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

Police announce charges against Richard Allen in Delphi murder case

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.

Delphi murders

• Delphi murder victim’s family says suspect was ‘hiding in plain sight’
• Man arrested worked at local CVS store in heart of Delphi
• Local man Richard Allen, 50, arrested in connection to murders
• Indiana State Police to hold press conference about case
• Richard Allen posed for smiling selfie in front of police sketch of suspect

[2 November 2022 11:00 · Andrea Blanco]

Other names tied to the case

An Indiana man fell under the spotlight last year when the online account he used to groom underage girls online was tied to the teenage victims.

His home had been searched on suspicion of child porn charges just two weeks after the 2017 murders.

In December 2021, Indiana State Police announced that officials had “uncovered” a fake online profile called anthony_shots.

The profile was used from 2016 to 2017 on platforms including Snapchat and Instagram and used photos of a known male model, portraying him as being extremely wealthy and owning numerous sports cars.

Investigators said the person behind the account was Kegan Anthony Kline, 27-year-old man with addresses in Kokomo and Peru, close to Delphi.

Kline was not charged in connection to the slayings.

Libby’s grandmother Becky Patty told The Independent in December that the teenager had never mentioned speaking to anyone online prior to her death and that there had never been any indication that the two girls had arranged to meet anyone online the day they were killed.

Rachel Sharp has the full story:

[2 November 2022 12:25 · Megan Sheets]

Who is suspect Richard Allen?

Married to his wife Kathy with whom he shares an adult daughter, Mr Allen is a trained pharmacy technician, receiving his most recent pharmaceutical licence in February 2018 – one year on from the murders. He most recently worked at the local CVS store – coming into contact with members of the community as part of his job.

Libby’s grandparents Mike and Becky Patty said that they recalled Mr Allen processing photos of the girls for their funerals.

They said Mr Allen did not charge them for the photos.

Local residents reacted with shock when news broke on Friday of his arrest, 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.”

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the story: