What to know about the Delphi murders as trial gets underway

Delphi murders trial gets underway in Indiana

Delphi murders trial gets underway in Indiana 03:25

The trial against Richard Allen, the man charged in the killing of two teenage girls in a case known as the Delphi murders, has begun. 

Allen, 52, is facing two counts of murder and two counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in the killings of Delphi, Indiana eighth graders Abigail Williams and Liberty German in 2017. 

The trial is expected to take one month. Here's what to know about the Delphi murders and the case against Richard Allen. 

What happened to Abigail Williams and Liberty German? 

Abigail, 13, and Liberty, 14, better known as Abby and Libby, were close friends who had been dropped off by a relative at a hiking trail on Feb. 13, 2017. When they failed to meet the relative later in the day, they were reported missing. 

Their bodies were found the next day in a wooded area near the Delphi Historic Trail, about a mile where they were last seen. Authorities determined their deaths were homicides. CBS News previously reported that the girls were stabbed to death.  

Police spent years searching for a suspect, investigating thousands of leads and releasing multiple composite sketches of the suspect based on eyewitness accounts. Audio evidence from Libby's cell phone revealed an unknown man had told the girls to go "down the hill." Libby also recorded a short video of a man who police believed to be the killer. 

Liberty German, left, and Abigail Williams.  CBS

Who is Richard Allen? 

Richard Allen, a drugstore pharmacy technician in Delphi, was arrested on Oct. 26, 2022, more than five years after the slayings. He was first interviewed by police in 2017, and said that he had been walking in the area and seen three "females" near a bridge, but hadn't spoken to them. 

He was interviewed again on Oct. 13, 2022, after police searched through former suspects. He said that he had seen three "juvenile girls" during his walk. Investigators searched his home and seized a .40-caliber pistol. Prosecutors said testing found an unspent bullet discovered between the teen's bodies "had been cycled through" the weapon. Allen told prosecutors that he had never been where the bullet was found and didn't know how a round cycled through his gun could have gotten there.

Allen has pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

Richard Allen, 50, is charged with two counts of murder in the 2017 deaths of 13-year-old Abby Williams and 14-year-old Libby German in Delphi, Indiana. Indiana State Police

Prosecutors have said previously that Allen admitted to the killings in a prison phone call to his wife in April 2022. During the call, Allen admitted to the murders seven times before his wife quickly ended the phone call, court documents state. Special Judge Fran Gull ruled in August 2024 that those statements, along with other comments Allen made while in jail, can be used as evidence in the trial. 

Officials previously said they have "good reason to believe" that more than one person was involved in the killings, but no further arrests have been made. 

Allen's lawyers previously suggested that the girls were killed as part of a pagan ritual sacrifice, and accused police of ignoring evidence from the crime scene. In a search warrant request in March 2017, an FBI agent claimed the girls' bodies appeared to have been "moved and staged" at the crime scene.

Suspect in custody in connection with 2017 murders of 2 girls in Delphi, Indiana 01:58

Inside the trial

The trial has been repeatedly delayed because of evidence leaks and the withdrawal of Allen's public defenders, who were later reinstated by the Indiana Supreme Court. On Friday, Oct. 18, opening statements began. 

The trial is expected to last a month. Jurors will be sequestered and kept from using cellphones or watching the news, CBS Chicago reported. 

Prosecutors said they plan to call about 50 witnesses, while Allen's defense attorneys expect to call about 120 people to the stand.

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