WPBN: Nearly eight years after the bodies of two middle school girls were discovered next to a hiking trail, Richard Allen, an Indiana man convicted of their murder in 2017, was sentenced to 130 years in prison on Friday.
Following a four-week trial, Allen, 52, was found guilty of murder in November in connection with the murders of Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13.
The murders of the girls, who were close friends, remained unexplained for years until their remains were discovered on February 14, 2017, adjacent to a hiking trail.
Allen was given the longest punishment possible. It ranks “right up there with the most hideous crimes,” according to Judge Frances C. Gull.
“These families will deal with your carnage forever,” the judge stated.
“Justice has been served for the girls,” according to Liberty’s grandfather and legal guardian, Mike Patty.
It has been coming for nearly eight years. At a press conference, he stated, “It would be nearly ten percent of my life if I lived to be eighty.”
In October 2022, Allen was taken into custody by Indianapolis State Police. Following what the state police superintendent described as a “long-term and complex investigation,” he was charged with murder.
Allen, according to the prosecution, met the girls on the Monon High Bridge Trail, forced them down a slope, and then slit their throats while brandishing a rifle.
On November 11, a jury found Allen guilty of four charges of murder: one count of felony murder and one count of murder for each victim.
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Allen might have received a prison term ranging from 45 to 130 years.
His lawyers say they intend to file an appeal. Prior to Friday’s sentencing, they said in a sentencing document, “Richard Allen maintains his innocence.”
The murders rocked Delphi, a tiny town of around 2,900 people located about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis.
That day, Liberty had captured cellphone footage of a guy prosecutors claim was Allen. Additionally, according to the prosecution, a black 2016 Ford Focus was captured on nearby security footage, Allen possessed the only such vehicle registered in Carroll County at the time of the murders, and an unspent.40-caliber cartridge from Allen’s revolver was discovered at the site.
The video that Liberty took is a crucial piece of evidence in the case, according to Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland.
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank Abby and Libby themselves. Libby, for recording the defendant as he walked across the bridge. Having the wherewithal to pull out her phone and record that individual, having the wherewithal to know that something wasn’t right,” he stated at the news conference.
“And then to Abby for hiding the phone,” McLeland further added. “Hiding the phone from the killer so they couldn’t take it with him. Hiding the phone so that law enforcement could find it and get that piece of evidence that Libby had collected. Without the efforts from those two little girls, we wouldn’t be here today. So Abby and Libby, thank you.”
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Defense lawyers contended that no one recognized Allen as the guy shown by witnesses or in the video. Additionally, they contended that there was no DNA or forensic evidence linking him to the murders.
An supposed confession made in a taped cell conversation to his wife last year was presented by the prosecution. He declares in it: “I killed Abby. I murdered Libby and Abby.
His wife didn’t seem to trust him and suggested that his medication was causing mental health issues.
Prosecutors alleged Allen confessed to other prison staff members, and a former prison psychologist testified that Allen admitted to her that he killed the girls.
According to Brad Rozzi, Allen’s defense lawyer, the confessions were the result of a mental health crisis. While awaiting trial, Allen was being detained in a maximum-security facility. He was detained in solitary detention without due process, according to defense lawyers.
In a sentencing memo, defense lawyers also noted Allen’s lengthy history of mental illness and the fact that he had received treatment for anxiety and severe depressive disorder during his lifetime.
Prior to a file clerk collecting thousands of tips finding a mislabeled “lead sheet” in September 2022, Allen, a CVS cashier at the time of the killings, was not considered a suspect.
According to the paper, which had been mistakenly classified as “clear,” Allen contacted investigators days after the murders and claimed to have been at the same place as the girls on the day they vanished.
Allen frequently walked that trail, according to defense lawyers, and he willingly went to the police because he wanted to assist in any way he could.
