An Indiana judge on Friday handed down the following sentence for Richard Allen, who was convicted of killing two teenage girls as they walked along a Delphi hiking trail in February 2017. did. Known as the Delphi Murders, Up to 130 years in prison.
The sentence includes consecutive terms of 65 years for the felony murder of Abigal “Abby” Williams and 65 years for the felony murder of Liberty “Libby” German.
Allen's lawyers plan to appeal, saying in a memo filed earlier this week that Allen “maintains his innocence and hopes that the appeals process will give him the opportunity to mount a full defense at a second trial.” “There is,” he said.
A Carroll County jury in November found Allen guilty of killing Abby, 13, and Libby, 14, who disappeared while walking on the High Monon Trail on February 13, 2017. I put it down. Investigators found both men brutally murdered. The next day, his body was covered with sticks in a wooded area near a path.
Delphi murder trial: jury returns verdict for suspect Richard Allen after four days of deliberations
Richard Allen, 50, was arrested in October 2022 on suspicion of killing Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, in 2017. (Indiana State Police)
Allen was convicted of two counts of murder and two counts of felony murder and faced up to 130 years in prison.
During the trial earlier this year, prosecutors put Mr. Allen at the scene of the crime, including an unused bullet at the scene that matched a firearm recovered from Mr. Allen's home in 2022, and dozens of confessions he made in prison. presented evidence. According to FOX 59 Indianapolis.
Delphi murder suspect's confession to wife and mother 'sounded peaceful'; expert says 'not what I expected'
Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter speaks during a news conference regarding updates on the Delphi murder investigation Monday, April 22, 2019, at Canal Center in Delphi, Indiana. (Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Mr. Allen's defense relied primarily on expert analysis showing Mr. Allen's unhealthy mental state following his 2022 arrest, which shocked the Delphi community at the time. Allen was a longtime CVS employee in a small town in Indiana when he was taken into police custody five years after the murder.
Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McClelland told jurors in opening statements that Libby was naked and covered in blood when search crews found the two girls in a wooded area near the Monon High Bridge. . Both girls had their throats cut several times. FOX59 reported.
Delphi Murder Trial: New Crime Scene Evidence Presents 'Bridge Guy'
One of the key pieces of evidence presented during the trial was a video recorded on Libby's cell phone at one point. before she and abby were killed.
Officers escort Richard Allen from the Carroll County Courthouse after a hearing on November 22, 2022 in Delphi, Indiana. (AP Photo/Daron Cummings)
In court on Oct. 22, jurors watched a 43-second video that showed Libby and Abby walking with an unknown man wearing a hat and a blue utility jacket. Over the past five years, the man featured in the video has become known as “The Bridge Guy.” ” Libby shot the video at 2:13 p.m., less than 25 minutes after she and Abigail's family dropped them off on the trail.
In the video, a man can be heard telling the girls, “Everyone, get down the hill.”
Prosecutors argued Allen was a “bridge guy” because a witness who testified against Allen said he saw him on the street around the same time the girls disappeared, and authorities said they'll be back in 2022. A similar blue utility jacket was recovered from Allen's home in 2013.
Delphi murder suspect confesses to killing two girls on hiking trail in small town, prison doctor says
Snow covers the waters of Deer Creek, where the Monon High Bridge towers, on Wednesday, February 9, 2022, in Delphi, Indiana. Delphi eighth-graders Abby Williams and Libby German were killed on February 13, 2017, while hiking a popular community trail near Delphi. (Nikos Frazier/Journal & Courier/USA TODAY NETWORK)
In one prison confession, Allen also admitted to ordering the girls to “get down the hill.” He has repeatedly confessed to killing the girls, saying he wanted to rape them but was spooked by a van driving nearby, at which point he decided to kill them. It seems so.
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His lawyer said his declining mental stability led him to make false statements in prison.
Grainy cell phone video footage and a sketch of the prime suspect in the murders of Delphi girls Abigail Williams and Liberty German are plastered on the wall of Carroll County Sheriff Toby Leasenby's office. (Robert Scheer/IndyStar/USA TODAY NETWORK)
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More than five years have passed since their death, Investigators executed a search warrant On October 13, 2022, Allen's blue Carhartt jacket, SIG Sauer P226 .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol, and .40 caliber S&W ammunition were placed inside a “wooden keepsake box” at Allen's home in Delphi. I retrieved it from the chest of drawers in between. Authorities said there was a closet in Allen's bedroom.
Police said the handgun recovered at Allen's home matched an unused .40 caliber bullet police found at the murder scene in 2017.
FOX News' Patrick McGovern contributed to this report.
