An image taken from a cellphone video shot by 14-year-old Libby German on the day in 2017 that she and 13-year-old Abby Williams were slain near Delphi, Ind., shows a man police believe to be their killer. Richard Allen, 52, has been convicted for kidnapping and murdering the girls and sentenced to 130 years in prison. File Photo courtesy Indiana State Police
Richard Allen was sentenced to serve 130 years in prison Friday for the 2017 killing of two teenage girls in Indiana.
Allen was convicted of kidnapping and murdering 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams and 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German in November. The 52-year-old received the maximum sentence after being found guilty on two counts of kidnapping and two counts of murder. Advertisement
“These families will deal with your carnage forever,” Judge Frances C. Gull said at Friday’s sentencing hearing.
Allen remained free until he was arrested in 2022. Prosecutors said he was armed with a gun when he forced Williams and German off the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Ind., and killed them. They also allege that he confessed to his crimes more than 60 times while he was incarcerated, telling his wife, mother, inmates and others of the killings.
The girls were reported missing after not showing up to meet German’s father on Feb. 13, 2017. Their bodies were found a mile away from where they were dropped off on the hiking trail.
German captured a man believed to be Allen speaking on a Snapchat video instructing the girls to go “down the hill.” Advertisement
The sentencing hearing was swift, lasting less than an hour. The 12-person jury deliberated for 19 hours, spread across three days, when convicting Allen on Nov. 11.
Allen’s attorney intends to appeal, writing in a memo that Allen maintains his innocence.
