Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen is hit with fresh charges

Richard Allen, 51, now faces a total of four counts of murder and two felony counts of kidnapping

Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen has been hit with new murder and kidnapping charges in the 2017 killings of Libby German and Abby Williams.

The 51-year-old Indiana man had previously only been charged with two counts of murder while committing a felony in his October 2022 arrest, but on Thursday, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland filed the kidnapping and additional murder charges.

In the filing, Mr McLeland argued that the previously released investigative findings include cause that Mr Allen kidnapped 14-year-old Libby and 13-year-old Abby by force prior to their murders near the Monon High Bridge, and in the process, the girls were killed.

But with that charge, prosecutors wouldn’t necessarily have to prove Mr Allen was the one who actually killed the girls.

So in addition to the kidnapping charges, prosecutors also added two counts of murder, which is defined as knowingly or intentionally killing another person, according to Indiana law.

Mr Allen, 51, now faces a total of four counts of murder and two felony counts of kidnapping – with prosecutors claiming that the newly amended charges “more accurately aligns the charging information with the cause’s discovery and  in the probable cause affidavit.”

Richard Allen was arrested in October 2022, more than five years after the murders (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Thursday’s filing comes on the same day that the Indiana Supreme Court heard arguments to allow the reinstatement of Mr Allen’s original court-appointed attorneys, Andrew Baldwin and Brad Rozzi, after he had petitioned for them to be reinstated.

The attorneys dramatically quit the case in October 2023 amid a scandal over the leak of graphic crime scene photos.

In a bombshell twist, it emerged that the leak originated from a man close to the defence team. However, he had never worked on the Delphi case and left the firm years ago. The individual died by suicide after a police investigation into the leak was launched.

While the two attorneys voluntarily withdrew from the case, they have since claimed that Judge Fran Gull “coerced” them to quit in what they described as a “pre-meditated ambush” and called for the judge to be removed.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court denied this request and ruled against the defence’s attempts to have the trial commence within 70 days. The trial was originally set for 24 January 2024 but has been pushed back until 15 October 2024.

The Delphi murders have haunted the Indiana town for years.

It began back on 13 February 2017 when Libby and Abby set off on a walk along the Monon High Bridge in their hometown of Delphi.

Libby German (left) and Abby Williams (right) pictured together (Facebook)

During the walk, Libby posted a photo of her best friend on Snapchat as they walked along the Monon High Bridge.

Minutes later, Libby captured a video of a man – known as “bridge guy” – dressed in blue jeans, a blue jacket and a cap walking along the abandoned railroad bridge.

In the footage – found on Libby’s phone following their murders – the man tells the two girls: “Guys, down the hill.”

Later that day, the teenagers were reported missing when they failed to return to a spot where a family member was picking them up.

The next day – Valentine’s Day 2017 – their bodies were discovered in a wooded area less than half a mile off the trail along the side of Deer Creek.

In October 2022 – over five years later – Mr Allen was arrested and charged with their murders.

Following his arrest, the case has continued to be fraught with controversies.

In September, his legal team made a bombshell claim that Libby and Abby were killed – not by the suspect – but as part of a “ritualistic sacrifice” at the hands of a white nationalist cult called Odinists.