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Prosecutors are focusing on the Delphi murder suspect's “I did it” confession as they make their final arguments to the jury
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Prosecutors are focusing on the Delphi murder suspect's “I did it” confession as they make their final arguments to the jury

Jurors heard confessions from the Delphi murder suspect as prosecutors made a final attempt to convince the panel in closing arguments Thursday that Richard Allen is the “bridge guy” who allegedly killed two teenage girls in 2017.

After three weeks of testimony in the long-awaited double murder trial, Allen's fate now rests in the hands of the jury. If convicted of all charges, he could face up to 130 years in prison.

Allen, 52, is charged with two counts of murder and two additional counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14, who disappeared on Feb. 13, 2017 or tried after a walk on the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Indiana.

Their bodies were discovered the next day near the trail with their throats slit. It would take five years until Allen was arrested in October 2022. A grainy image of “Bridge Guy” was one of the few pieces released by investigators searching for the suspect.

Richard Allen, 52, is charged with two counts of murder and two additional counts of murder for committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in connection with the deaths of Abigail
Richard Allen, 52, is charged with two counts of murder and two additional counts of murder for committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in connection with the deaths of Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14 has. (AP)

During closing arguments Thursday, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland insisted that Allen was the “Bridge Guy” seen in a Snapchat video Libby recorded on her phone shortly before she was killed.

McLeland said Allen repeatedly confessed to the murders in recorded phone conversations played for jurors, including one in which Allen could be heard telling his wife, “I did it. I killed Abby and Libby.”

He also argued that some of Allen's incriminating statements contained information that only the killer could have known.

“Everything is clear now,” said McLeland. “All the pieces have come together.”

But defense attorney Bradley Rozzi argued that Allen's confessions were unreliable because he suffered a severe mental health crisis under the stress of solitary confinement.

A psychiatrist who testified at the trial supported the argument, saying that months in solitary confinement could cause a person to become insane and psychotic.

Rozzi also criticized the prosecution's timeline and told jurors that Allen was not the killer, highlighting four points including the state's “broken” murder plan, “botched” ballistics, “false” confessions and digital forensics.

“We had to do their job over and over again,” Rozzi said of the investigators in the case.

Officers escort Allen from the Carroll County Courthouse after a hearing on November 22, 2022. After the murders, it took five years before he was arrested
Officers escort Allen from the Carroll County Courthouse after a hearing on November 22, 2022. After the murders, it took five years before he was arrested (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

He said the state's timeline did not match the evidence and argued that one or more people must have kidnapped the teens and returned them to the location where they were found early the next day, Fox 59 reported.

Rozzi also focused on witness Brad Weber, who gave conflicting statements in previous police interviews about whether he went straight home after work on the day of the murders. He claimed that on February 13, 2017, at 2:30 p.m., he drove his white van past the section of Deer Creek where the girls' bodies were discovered.

The timeline appears to be consistent with the prosecution's case, which alleges the killer led the girls down the hill at 2:31 p.m., according to pings from Libby's phone. The phone's last ping was at 2:32 p.m

Last week the court heard the testimony of psychologist Dr. Monica Wala, who told jurors how Allen confessed the crimes to her in detail while he was in the Westville Correctional Facility.

She claimed Allen told her he wanted to rape the girls but said he was “scared” by a white van. He then forced them into the woods and slit their throats before covering the girls with sticks, a detail consistent with the crime scene.

German and Williams were killed in February 2017. They disappeared on February 13, 2017, after taking a walk on the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Indiana
German and Williams were killed in February 2017. They disappeared on February 13, 2017, after taking a walk on the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Indiana (Delphi Police)

Perhaps the defense's biggest revelation in court was a digital forensics expert who said headphones or an auxiliary cable were plugged into Libby's cellphone for nearly five hours after she and Abby disappeared. Her testimony questioned investigators' belief that the girls were killed and left in the woods around 2:32 p.m

During the trial, prosecutors showed the court a grainy cell phone video that they said shows Allen walking behind Abby as they cross the Monon High Bridge.

McLeland said a state trooper who listened to more than 700 phone calls made by Allen identified Allen's voice on the video telling the teens to go “down the hill.”

A “unspent bullet” found at the crime scene among the girls' bodies came from Allen's Sig Sauer, a .40-caliber handgun, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the bullet “passed through Allen's gun” and a firearms expert called by the defense during the trial questioned State Police's analysis of the unspent cartridge.

The defense ended its closing remarks by calling the “silver bullet” a “tragic bullet” and saying the totality of the evidence “makes it impossible that Richard Allen is the killer,” Fox 59 reported.

No one identified Allen as “Bridge Guy,” Rozzi told the jury, adding that there was no DNA or digital evidence linking him to the crime scene, nor any connection between Allen and the girls.

German posted a Snapchat as the girls walked along the path in the minutes before they were killed
German posted a Snapchat as the girls walked along the path in the minutes before they were killed (Snapchat)

He concluded with a photo of a medieval torture device and showed photos of Allen's prison cell, some of which showed him lying naked in a hood.

Allen was held in “conditions that no man or woman should endure,” Rozzi said.

“We asked you to release Richard Allen and find him not guilty,” he added.

Before the trial began, Allen's lawyers had tried to argue that the girls had been killed in a ritual sacrifice by members of a white nationalist group known as the Odinists, affiliated with a pagan Norse religion, but the judge ruled against it, saying the defense I “failed”. to provide “admissible evidence” of such a connection.

The bizarre case that has captured the attention of true crime enthusiasts but is also shrouded in mystery and plagued by delays, shifting narratives, controversies, chaotic developments and evidence leaks, is now in the hands of the jury.

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