Delphi double murder suspect to return to court

(DELPHI, Ind.) — Delphi, Indiana, double murder suspect Richard Allen is set to return to court on Friday morning.

Allen County Judge Fran Gull is expected to review the gag order and consider the defense’s change of venue request.

Allen was arrested in October 2022 and charged with two counts of murder for the February 2017 killings of Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14. Allen has pleaded not guilty.

Abby and Libby, who were best friends, were on a hiking trail in rural Delphi when they were killed. The case, which garnered national interest, had gone years without an arrest.

While the girls were on the trail that day, one of them said “gun” as a man approached them, the probable cause affidavit said, citing video recovered from one of the victim’s phones. A man was seen and heard telling the girls, “Guys, down the hill,” and Abby and Libby then went down the hill, according to the probable cause affidavit.

A .40-caliber unspent round was found less than 2 feet away from one of the bodies and went through a gun that Allen owns, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Allen admitted to police he was on the trail the day of the murders but he denied knowing the victims and denied any involvement in their deaths, the affidavit said.

“When asked about the unspent bullet, [Allen] did not have an explanation of why the bullet was found” by the girls’ bodies, the probable cause affidavit said.

Police still have not released how Abby and Libby died.