Kriti Mehrotra
When 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams and 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German suddenly disappeared from the Delphi Historic Trails on February 13, 2017, it truly baffled the entire nation. As briefly explored in HBO Max’s ‘Taken Together: Who Killed Lyric and Elizabeth?’ these girls had been slain too, only for their bodies to be recovered around noon the following day from a nearby creek. It subsequently took officials nearly half a decade to identify their prime suspect owing to the limited evidence available, but Delphi native Richard Matthew Allen was eventually arrested.
Richard Allen Was Connected to the Double Murder Via a Bullet
According to Richard’s own police statements from 2017, he had indeed visited the trail on that fateful day for two hours in jeans plus a dark jacket to watch fish, yet he never saw the two girls. The truth is that despite Libby’s phone revealing a video bravely taken of their killer — an older, similarly dressed man who could be heard urging them “down the hill” — he wasn’t formally deemed a suspect. That’s likely because this pharmacy technician at CVS was a happily married father of two as well as a highly regarded gentleman in the local Delphi, Indiana, community, so no one suspected him.
However, everything changed in the fall of 2022, as an unspent .40-caliber bullet recovered from right in the middle of Abby and Libby’s bodies were positively connected to a weapon Richard owned. According to reports, this slug had been “cycled through” a Sig Sauer P226 handgun, precisely the kind he had bought in 2001 before allegedly keeping it in a safe site and never allowing anyone else to use it. He even went as far as to tell investigators he had no “explanation of why the bullet was found between the bodies of” the two girls, leading him to be taken into custody on October 26, 2022.
The Evidence Against Richard Allen is Quite Strong
As per court records, despite having pled not guilty to the two counts of murder against him while vehemently asserting his innocence, Richard has actually confessed to his wife several times. This happened on April 3, 2023, according to filed legal documents, when he called Kathy Allen from custody just to end up repeating he had slain Abby and Libby before she suddenly disconnected. This report then reiterates, “Investigators had the phone call transcribed and the transcription confirms that Richard M. Allen admits that he committed the murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German.”
It’s also imperative to note that Richard was placed near the crime scene not only by his own accounts but also by the statements of three other young girls who were exploring the trail that afternoon. They apparently told detectives they found him “kind of creepy” in his heavy blue jacket, especially since he glared at them when they politely said hello before continuing to walk away as if in a hurry. One of these girls explicitly testified this man “was walking with a purpose like he knew where he was going,” just to later be identified as the same man in Libby’s videos and Richard.
Richard Allen is Currently Behind Bars, Awaiting Trial
Even though Richard was arrested back in October 2022, he is yet to stand trial owing to several unforeseen postpones, continued legal motions, fear of media bias/coverage, and much more. This actually inadvertently enabled prosecutors to request the suspect be charged with both two counts of kidnapping as well as two counts of murder in January 2024, yet the former didn’t pan out. Therefore, indicted on two counts of murder and two counts of murder while committing a felony (kidnapping), one for each teenage victim, the 52-year-old is currently awaiting trial while detained at Allen County jail — his trial is scheduled to commence in October 2024.
One of Robert’s primary points of defense during the court proceedings is expected to be the allegation that investigators did not properly pursue the possibility of Odinism’s involvement in this matter. “Members of a pagan Norse religion, called Odinism, hijacked by white nationalists, ritualistically sacrificed Abigail Williams and Liberty German,” his attorneys have already stated in a filing before adding, “absolutely nothing, links Richard Allen to Odinism or any religious cult.”
On the other hand, prosecutors are likely to undeniably put forth their discovery of Richard reportedly having made countless “incriminating statements to both inmates and guards” during his time in custody awaiting trial. His attorneys are trying to get these so-called “confessions” suppressed with the claim he was “in a state of psychosis” while making them, but to no avail as of writing. Nevertheless, it’s important to remember he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law — if convicted, though, he faces either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
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