Indiana man sentenced after conviction in 2017 killings of 2 teenage girls in Delphi

DELPHI, Ind. (WDRB) — An Indiana man convicted in the 2017 killings of two teenage girls who vanished during a winter hike was sentenced to a maximum of 130 years in prison Friday in the case that’s long cast a shadow over the teens’ small hometown of Delphi.

A special judge sentenced Richard Allen to 130 years during a hearing that began at 9 a.m. Allen, 52, was convicted on Nov. 11 in the killings of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, known as Abby and Libby.

A jury found him guilty of two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping.

Allen had faced between 45 years and 130 years in prison in the killings of the Delphi teens. He was sentenced on two of the four murder counts.

"There will never be any closure in this case," Carol County Sheriff Tony Liggett said. "The Germans and the Williams family lost their daughters. their granddaughters, their siblings."

It's been a tough almost 8 years for the families. Investigators say they were under a gag order to not talk about the case. But after the sentencing, they were able to speak freely. Police, along with family members held a press conference.

Investigators say the teen girls helped police solve their own case.

"I'd be remiss, if I didn't thank Abby and Libby themselves... Libby for recording the defendant as he crossed the bridge, having the where with all to pull out her phone and record that individual having the where with all knowing something wasn't right," Carol County Prosecutor, Nicholas McLeland, said.

"A form of justice was served, but it does not bring Abby or Libby back," Carol County Sheriff Tony Liggett said.

"I want to send out my appreciation that justice has been served for the girls," Mike Patty, Libby's grandfather said. "I want to thank the jurors. I hope they get a chance to see this. They took time out of their lives and remained open minded and objective and was able to look at the information and deliver a verdict for that I will always be grateful."

A retired CPS worker, Kathy Shank, was helping with the investigation and uncovered a tip that eventually led to Allen's arrest. She said, "I realized this was a person who we had not discussed when I read the tip and the subsequent report because I had been an investigator for the 40 years prior. I took it to Tony Ligett, please look at this and this is something we need to look at and he said yes it is."

Allen also lived in Delphi and when he was arrested in October 2022, more than five years after the killings, he was employed as a pharmacy technician at a pharmacy only blocks from the county courthouse where he later stood trial. His weekslong trial came after repeated delays, a leak of evidence, the withdrawal of his public defenders and their reinstatement by the Indiana Supreme Court.

The case, which included tantalizing evidence, has long drawn outsized attention from true-crime enthusiasts. The teens were found dead in February 2017, their throats cut, one day after they vanished while hiking during a day off school.

Allen was sentenced by Allen County Superior Court Judge Fran Gull, who along with the jurors, came from northeastern Indiana’s Allen County.

The seven women and five men were sequestered throughout the trial, which began Oct. 18 in the Carroll County seat of Delphi, the girls’ hometown of about 3,000 residents some 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Indianapolis.

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