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Wednesday December 18, 2024

Delphi murder case: What happened to Abigail Williams, Libby German?

It took police 5 years and 2 sketches to find murderer Richard Allen

By Web Desk
February 21, 2024
Photos of Delphi murder case victims Abigail Williams and Libby German. — Independent/File
Photos of Delphi murder case victims Abigail Williams and Libby German. — Independent/File

The families of victims Abigail Williams and Libby German will have to wait a little more, as the trial for the Delphi murder case has been pushed back to October 2024 after a judge announced earlier this month that the defence team of Richard Allen had withdrawn from the case, CBS News reported

Best friends Libby and Abby, who were 14 and 13 years old, respectively, went missing in February 2017 after hiking near Delphi, Indiana, along the Monon High Bridge Trail; their bodies were discovered the following day.

During the walk, Libby posted photos on Snapchat of them walking along the trail, which also captured a grainy video of a man dressed in blue jeans, a blue jacket, and a cap. 

Later on, the picture aided in the suspect's arrest. 

It took the police five years and two police sketches to find the man in the picture.

At the time of the murder, Richard Allen, 44, was a resident of Delphi, a tiny, intimate community of around 3,000 people.

His family lives in a neighbourhood southwest of the Monon High Bridge, less than five minute's drive from the scene of Libby and Abby's deaths. 

Police withheld information regarding the teens' cause of death and the specifics of the crime scene from the public for years. But in June 2023, court records that surfaced for the first time provided fresh information on the killings. 

According to the documents, Libby and Abby are thought to have died from wounds received "by a sharp object" and were both stabbed to death. An unspent bullet was discovered near the victim's bodies, it is also thought that a gun was used in the crime, Independent reported.

Some items of the girl's clothing were also missing, and Libby’s iPhone, containing the infamous video of "Bridge Guy,"  was found underneath her body at the scene. "Articles of clothing from the girls were missing from the scene, including a pair of underwear and a sock," documents state.