Delphi murder trial: Jury deliberations resume Friday in the trial of Richard Allen

CNN
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The jury’s deliberations continue on Friday in the highly publicized double-murder trial of Richard Allen—who is accused of killing two teenage girls and leaving their bodies near a hiking trail in the small town of Delphi, Indiana, more than seven years ago.

Allen has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two felonies in connection with the 2017 deaths of Liberty “Libby” German, 14, and Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13. Allen could face up to 130 years in prison if convicted found guilty. of all the charges, Associated Press reported.

The 12-member jury began deliberations Thursday and will return Friday morning. They will deliberate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday until they reach a verdict, according to the CNN affiliate WTHR. Last month, 16 Allen County residents were selected to serve on the jury, including four people who served as alternates, per WTHR.

Allen County Superior Court Judge Frances Gull gave the jury their final instructions Thursday morning, urging them to “consider the facts” before Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland delivered closing arguments and walked the jury through the evidence and testimony presented during the trial, WTHR reported.

“I believe the evidence is firmly conclusive that Richard Allen is the Bridge Guy and he killed Abby and Libby,” McLeland told the jury.

McLeland showed jurors graphic images of the girls’ bodies, a video of the suspect taken from Libby’s smartphone, which he said captured the final moments of the girls’ lives, and a recording of Allen allegedly confessing to his wife during a phone call.

“I did it,” Allen could be heard telling his wife. “I killed Abby and Libby.”

Defense attorney Brad Rozzi said in closing arguments that a broken timeline, false confessions and lack of DNA or gun evidence should lead to acquittal.

“The defense trusts that what you’ve heard over the last few weeks is more important than what you’re hearing today,” Rozzi told the jury Thursday.

The defense further argued that there is no physical evidence tying Allen to the murders, saying that confessions he made in the past were “involuntary” and stemmed from months of solitary confinement.

The Delphi murder case dates back to February 13, 2017, when “Abby” and “Libby” were hiking on the Monon High Bridge in Delphi. The two girls were reported missing after they failed to meet Libby’s father that afternoon. The next day, their bodies were found, both dead from throat wounds, partially covered by sticks.

The case attracted public attention, among other things, because of a photo and audio recording of the suspect taken from Libby’s smartphone. The footage shows a man walking on the bridge with his hands in his pockets, and the audio includes a man’s muffled voice saying, “Guys, down the hill.” Although police circulated the image and audio just days after the murders and identified “Bridge Guy” as their prime suspect, the case went cold for more than five years until Allen was arrested in 2022.

Allen had apparently eluded police notice, staying in the small town of Delphi and working at a local CVS pharmacy until a clerk digitizing tips related to the investigation in September 2022 noticed he had placed himself at the crime scene. Days after the bodies were discovered, Allen told police he had been on the trail during the time frame the girls were believed to have been killed.

Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett said despite the tip, Allen “disappeared into the cracks.” according to CNN affiliate WLFI. About a month after the tip was rediscovered, Allen was arrested after police matched an spent cartridge found between the girls’ bodies to a gun recovered from his home during a police search.

After Allen was arrested on October 26, 2022, he was charged with two counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit a kidnapping five days later. The prosecutor later amended the charges to include two additional counts of murder.

Allen’s mental state and confessions were highlighted

During the trial, which began Oct. 18, prosecutors highlighted Allen’s dozens of confessions while incarcerated: He confessed to the crime more than 60 times, prosecutors say, including to his wife, his mother, the psychologist who treated him, the warden and other prison staff and inmates. They played audio recordings of some of the confessions for the jury.

Monica Wala, the former lead psychologist at the Westville Correctional Facility where Allen was housed, testified that he initially told her he was innocent, but began confessing to the crimes in April 2023, around the time he was placed back on suicide watch .

Wala testified that Allen had told her, “I killed Abby and Libby. I’m sorry,” according to CNN affiliate WTHR. He said he initially planned to sexually assault the victims but ran away when he saw a van nearby and that he had cut the girls’ throats and covered their bodies with sticks, she testified.

The defense has sought to paint a portrait of Allen as a mentally ill man whose fragile mental state was exacerbated by months spent in solitary confinement – including during the period in which he confessed to the crimes. He was twice placed on suicide watch while in prison, exhibited bizarre behavior such as eating his own feces and banging his head, and was at one point diagnosed with “a short-term psychotic disorder,” according to Wala’s testimony.

Deanna Dwenger, a clinical psychologist who worked for the Indiana Department of Corrections Behavioral Health, testified for the defense that Allen was diagnosed with a serious mental illness in April 2023 and that a team of mental health professionals concluded that he had a “severe disability , ” according to CNN affiliate WRTV.

The defense originally hoped to introduce the so-called “Odinism” defense: a theory that followers of Odinism, a Nordic pagan religion recently adopted by white supremacists, committed the killings. But Judge Gull repeatedly rejected motions to introduce that theory.

Sound recording and bullet proofing became key focuses

Despite Allen’s confessions, there is very little physical evidence tying him to the case: a DNA expert who testified for the state found none of Allen’s DNA at the crime scene, and none of Libby’s or Abby’s DNA was found on items recovered from his home.

Prosecutors drew attention to the spent .40-caliber round found on the girls’ bodies, which a prosecution expert testified matched Allen’s gun. The defense is casting doubt on the bullet evidence, questioning why more photos of the cartridge weren’t taken and suggesting the bullet could have come from a law enforcement officer’s weapon, according to WRTV.

The prosecution has also attempted to match Allen with the video and audio recording of “Bridge Guy” captured on Libby’s cell phone. Indiana State Police Master Trooper Brian Harshman, who said he listened to more than 700 of Allen’s jailhouse phone calls, testified for the prosecution that in his opinion, “Bridge Guy’s voice is the voice of Richard Allen,” according to WRTV.

“Richard Allen is the Bridge Guy,” McLeland told jurors. “He kidnapped them and later murdered them.”

In response, Rozzi said Allen was not clearly identified by witnesses as the man on the footpath or bridge when the teenagers disappeared. He also pointed out that Allen was still living in Delphi more than five years after the girls were killed.

“He had every opportunity to run, but he didn’t because he didn’t,” Rozzi told jurors.