DELPHI, Ind. – For nearly a month, the small community of Delphi found itself in the local and national spotlight during the trial of Richard Allen.
After hearing weeks of testimony, a jury brought in from Allen County found Allen guilty of four counts of murder in the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge.
The case garnered attention from local and national media as well as true crime fans and online sleuths. But Monday’s verdict, which followed a three-week trial and about 19 hours of jury deliberations, was cathartic for some locals.
“Today is the day. Today is actually the day,” said Sarah Ausbrook, a friend of the victims’ families. “And if you can take any message from here, please take it that this town is filled with good people.”
The murders cast a shadow on the community ever since Abby and Libby were found dead, their throats slashed, near Deer Creek below the High Bridge. What followed in the days and months—the “Bridge Guy” video, “down the hill” and a pair of sketches, just for starters—became part of local lore. Police didn’t make an arrest for more than five years.
“They were the victims, and we were the victims also with it,” said Delphi resident Timothy Harper. His thoughts quickly turned to the slain girls. “They are free. Today is their day. We have been saying it for years. Endless nights of sleep and we can now say that this is justice.”
Harper, Ausbrook and so many others spent years waiting for Monday’s outcome.
“Tonight, we will be able to go to sleep, knowing that we are safe again, knowing that we can all look at one another again as one in the hands of love and help,” Harper said.
Courtroom reaction
The trial saw 17 days of testimony before the prosecution and defense delivered their closing arguments on Thursday, Nov. 7. Those who watched the proceedings closely didn’t know which way the jury would lean.
“As time went on, I kind of thought we might be going towards a hung jury because if you’re not hearing anything, you wonder if maybe there is a deadlock,” said Aine Cain, co-host and co-creator of The Murder Sheet Podcast. “Obviously, that’s not at all what happened here.”
Cain believes a detail in Allen’s confession ultimately swayed the jury toward a guilty verdict.
“Richard Allen’s detailed confession to his psychologist in which he mentioned a white van [was key]. So that basically is a concrete anchoring point where he saying I saw this and then the prosecution was able to produce the driver of the van along with timestamps showing he would’ve been driving that way that day,” Cain said.
“At the same time, just the basic fact that Richard Allen was consistently putting himself everywhere where ‘Bridge Guy’ was sighted was gonna be something that was gonna be difficult for him to overcome.”
Kim Dunlap was in the courtroom during Monday’s verdict. The Kokomo Tribune police and courts reporter was watching Allen closely as the verdict came down.
“Richard Allen, very stoic. You know, he looked straight ahead,” Dunlap recalled. “When the verdicts were read, never really, his facial expressions never changed.”
Trail serves as reminder
Away from the courthouse, not far from the scene where two lives were cut tragically short, sits a small memorial in their honor. It’s simple—just a vase full of purple and blue flowers, the girls’ favorite colors.
Local resident Arielle Claybaugh frequently walks on the trails. She’ll continue to do so despite the tragedy.
“We have to continue hiking out here,” she said. “We have to continue taking these trails back so that people who are capable of such a thing, what happened to Abby and Libby, aren’t able to come out here and feel any sense of comfort, feel any sense of freedom.”
As for the trial, she said she had “a lot of issues” with how things were handled and believes the jury got it wrong.
“I 100% believe that Richard Allen is an innocent man, constitutionally and factually, and this isn’t the end,” Claybaugh said. “We still have appeals. This will be in the appellate court immediately.”
She doesn’t believe there was enough evidence to convict Allen beyond a reasonable doubt.
Still, she said it’s vital to keep the memories of Abby and Libby alive and remember what happened on that February 2017 day.
“You always hear about the stories of, ‘Oh yeah, allegedly this happened out here,’ but it actually happened here. These girls actually suffered.”
