The man accused of killing two teenage girls near an Indiana hiking trail cut their throats, prosecutors told jurors Friday.
Richard Allen, 52, faces two counts of murder and kidnapping in the February 2017 deaths of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, in the small town of Delphi. or charged with attempted kidnapping.
“The last thing these girls saw was Richard Allen's face,” Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McClelland said in his opening statement.
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Police officers escort Richard Allen from the Carroll County Courthouse after a hearing on November 22, 2022 in Delphi, Indiana. (AP Photo/Daron Cummings)
An unspent bullet found among the girls' bodies at the murder scene belonged to a gun owned by Allen, and a grainy image of the man and his voice was recorded on German's cell phone. A short video released in 2019 also came from German's cell phone and showed the suspect walking across the Monon High Bridge.
McCleland said the man was Allen. The girls disappeared while walking along the Monon High Bridge Trail on February 13, 2017, and their bodies were found the next morning.
Allen, a pharmacy technician, was questioned several months after authorities recovered the girls' bodies, but was not arrested at the time. He was arrested on suspicion of murder five years later.
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Richard Allen's attorneys, Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Lozzi, said in September that the February 14, 2017 murders of 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German and 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams were It was claimed that it was carried out by the members. A pagan cult dedicated to Odin, the Norse god of war. They claim Allen was framed by law enforcement as the prime suspect in the girls' murders. (Indiana State Police/AP Photo/Daron Cummings, File)
Prosecutors said in court documents that tests showed that unused bullets found between Williams and German were “used” in Allen's handgun, which was found during a search of the home. Ta.
McCleland noted that Allen made incriminating statements to law enforcement, saying, “They had details that only a murderer would know.” “Richard Allen is the man on the bridge.”
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Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin argued to the jury that there was sufficient reasonable suspicion for the murder. He claimed his client's statements were made under duress.
“Richard Allen is innocent,” Baldwin told jurors. “He is truly innocent.”
Libby German, 14, and Abby Williams, 13, were killed on February 14, 2017, while riding their bicycles on a trail near Delphi, about 90 miles northwest of Indianapolis. (Indiana State Police)
Prosecutors said in previous court filings that Allen “admitted to committing the crimes he is charged with at least five times while talking to his wife and mother on his public prison phone at the Indiana Department of Corrections.” he claimed.
Allen allegedly told authorities he was walking on the street the day Williams and German went missing and saw three “women” on the Freedom Bridge but did not speak to them. .
Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said at a news conference that Richard Allen has been arrested for the 2017 murders of eighth graders Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14. Announced. (Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Image/LightRocket)
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At an earlier hearing, defense attorneys argued there was “overwhelming evidence” to support the story.[m]The embers of Scandinavian paganism called Odinism were taken over by white supremacists and ritually sacrificed Abigail Williams and Liberty German. ”
Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
