Libby German and Abby Williams
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    Richard Allen found guilty of murdering Libby German and Abby Williams

    Vaseline Posted on

    DELPHI, Indiana – A jury of five men and seven women found Richard Allen guilty Monday of all four charges in the deaths of Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German.

    The jury convicted the 52-year-old Delphi man of two counts of murder and two counts of murder in the kidnapping of the girls. The long-awaited decision in one of Indiana’s most high-profile murder cases comes after more than seven years of investigation, nearly three weeks of testimony and 18 hours of deliberation.

    Abby, 13, and her best friend, Libby, 14, took a walk on the Monon High Bridge trail on the afternoon of February 13, 2017. Allen, prosecutors alleged, chased the girls onto the high bridge and forced them up a hill and into a nearby forest, where he killed them by slitting their throats.

    The verdict confirms the years-long and sometimes criticized law enforcement investigation into the girls’ deaths. While it may provide some closure for their families, the jury’s decision is unlikely to be the end of the case that has generated a circus-like atmosphere, created deep divisions among the public and become the subject of widespread disinformation and conspiracy theories.

    As special judge Frances Gull made clear before the verdicts were announced just after 2 p.m., the outcome is unlikely to calm the long-troubled waters.

    “No matter what the verdict is,” she said, “people are not going to be happy.”

    There was a gasp, followed by silent sobs, from members of Libby’s family after the guilty verdict on the first murder charge was announced. Libby’s mother, Carrie German Timmons, hugged the woman sitting next to her. After everyone was allowed to leave, Libby’s family members stayed to hug and thank Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland.

    Members of Allen’s family stood in a corner near the courtroom door, surrounding and comforting his wife, Kathy Allen.

    Outside the courthouse, people started shouting “guilty.” Several burst into cheers.

    What’s next?

    Allen, who is sure to appeal, will be back in court for sentencing on December 20 at 9am. Allen faces between 90 and 130 years in prison. If he loses his appeal, he will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.

    Gull had previously issued a gag order that prevented law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys and the families from speaking publicly about the case. Capt. Ron Galaviz, chief public information officer for the Indiana State Police, told reporters that the silence order will remain in effect until lifted by a judge.

    Victims’ families may make impact statements at sentencing hearings. Most of Abby and Libby’s family members have remained quiet since Allen was arrested just over two years ago.

    A summary of the case

    The case against Allen was based largely on an unspent round found among the girls’ bodies that investigators alleged had cycled through Allen’s Sig Sauer, Model P226, .40-caliber pistol, and on the dozens of confessions Allen had taken while awaiting trial in prison.

    In a confession to Dr. Monica Wala, his therapist at the Westville Correctional Facility, told Allen that he forced the girls into the woods and planned to rape them, but he was startled by a van pulling into a private driveway nearby, so he left them cross. Deer Creek and killed them, according to Wala’s notes. That vehicle belonged to Brad Weber, who testified that he drove to his home near the trail around 2:30 p.m., a few minutes after the girls were believed to have been kidnapped.

    That van, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland said in his closing argument Thursday, was a detail “only the killer would know.”

    Another key piece of evidence prosecutors have focused on is the 43-second video Libby shot shortly after she and Abby disappeared from the trail. The video showed a man known as “Bridge Guy” following Abby as she crossed the high bridge. Near the end of the video, the man told the girls, “Go down the hill.”

    “The state has shown that Richard Allen is Bridge Guy,” McLeland told jurors, citing the testimony of Indiana State Police Chief Trooper Brian Harshman, who testified that he became familiar with Allen’s voice after he listened to 700 phone calls he made in prison. Bridge Guy’s voice is Allen’s voice, Harshman told the judges.

    Defense attorneys have countered that Allen is an innocent and mentally fragile man whose months of isolation in Westville drove him to psychosis and to making false confessions. In his closing arguments, Bradley Rozzi urged jurors to recognize the questionability of the years-long investigation into the girls’ deaths.

    “You have to question the credibility of this investigation because of the things they didn’t tell you,” Rozzi told jurors.

    Rozzi repeatedly pointed out what the defense considered a critical error in the state’s version of events: a gaping five-hour gap in which someone had plugged a headphone jack into Libby’s phone. The testimony of the defense’s digital forensics expert casts doubt on the prosecution’s theory that the girls were murdered earlier that afternoon and their bodies were left untouched in the woods for hours until first responders found them the next day.

    Defense attorneys also called multiple experts to refute Wala’s testimony that Allen faked a psychosis. A neuropsychologist told jurors that months of solitary confinement worsened Allen’s depression and dependent personality disorder, pushing him toward psychosis. A psychiatrist and an expert on solitary confinement told jurors that Allen’s behavior and mental state in Westville are “completely consistent” with the effects of long-term isolation.

    “When is someone going to say there is something wrong here? Where is the moral compass? Rozzi told jurors in his closing argument. “You are the moral compass.”

    Contact IndyStar reporter Kristine Phillips at [email protected].

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