Delphi murders trial: Richard Allen used power and fear to kill teen victims, prosecutors say

Richard Allen was armed with a gun when he came across teenage friends Abigail "Abby" Williams and Liberty "Libby" German near a hiking trail in Delphi, Indiana, in February 2017, then used "power and the fear" to force them "down the hill" before slitting their throats, prosecutors said in an opening statement Friday in his double murder trial .

When the girls' bodies were found the next day after they were reported missing, Libby, 14, was nude and covered in blood, while Abby, 13, was wearing Libby's sweatshirt and jeans, with other clothing dumped in a creek, Carroll County prosecutor Nick McLeland told jurors. He choked up while describing the scene to the jury of seven women and five men.

The "last face the girls saw" was Allen's, McLeland said.

He said Allen would later admit to police to walking along the trail that day, and that an unspent bullet found at the scene and confessions he allegedly gave, including to his wife, would prove he is guilty in the teens' deaths. The prosecution also plans to call witnesses who said they saw Allen at the trail.

Defense lawyer Andrew Baldwin later proclaimed Allen's innocence, instead painting to jurors during his opening statement a muddled investigation that was "messed up from the beginning" and included evidence being lost and a "turf war" between state investigators and the FBI.

He also said a strand of hair found on Abby's fingers — evidence that was not made public in the case — are not from Allen nor the girls and testing should be done to see if it matches one of the girls' relatives.

Ultimately, Baldwin said, the defense plans to challenge the state's timeline to show that Allen was not on the trail at the same time as the girls and there is other evidence indicating they may have been abducted in another vehicle and then brought back to where they were found.

"There is reasonable doubt in this case," Baldwin said.

After jurors were selected this week from Allen County , more than 100 miles northeast of Delphi, the trial got underway Friday in the small community where the murders took place, bringing renewed attention to the winding case.

Allen, 52, dressed in a long-sleeve button-down shirt and khakis, shook his head at times during McLeland's opening statement.

Abby and Libby, whom McLeland described as always together and more like sisters, were found a day after their families said they went missing while out walking and snapping photos near an abandoned rail bridge.

Lawyers for Allen have maintained his innocence. A gag order was issued by Judge Frances Gull in December 2022, preventing nearly everyone involved in the case from publicly commenting.

But the trial is expected to expose fresh details.

If found guilty on two counts of murder and two counts of felony murder in the teens' deaths, Allen could face up to 130 years in prison. The married father and local pharmacy technician was not arrested until late 2022, more than five years after the killings.

"For five years, he lived in this community," McLeland told jurors. "He worked in this community. He hid in plain sight."

Police had said they initially interviewed Allen in 2017 as part of the case, and they said he acknowledged being on the trail on the day the teens went missing.

A bullet found near their bodies was linked to a pistol belonging to him, according to a probable cause affidavit.

One key piece of evidence — video retrieved from Libby's cellphone that was found underneath Abby's body — showed the apparent suspect. A male voice could also be heard saying, "Guys, down the hill," and one of the girls saying, "Gun."

The clip garnered interest on social media and among internet sleuths when police first released it as they sought help in identifying the person in the video.

Prosecutors have also said Allen confessed dozens of times after his arrest to various people, including to his wife and staff at the prison where he was being held, that he committed the murders.

As the trial opened this week, the defense lawyers withdrew a request for jurors to be able to visit the crime scene, which prosecutors had opposed.

His lawyers also won't get to tell the jury one alternate theory for the killings. Gull last month denied their bid to claim that Abby and Libby were murdered as part of a ritualistic sacrifice by those linked to Odinism, a Norse pagan religion that has spread among white nationalist groups .

Defense lawyers, however, may still get to argue during the trial why certain evidence is admissible.