(Image via indianalandmarks.org)
Volunteer Writer: Aliyah Santana
Email: asantana5@umassd.edu
Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German were violently murdered on Tuesday, February 13th, 2017, in the small town of Delphi, Indiana.
Abby was an eighth grader at the Delphi Community Middle School. She played the saxophone and was on the volleyball team. She was an avid reader and enjoyed art, photography, and animals. Learn more about Abby’s life here.
Libby was also an eighth grader at the Delphi Community Middle School. She enjoyed athletics, painting, and doing crafts. Learn more about Libby’s life here.
The two young girls went hiking on February 13th, 2017, along the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Indiana. This small town of just over 3,000 people is usually a safe place.
However, when the girls didn’t meet Libby’s dad after the hike and couldn’t be reached by their cellphones, a missing persons report was filed at 5:30 PM that day.
The girl’s bodies were found half a mile off the trail the next day – a grainy video was found on Libby’s phone of a man dressed in blue jeans, a blue jacket, and a cap walking alone along the bridge.
The investigators released the video and the audio of the man telling the girls to “go down the hill.” This video went viral, and the suspect became known as the “bridge guy.”
Both girls were stabbed to death with their throats slit. A gun is believed to be used but never fired. A pair of underwear and a sock were missing from the girls.
Libby was found at the base of a tree with four tree branches varying in size placed around her naked body. Abby was found fully clothed, wearing Libby’s sweatshirt and jeans as well – however, there was no blood on the clothing, implying she was dressed after being killed. Tree branches and sticks had been arranged on her body as well.
Richard Allen was arrested in 2022, five years after the murders – at the time of the murders, he was 44 with no prior criminal record but a known alias of Craigh Ross Rentfrow.
Allen’s home was less than a five-minute drive from where Libby and Abby were found – he shares this home with his wife, Kathy. Allen is a trained pharmacy technician. At the time of his arrest, he was working at the local CVS.
The evidence that ties Allen to the scene is the bullet found at the crime scene. A ballistics document confirms that the unspent .40 caliber round that was found had belonged to a Sig Sauer Model P226 that belonged to Allen – a gun he had owned since 2001 and was found during the search of his home.
The police interviewed Allen twice, once in 2017, where he confirmed his location of being on the bridge on February 13th, and then again in 2022, where he claimed having no explanation as to how his bullet was found at the crime scene.
Richard Allen was arrested on October 26th, 2022. He was charged with two counts of murder.
He pleaded not guilty.
His defense attorney attempted to argue that the killings had been a ritual sacrifice by members of a white nationalist group that are known as Odinists. Odinists follow the modern pagan religion. This only became a theory due to the way the branches were placed. In other crime scenes connected to Odinist rituals, the branches were placed similarly, resembling the possible Odinist signature.
However, due to the failure to produce admissible evidence, the judge dismissed the Odinist claim.
It emerged in court that Allen began to confess to the murders in 2023. Detective Brian Harshman testified that he confessed to the murders more than 60 times, including to his mother, the warden, the psychiatrist who treated him, and many other inmates and employees.
Finally, the truth came out: Allen claimed he killed Libby and Abby with a boxcutter he then disposed of in the CVS dumpster where he worked.
The jury spent 19 hours deliberating before reaching their verdict.
On November 11th, 2024, five years after the crime, Richard Allen was found guilty of two counts of murder and two counts of felony murder. He could face 130 years in prison. His sentencing is set for December 20th.