Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions which some readers may find distressing.
Recordings of Delphi suspect Richard Allen hear him allegedly confessing to the murders.
On February 13, 2017, Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, went missing and were found dead the next day near the hiking trail they’d been on along Monan High Bridge in Delphi, Indiana.
Local resident Richard Allen came forward to police and admitted he was on the trail the same day as the teenagers and he was charged with their murders five years later. His trial began last month and the 52-year-old has pleaded not guilty.
On the day Libby and Abby went to the bridge, Libby recorded a man on her phone – who became known as ‘bridge guy’ – who prosecutors say pulled out a gun on the teenagers and ordered them ‘down the hill’.
The girls’ autopsy’s revealed both died as a result of deep lacerations to their necks and the pathologist ascertained there were no signs of sexual assault injury.
Allen’s voice was matched to that of ‘bridge guy’ by Indiana State Police trooper Brian Harshman who, ABC News reports, listened to 700 of Allen’s calls in order to be able to testify to the match.
Allen is charged with two counts of murder as well as two counts of felony murder.
While he’s pleaded not guilty, yesterday (October 31), the jury were played recordings of phone conversations between Allen and his wife, Kathy which see Allen allegedly confess to the girls’ murders.
Richard Allen’s trial began last month (Allen County Jail)
The calls are reported by IndyStar as spanning from fall of 2022 to summer of 2023.
One call from April 3, 2023, details Allen telling his wife: “I did it. I killed Abby and Libby.”
Kathy responds: “No, you didn’t.”
However, Allen doubles down insisting he ‘did’.
Kathy continues: “Why would you say that? I know you didn’t. There’s something wrong.”
And another phone conversation sees Allen tell his wife he thinks ‘maybe’ he’s ‘lost [his] mind’ to which she responds he’s not, but is ‘unwell’.
A different call sees Allen tell Kathy he ‘did it’ and ask his wife is she still ‘love[s]’ him.
She reassures him she does but tells him he ‘didn’t do it’.
Allen responds: “I don’t want to upset you. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know if I’ve lost my mind.
“[…] I feel like I’m already in hell. I don’t understand what’s going on.”
Libby German and Abby Williams were killed in 2017 (Delphi Police)
Allen allegedly confessed to the crimes to corrections officers too, however, taking into consideration his 13 months in solitary confinement, a psychologist testified he could be classified as having a mental illness such as ‘situational psychosis’, ABC News reports.
He also allegedly confessed to the psychologist he saw during his time in Westville Correctional Facility that he ordered the girls ‘down the hill’.
It’s said he told the psychologist he ‘made sure they were dead because he didn’t want them to suffer’ but when asked about his actions, said he was ‘insane’.
In another call, Allen, once again, says he ‘killed Abby and Libby’ and asks Kathy whether she would ‘be there for [him]’ if he gets ‘the electric chair or death penalty’.
Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty, but if convicted, Allen could be sentenced to up to 130 years in prison.
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