Jury Delivers Verdict in Indiana’s Delphi Murders Trial

Richard Allen.
Richard Allen.

An Indiana man has been found guilty of murder in connection with the 2017 slayings of two teenage girls in Delphi, Indiana.

The former drug store worker, Richard Allen, was convicted on two counts of murder, and two more counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping.

The killings of Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, stunned the state and made national news after the girls disappeared during a hike in the small town. The girls were later found in a wooded area.

During the trial, which started in October, gruesome details of their murder were released.

BLOOMINGTON, UNITED STATES - 2022/10/31: Carroll County Sheriff Tobias Leazenby speaks during a press conference after they arrested Richard Allen due to the 2017 murder of the two eighth-graders in Delphi. Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter announced at a press conference that they had arrested the Delphi, Indiana, man Richard Allen for the murders of the eight-graders, Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14, in 2017. (Photo by Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland claimed that Allen, 52, admitted to committing the crimes to multiple people, including his wife, inmates and correctional officers, after he was arrested.

According to reporting by the Associated Press, “Dr. Monica Wala, Allen’s psychologist at the Westville Correctional Facility, said Allen shared details of the crime in some of the confessions, including telling her he slashed the girls’ throats and put tree branches over their bodies.” Wala wrote in a report that Allen told her that he “abandoned his plans to rape the teens when a van passed nearby.”

The trial was frequently delayed due to an evidence leak, the withdrawal of public defenders, among other disruptions.

AP reported that Allen showed no reaction in the courtroom when the verdict was delivered. His sentencing date is next month, and he faces up to 130 years in prison.