Delphi murders: Volunteer’s clue helps convict Richard Allen after five-year pursuit

DELPHI, Ind. — After more than five years of unanswered questions, the Delphi murders of Libby German, 14, and Abby Williams, 13, have a verdict: Richard Allen, a 50-year-old married father of one who worked at a local CVS pharmacy, was convicted of two counts of murder in November 2023 and sentenced to 130 years in prison. The case was long defined by a single haunting clue captured on Libby’s cellphone and by a relentless but flawed investigative arc that stretched across a small town and national headlines until a volunteer clerk helped tip the scales toward justice.

The girls set out for a routine walk on the Monon High Bridge trail near Delphi, Indiana, on Feb. 13, 2017, and never returned home. Libby filmed part of the route on her phone as a man followed closely behind Abby on the approach to the derelict bridge. The video ends abruptly with the implication that the girls were being stalked, and their bodies were found the next day in nearby woods. Investigators described the killer as having forced the girls down a slope to a creek and then attacking them, with the crime scene showing signs that suggested the killer used a box cutter and tried to obscure the bodies with branches. There was no immediate evidence of sexual assault, but the girls were found in a disturbing arrangement that haunted residents of Delphi for years.

The investigation quickly became a case study in how small-town police departments cope with national scrutiny and a flood of tips. By the first days after the murders, detectives released a grainy image of a heavyset man in a blue coat, described as a local who was familiar with the trails. But the case soon stalled in a thicket of missteps: about 70 days of recorded interviews with locals disappeared from the files, and a later facial reconstruction offered a sketch that authorities later conceded was inaccurate. The town of Delphi, with a population around 3,000, faced a convergence of theories, rumors, and intense media attention that sometimes overwhelmed the local force.

Two early suspects drew significant attention. Ron Logan, whose land bordered the trail, appeared in early inquiries after footage showed him disposing of items at a local dump. Logan’s own history, including run-ins with the law, complicated his standing in the investigation, though officials later stressed that he had an alibi and no solid link to the killings. Separately, investigators examined the online persona of a man known as Kegan Kline, who used the alias Anthony Shots to lure underage girls into sharing explicit material. Police obtained evidence linking Kline to online activity but did not find enough ground to tie him directly to the Delphi murders, and he was not charged in the killings. The string of leads also fed into broader theories about local Odinist groups and fringe rituals that briefly swept through social feeds and local chatter, though investigators repeatedly cautioned that no solid evidence connected those groups to the crime.

A turning point came in September 2022, when Kathy Shank, a longtime volunteer clerk assisting the investigation, noticed a discrepancy in a name listed in the case file: it read Richard Allen Whiteman, a misnomer that pointed to a road, not a person. The note helped Shank deduce that the reference was to Richard Allen, a Delphi resident who worked at a nearby CVS and who could plausibly have been on the trails the day of the murders. Her online cross-checks and careful sifting of two-hour hiking logs eventually led investigators to focus on Allen as the prime suspect, a development that culminated in his arrest the following year.

The break in 2023 came with forensic and behavioral evidence that tied Allen to the crime. Investigators found an unspent bullet at the scene that forensic analysts later matched to a gun found in Allen’s home, a crucial link that prosecutors described as a key piece of the puzzle. In addition, a police officer who listened to hundreds of recorded prison phone calls testified that a voice ordering the girls to “down the hill” resembled Allen’s. Prosecutors argued that the combination of physical evidence and the voice identification left little doubt that Allen was the man seen on Libby’s video and that he was responsible for the killings.

Prosecutors presented a detailed prison-record confession allegedly given by Allen to a psychologist, Dr. Monica Wala, describing how he followed the girls from the bridge, intended to assault them, and then decided to kill them with a box cutter when an oncoming vehicle spooked him. The confession, along with the bullet-analysis and timing of Allen’s movements on the day of the murders, formed the backbone of the state’s case. Defense attorneys, meanwhile, argued that the confession could be tainted by prison conditions and argued for alternate explanations, including lingering questions about whether Odinist links to other local men could have provided a motive for the killings. The judge repeatedly ruled against trying those theories, noting the lack of corroborating evidence.

Richard Allen was found guilty on all counts by a 12-person jury after 19 hours of deliberation and was sentenced to 130 years in prison. He has maintained his innocence publicly, and his wife, Kathy Allen, has stood by him in interviews and in the ABC News documentary series now streaming on Hulu, saying she believes authorities are wrongly accusing him. Prosecutors and investigators, however, contend that the evidence across multiple lines of inquiry — forensic, documentary, and testimonial — supports the verdict.

The case has entered a broader historical frame because it exposed how a small police force can be overwhelmed by a national spotlight. The Delphi murders prompted criticism about the handling of tips, the management of case files, and the speed with which investigators pursued certain leads. It also spurred a wave of media coverage and inspired books and documentaries, including Shadow of the Bridge: The Delphi Murders and the Dark Side of the American Heartland by Aine Cain and Kevin Greenlee, which recounted the investigation in detail, and a separate ABC News documentary series highlighting new details and perspectives on the case. Critics of the investigation point to earlier missteps — including delayed responses to critical tips and the loss of crucial interview records — as factors that prolonged the pursuit of justice. Supporters say the case demonstrates the importance of meticulous police work, persistent citizen involvement, and the crucial role of modern forensics in resolving a decades-long mystery for a community scarred by tragedy.

Delphi residents, survivors, and the families of Libby and Abby continue to navigate the fault lines exposed by the case. For Kathy Shank, whose diligence helped connect the dots, the story is a reminder of how quiet acts can have outsized consequences. For Libby’s and Abby’s families, the verdict brings a sense of closure, even as the lives of those affected by the murders will forever bear the imprint of the events that unfolded on that misty February day in 2017. As the community reflects on the years that passed between the girls’ disappearance and Allen’s conviction, the broader question remains: what more can be learned from this case to help prevent similar tragedies in the future, and how can communities balance the pursuit of justice with the rights of individuals under intense public scrutiny?