Delphi murders
Richard Allen set for sentencing this month over Delphi murders
Having been convicted of the 2017 murders of Delphi teenagers Liberty German and Abigail Williams, Richard Allen is awaiting his sentencing fate.
Richard Allen is facing a lengthy prison sentence after being convicted of the high-profile murders of teenagers Liberty “Libby” German and Abigail “Abby” Williams - a crime that rocked the small city of Delphi, Indiana, nearly eight years ago.
In November, Allen was found guilty of murdering German, 14, and Williams, 13, on a hiking trail in Delphi in February 2017. According to the Indiana news outlet WTHR, the jury at the Carroll County Courthouse deliberated for around 20 hours at the end of a three-week trial, before convicting the 52-year-old on all four charges levelled against him - two counts of murder and two counts of felony murder.
When will Richard Allen find out his sentence? Can he get the death penalty?
Allen is due back in court for his sentencing hearing on Friday December 20. Although prosecutors opted against seeking the death penalty against the former CVS employee, he may spend the rest of his life behind bars.
How long will Allen get in prison for Delphi murders?
According to Indiana state law, a conviction for a murder charge carries a minimum punishment of a 45-year prison sentence, while the recommended custodial term - known as an “advisory sentence” - is 55 years.
While Allen has been convicted of four counts in total, WTHR notes that he will only receive prison terms on one count per victim, as he cannot be sentenced more than once for the same act.
The maximum overall sentence that Allen could receive is 130 years. The judge, Frances Gull, would arrive at this figure by handing him Indiana’s top fixed term for murder for each victim - 65 years - and ordering him to serve both sentences consecutively, rather than concurrently.
Will Richard Allen appeal?
Allen’s legal team cannot file an appeal until after his sentence is confirmed; per the Indy Star, he will have 30 days after December 20 to lodge a notice of appellate action against his conviction and sentence.
Judging by the reaction of Allen’s wife to his guilty verdict last month, he appears likely to appeal. As she left Carroll County Courthouse, Kathy Allen could be heard declaring, per WTHR: “This isn’t over at all.”
Murders unsolved for years - despite major video clue
Carried out close to Delphi’s Monon High Bridge Trail, the murders of German and Williams quickly gained major national and international attention. This global interest is, in no small part, because of the nature of key clues in the case: shortly before the girls were murdered, German used her cell phone to film video footage of a man, believed to be the killer, walking towards them across the Monon High Bridge, a disused rail bridge on the hiking trail.
In a bid to identify the individual, who became known as “Bridge Guy”, investigators made a portion of German’s video available to the public. What’s more, detectives also released audio from the footage, in which a man can be heard ordering the girls to accompany him “down the hill”.
Yet despite the existence of both video and audio of the apparent perpetrator, investigators struggled to solve the Delphi murders. Indeed, the case went cold until late 2022, when it was announced that Allen had been arrested and charged. It emerged that he had spoken to law enforcement soon after the killings, admitting that he had been on the trail on the day in question.
As reported by the Indianapolis media outlet Fox59, however, Carroll County sheriff Tony Liggett acknowledged during trial testimony that detectives did not follow up on Allen’s initial interview until several years later, because an apparent clerical error led his file to be marked “clear”.
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