On the afternoon of February 13, 2017, Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14, went walking on the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Indiana. The two best friends were spending a day off from school together. When they failed to arrive at the place where a relative was waiting to collect them, their families began searching.
Abby and Libby were found dead the following day in a wooded area near the trail. Their murders devastated their families and changed the life of a small community. The investigation soon drew national attention because Libby’s phone had preserved video and audio recorded shortly before the girls were killed.
That recording became a central part of the case, but it did not produce an immediate arrest. More than five years passed before police charged Delphi resident Richard Allen. A jury convicted him in 2024, and he is now appealing the verdict and sentence.
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| Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German, best friends whose lives were taken near Delphi’s Monon High Bridge Trail in February 2017. |
The Walk on the Bridge
A relative dropped Abby and Libby near the trail shortly before 2 p.m. The Monon High Bridge was an abandoned railroad bridge over Deer Creek and a familiar destination for local walkers. During the outing, Libby posted a photograph of Abby crossing it. The image later became one of the final public records of their afternoon together.
The girls had arranged to be collected later that day, but they did not appear at the agreed location. Their relatives searched the trail and contacted police. Other residents joined the effort as concern spread through Delphi.
On February 14, searchers found Abby and Libby in a wooded area near the bridge. Investigators treated the deaths as homicides. Nothing about the location or the familiarity of the trail offered the families any comfort. A place connected with an ordinary afternoon between friends had become a crime scene.
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| Flowers placed near the Monon High Bridge Trail in memory of Abby and Libby. |
The Recording
Libby’s phone gave investigators evidence that would define the public search for the killer. The video showed a man walking on the bridge behind the girls. Police released still images from the footage, and the unknown figure became widely known as “Bridge Guy.”
The audio was made public in stages. The first excerpt contained the words “down the hill.” In 2019, investigators released a longer version that began with the word “Guys.” The clips were replayed across television, radio and online platforms in the hope that someone would recognize the man’s appearance, movement or voice.
The recording was important, but its limitations also need to be understood. The image was distant and lacked detail. The audio was brief. Neither identified a person by itself, and years passed before the evidence could be considered alongside a named defendant and the rest of the prosecution’s case.
It is often said that Libby deliberately recorded the man because she sensed danger. The phone unquestionably preserved the encounter, but claims about exactly what she was thinking cannot be proven. What can be said is that her recording gave investigators evidence they would not otherwise have had.
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| Libby German’s phone preserved the video and audio that became central evidence in the investigation. |
The most important clue in the Delphi case came from Libby German herself.
Her phone captured video and audio that remained central to the investigation for years.
Years Without an Arrest
Investigators released audio, images, sketches and repeated appeals for information. Thousands of tips arrived from across the United States. The material generated enormous attention, yet it did not immediately reveal who had killed Abby and Libby.
The long delay encouraged intense public speculation. Online communities compared faces, voices and timelines, often naming people who had never been charged. Some coverage kept the case visible, but unsupported accusations also created confusion and exposed innocent people and the victims’ families to further harm.
Two different suspect sketches added to the uncertainty. Police said the inquiry remained active, but each anniversary arrived without an arrest. For Abby and Libby’s relatives, the passage of time was not an intriguing mystery. It was a prolonged wait for an answer to two murders.
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| A family photograph of Abby Williams with relatives, shared during coverage of the case. |
The Lead That Came Back
Richard Allen had spoken to an officer soon after the murders and said that he had been on the trail on February 13. That information did not receive the scrutiny it later would. The lead sheet recorded his name incorrectly as “Richard Allen Whiteman” and had been marked “cleared.”
In September 2022, Kathy Shank, a retired state employee who had volunteered to help organize the investigation’s files, found the misplaced document. She recognized a possible connection between Allen’s account and a witness who had reported seeing a man on the trail, then brought the sheet to investigators.
Police returned to Allen, who lived in Delphi and had worked as a pharmacy technician at a local CVS. He was arrested in October 2022, more than five years after the murders. The discovery of the overlooked lead explained how investigators reached him, but it also raised a serious question about why his 2017 statement had not been examined more closely at the time.
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| Richard Allen being escorted by officers during proceedings in the Delphi murders case. A jury convicted him in November 2024. |
The Evidence at Trial
Allen’s trial began on October 18, 2024. Prosecutors argued that he was the man recorded on Libby’s phone and that he had forced Abby and Libby away from the trail. Their case combined several categories of evidence rather than relying on a single item.
Allen had placed himself on the trail during the relevant period in his original account to authorities. Prosecutors compared that statement with witness testimony, the video and audio from Libby’s phone, and other details from the investigation. A state trooper who had listened to hundreds of Allen’s recorded calls testified that he recognized Allen’s voice in the video.
The state also presented evidence about an unspent .40-caliber cartridge found at the scene. An Indiana State Police firearms examiner testified that marks on the round connected it to Allen’s Sig Sauer handgun and indicated that it had been cycled through the weapon. The defense disputed the method and the conclusion. Its expert questioned the state’s comparison, and Allen’s attorneys argued that the cartridge did not establish that he had been at the crime scene.
Prosecutors also relied on statements Allen made after his arrest. The jury heard recordings in which he said that he had killed Abby and Libby, along with testimony about other admissions made in custody. The defense argued that these were false confessions produced during a severe decline in Allen’s mental health. A defense psychiatrist testified that prolonged isolation could cause delirium and psychosis.
Allen’s lawyers emphasized what they said was missing. They argued that no witness had directly identified him as the man on the bridge and that no fingerprint or DNA evidence linked him to the scene. They maintained that the state had not proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutors answered that the recording, Allen’s presence on the trail, the cartridge evidence and his own statements formed a consistent body of proof.
The Verdict and Sentence
On November 11, 2024, the jury found Richard Allen guilty of two counts of murder and two counts of murder committed while kidnapping or attempting to kidnap the girls. The verdict was the jury’s legal conclusion after hearing the prosecution’s case and the defense challenges.
On December 20, Judge Fran Gull sentenced Allen on the two murder counts. She imposed 65 years for each victim and ordered the terms to be served consecutively, producing a total sentence of 130 years. Six relatives delivered victim impact statements during the hearing.
The verdict ended the question of criminal responsibility at the trial level, but it did not end the legal proceedings. Allen has maintained his innocence and is seeking review of the conviction and sentence through the Indiana appellate system.
Why the Delphi Case Still Haunts People
The Delphi case reached an unusually large audience because the public could see an image and hear a voice connected with the crime. Those fragments created the impression that the answer was close. The years without an arrest showed how limited even compelling digital evidence can be when it lacks a confirmed identity.
The case also demonstrates the risks of treating an active murder investigation as open entertainment. Public interest can generate useful tips and keep attention on an unsolved crime. It can also produce rumors, false accusations and a level of exposure that places an additional burden on grieving families.
Libby’s recording became essential evidence, but neither girl should be reduced to a clue. Abby and Libby were best friends, daughters, granddaughters and students. Their families endured the search, the years of uncertainty, a highly publicized trial and now an appeal. Respect for them requires reporting the case accurately without turning their final hours into spectacle.
Where the Case Stands Now
Richard Allen is serving the 130-year sentence imposed after his 2024 conviction. His attorneys are challenging the result on appeal and have argued that errors in the trial, including rulings about evidence and limits placed on the defense, denied him a fair proceeding. Indiana has asked the appellate court to uphold the conviction.
An appeal is not a new trial and does not ask another jury to decide the facts from the beginning. The appellate judges review the legal record to determine whether errors occurred and, if they did, whether those errors justify changing the outcome. Unless and until a court orders otherwise, Allen’s conviction and sentence remain in force.
The appellate process may add further legal decisions to the public record. It cannot change the reason the case matters. Abby Williams and Libby German went to the Monon High Bridge Trail on a February afternoon and never returned to their families. Any account of Delphi should begin and end with the two lives that were taken.
ABC News: Emily Shapiro and Janel Klein, “Delphi murders: Convicted killer Richard Allen sentenced to 130 years,” December 20, 2024. Reporting on Allen’s conviction, sentence, the phone recording, the unspent round evidence, and the family impact statements.
ABC News: “Victim’s phone recorded voice saying ‘down the hill’ before bodies were found,” February 22, 2017. Early reporting on the audio recovered from Libby German’s phone and the public release of the suspect’s voice.
Associated Press: Rick Callahan, “Indiana man sentenced to the maximum of 130 years in prison for 2017 killings of 2 teenage girls,” December 20, 2024. Coverage of the verdict, sentence, trial evidence, and the long-overlooked lead connected to Richard Allen.
Court TV: Lauren Silver, “Appeals court to hear Richard Allen’s appeal of conviction for Delphi murders,” May 16, 2026. Update on Allen’s appellate case and the scheduled oral arguments before the Indiana Court of Appeals.
21Alive News: Cierra Parker, “Indiana Attorney General submits brief calling for Delphi murders conviction to be upheld,” March 26, 2026. Reporting on the state’s appellate brief and arguments for upholding the conviction.
The Guardian: “Indiana man receives 130 years in prison for murders of teenaged girls in 2017,” December 20, 2024. Additional reporting on the conviction, sentence, trial issues, and defense claims.