Delphi murders - update: Richard Allen arrest makes ‘the world feel safer’, victim’s sister says
Follow live updates about the arrest of Richard Allen for the 2017 Delphi murders
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Police in Indiana have charged a 50-year-old local man with the 2017 Delphi murders – more than five years after the bodies of best friends Libby German and Abby Williams were found close to a wooded trail.
Richard Allen was charged with two counts of murder on Friday and has pleaded not guilty.
The investigation is “far from complete,” state police superintendent Doug Carter said at a news conference on Monday as he urged the community to come forward with more information.
After the arrest announcement, Libby’s family revealed that they had an encounter with the man now accused of her murder, as they accused him of “hiding in plain sight” the whole time.
Libby’s sister, Kelsi German, also took to Twitter to say “the world feels safer” following the arrest.
Libby, 14, and Abby, 13, were murdered after setting off on a hike on the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi in February 2017. Their bodies were found around half a mile off the trail the next day.
The Delphi murders were a true crime obsession. Then came an unexpected press conference - Delphi murder victim’s family reveal chilling encounter with suspect Richard Allen: ‘Hiding in plain sight’
Delphi murders: Everything we know about suspect Richard Allen as he is pictured for first time since arrest- Delphi murders: Everything we know about deaths of Libby German and Abby Williams and arrest of Richard Allen
More than 70,000 tips received
More than 70,000 tips have been sent in by the public in the almost six years since Libby and Abby were murdered.
Officials thanked the public for their help in catching the suspect and urged people to continue to come forward with any information about the case.
People are told to contact Indiana State Police with information – not only about Mr Allen but about any other information regarding the case.
Tips can be submitted to abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com or by calling 765-822-3535.
Delphi murder victim’s family reveal chilling encounter with suspect Richard Allen: ‘Hiding in plain sight’
The family of one of the Delphi victims has revealed that they had a chilling encounter with the man accused of her murder as they learned that he had been “hiding in plain sight” the whole time.
Mike and Becky Patty, the grandparents of victim Libby German, told reporters after Monday’s press conference that they remembered suspected killer Richard Allen serving them one time in the local CVS where he worked.
Mr Allen, a trained pharmaceutical technician who worked in the store in the heart of the small town of Delphi, processed some of the photos for the family and didn’t charge them for the images when they went in to collect them.
Aside from that, the family members said they didn’t know Mr Allen but – in a close-knit town of just 3,000 people – had likely encountered him on other occasions over the last five years.
The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:
Delphi murder victim’s family reveal chilling encounter with suspect Richard Allen
Libby German’s grandparents said it was ‘bittersweet’ to learn an arrest had been made after more than five years of no answers
Police not ruling out other assailants
Officials would not rule out the possibility that other individuals were also involved in the brutal murders of Libby German and Abby Williams and vowed that – if the investigation leads them to other suspects – they will also face charges.
“If any other person had any involvement in the murders in any way, that person will be held accountable,” said Indiana State Police Supt Doug Carter in Monday’s press conference.
Members of the public were urged to continue to submit tips – not only about Richard Allen but about any other information regarding the case.
Everything we know about suspect Richard Allen
The 50-year-old married man arrested last week in connection with the 2017 Delphi murders has now been charged more than five years on from the double slayings of teenage best friends Libby German and Abby Williams.
Richard Matthew Allen, from Delphi, Indiana, was taken into custody on Wednesday (26 October) and booked into Carroll County Jail. On Friday, he was charged with two counts of murder and was moved to a state facility, reportedly for his own safety.
Indiana State Police announced the charges on Monday – a bombshell development in the high-profile case that has rocked the small, close-knit community of Delphi and had gone unsolved for more than half a decade.
Mr Allen, 50, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is said to be refusing to cooperate with the investigation.
The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:
Who is Richard Allen – the man arrested over the 2017 Delphi murders?
Delphi Indiana double murder timeline
Richard Allen court dates:
Richard Allen, 50, pleaded not guilty to the charges at an initial hearing and is being held without bond at White County Jail.
He is due back in court in 13 January 2023 for a pre-trial hearing.
His trial date has been set for 20 March 2023.
What happened to Libby German and Abby Williams?
Libby German, 14, and Abby Wiliams, 13, went missing on 13 February 2017 after they set off on a hike along the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Indiana.
During the walk, Libby posted a photo of her best friend walking along the Monon High Bridge. It was the last known photo of Abby before she was killed.
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 around half a mile off the trail.
For the last five years, police have remained tightlipped about the crime scene and how the girls died.
However, shocking new details about the murders came to light in a 2017 search warrant application obtained by podcast The Murder Sheet and shared with The Independent back in May of this year.
The warrant revealed that the girls had lost “a lot” of blood during their deaths and that their killer is believed to have moved and staged their bodies, before taking some sort of souvenir from the scene.
For the first time, the warrant also revealed that the teenagers had been killed by some type of weapon. The word for the weapon was redacted in the document.
The murderer would have been covered in the victims’ blood in the aftermath of the slayings due to the “large amount of blood was lost by the victims at the crime scene”, it reads.
Victims’ captured video of man before murders
In a move that propelled the investigation forward, Libby German captured a grainy video on her phone of a man dressed in blue jeans, a blue jacket and a cap walking along the abandoned railroad bridge on the day the two friends were murdered.
Investigators released a grainy image from the video and a chilling audio of the man telling the two girls: “Go down the hill.”
This grainy image was taken on Libby’s phone on the trail the day the girls went missing. Investigators believe the man is the killer
Investigators have long suspected that this man is the girls’ killer and have praised the girls for documenting the video as evidence.
Photo shows Richard Allen posing with police sketch of suspected killer
A photo has revealed how the local man charged with the 2017 Delphi murders posed for a smiling selfie in front of a police sketch of the suspected killer.
The photo shows Richard Allen, 50, smiling alongside his wife Kathy in a local bar in Delphi, Indiana – the small, closeknit community where he has lived for more than 15 years and where victims Libby German and Abby Williams lived with their families before their brutal killings.
On the wall behind him is a police sketch released by Indiana State Police in 2019 of the man suspected of murdering the teenage best friends. Mr Allen bears some likeness to the drawing.
The selfie was posted by Mr Allen’s wife on Facebook in December 2021 – the same month investigators issued a fresh appeal urging members of the public to come forward with information about an online catfishing account thought to be tied to the murders.
Now, 10 months later, Mr Allen has been arrested and charged with Libby and Abby’s murders.
The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:
Man arrested over Delphi murders pictured with police sketch of suspect in background
Richard Allen was charged on Friday in connection with the 2017 murders of Libby German and Abby Williams
CVS offers condolences after suspect is revealed to be employee
CVS has offered its condolences to the families of Libby German and Abby Williams after it emerged that suspected killer Richard Allen was a company employee.
Mr Allen is a trained pharmaceutical technician and worked at the local CVS store in the heart of Delphi, Indiana – where the two teenagers lived with their families before their brutal murders.
“As members of the Carroll County community, we remain devastated by these murders and our hearts go out to the German and Williams families,” the company said, per local outlet WRTV.
“We are shocked and saddened to learn that one of our store employees was arrested as a suspect in these crimes. We stand ready to cooperate with the police investigation in any way we can.”
Local residents said suspect seemed ‘normal'
Local residents reacted with shock when news broke on Friday of Richard Allen’s arrest on Friday, saying that he seemed “like a normal guy”.
“When I will go into CVS as a customer myself, he would say ‘do you need any help?’ I would be like ‘no’,” Chandler Underhill, the manager of the local Brick & Mortar Pub, where he said Mr Allen was a regular, told Fox59.
“Just like a normal guy that I’ve seen for the last couple years, not really thinking anything.”
Mr Underhill said that Mr Allen always seemed “normal” when he would come into the pub where he works.
“I would talk; he wouldn’t say much. He seems like a normal guy,” he said.
“One of my servers was telling me that he wouldn’t speak much.”
Libby’s grandfather told reporters on Monday that his granddaughter’s accused killer had been “hiding in plain sight” the whole time.