The man who murdered Delphi teenagers Liberty German and Abigail Williams will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Judge Frances Gull sentenced Richard Allen to 130 years in prison following a brief hearing, during which family members and investigators shared emotional testimony about the horrific nature of his crime and strongly urged the judge to impose a harsh sentence.
Allen, 52, was charged on two counts of murder and two counts of felony murder, which is murder committed in the act of another crime in this instance murder.
Two of those counts were vacated today under the law of double jeopardy leaving two murder counts. He received the maximum sentence of 65 years for each to run consecutively.
Allen’s wife Kathy was not in court to witness her husband’s sentencing and Judge Gull dismissed the defense’s contention that the hardship his imprisonment would cause her should be seen as a mitigating circumstance.
Addressing Allen who wore a gray sweatshirt over his orange prison jumpsuit, his wrists cuffed and fixed to the transportation belt around his waist, Judge Gull said, ‘I’ve been a criminal court judge for 27 years and presided over the most hideous cases in the state of Indiana.
‘You rank as one of the most hideous. You’re right up there. You rank right up there with the extraordinary impact [your actions] have had on the families…generational impact.
‘The families will deal with your carnage forever and you sit here and roll your eyes at me as you have rolled your eyes at me repeatedly during this trial.’
Asked if he had anything to say Allen said ‘No,’ before he was led out by Carroll County Sheriff’s Deputies.
Earlier the court heard from six of Libby and Abby’s relatives as well as lead investigator Jerry Holeman who described the girls’ murders as one of the most brutal cases he had ever known.
In a chilling revelation Libby’s grandmother Becky Patty recalled that, just days after he killed the girls Allen, who worked at the local CVS, developed photographs of Libby that would be used at her funeral.
She said, ‘He watched as we struggled ….never blinking an eye. No remorse. I wonder what he was thinking.’
Patty spoke of her loathing for the man who has devastated so many lives in taking the girls’. She said, ‘I hope he’s not held in a single cell. I hope he’s in General Population…I hope he spends each day living with the same fear he inflicted on Libby and Abby the last moments of their lives.’
Addressing her own hatred she said, ‘I hope God can see my heart and forgive me.’
Libby’s mother, Kerry Timmons gave voice to the families’ agonizing grief, loss and trauma.
She said, ‘The last 2867 days have been absolute hell. Next week we should have been celebrating our birthdays. She would be 22 and she should be here.
‘I quit celebrating at her 14th and my 39th.’
She went onto speak of the ‘hole’ in her soul and the broken relationships and shattered lives and dreams that have come in the wake of the girls’ deaths.
Next Libby’s cousin, Josh Lank, stood to read his impact statement saying, ‘God doesn’t have a place for sick, twisted individuals like him. The Devil has a special place for them and I hope prison community gets him there faster than the sentence.’
This follows almost six weeks since the 52-year-old local man was found guilty on all four counts with which he was charged in the murders of the two best friends.
After deliberating for 18 hours, the Carroll County jury reached its unanimous verdict – Allen was guilty of all charges in the 2017 murders of two best friends, Abigail Williams and Liberty German.
The trial lasted 17 days, with 60 witnesses and more than 300 exhibits presented. Prosecutor Nick McLeland delivered his closing statement on November 7, calling February 13, 2017, ‘a day this community will never forget.’
He told jurors that on that day, Abby and Libby went for a walk on the trails and never returned. McLeland said Richard Allen murdered them.
McLeland showed the video recorded by Libby at 2.13pm, ‘the moment the girls were kidnapped.’ The shaky footage played out to the court as Abby could be seen picking her way across the bridge, the bundled-up figure of a man walking with purpose behind her.
‘Guys, down the hill,’ echoed through the silent room along with a startled chirp from one of the girls and the horrified words, ‘That be a gun.’
McLeland presented additional evidence connecting Allen to the crime scene. A bullet cartridge found near the bodies had been cycled through Allen’s gun. When police searched Allen’s home in October 2022, they found a ‘a Bridge Guy starter kit,’ consisting of a Carhartt jacket and a Sig Sauer P226 firearm, both linked to the crime
The only item missing was the phone Allen used in 2017 at the time of the murders, something he had never let law enforcement inspect.
Allen was, the prosecutor told jurors, ‘familiar with the area.’ He had frequently visited the Monon High Bridge alone and with his family. ‘See how they pieces are starting to fall into place?’ he urged.
McLeland reminded them that the state presented evidence that the cartridge found between the girls’ bodies had, he said, ‘been cycled through Richard Allen’s gun.’ It was he suggested concrete evidence that connected Allen to the girls and the crime scene.
McLeland reminded the that the state presented evidence that the cartridge found between the girls’ bodies had, he said, ‘been cycled through Richard Allen’s gun.’ It was he suggested concrete evidence that connected Allen to the girls and the crime scene.
‘That could have ended the case,’ he asserted. ‘But then he starts to confess.’
McLeland played a phone call Allen made to his wife on April 3, 2023, in which he confessed, ‘I did it. You know I did it. I killed Abby and Libby.’ McLeland called the confession ‘unprovoked’ and ‘uncoerced,’ reinforcing Allen’s guilt.
Defense attorney Bradley Rozzi argued the state failed to prove its case. He criticized the prosecution’s timeline and ballistics evidence, claiming both were unreliable.
Rozzi suggested that Allen’s confessions were the result of mental illness caused by solitary confinement. He explained they caused an already ‘fragile egg’ to become seriously mentally ill and develop Major Depressive Disorder with Psychosis.
He also pointed to data from Libby’s phone, showing that someone plugged headphones into it at 5.45pm on February 13, 2017, and removed them at 10.32 pm. He suggested that this indicated someone else may have been involved after the girls went missing. But the prosecution dismissed this as a technical glitch caused by dirt or water.
Rozzi told them: ‘The magic bullet is nothing more than a tragic bullet. It is the catalyst that landed Rick in that prison.’ The prison in question was Westville Correctional Facility in Westville some 76 miles outside Delphi.
He even likened Allen’s treatment behind baars ti
These were, he said, ‘Medieval devices to interrogate people. As society we’ve evolved…to a more subtle form called solitary confinement. Whether intentional, reckless or negligent somebody should have spoken out. Where was the moral compass? You are the moral compass.’
But standing to give the brief rebuttal to which the state is entitled McLeland sought to refocus jurors’ minds. ‘There are two victims in this case,’ he said. ‘Liberty and Abigail. But they’re more than victims, they’re heroes. Libby for making the video. Abby for hiding the phone and both of them for camouflaging the bullet.’
Finishing his brief response, he reminded them of the testimony of Libby’s grandmother Becky Patty delivered on the first day of evidence.
He said, ‘Libby told her, ‘Someday I’m going to grow up and help police solve crimes that’s exactly what she did, and she brought Abby along with her.’