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Delphi Murder Victims' Families React to Convicted Killer Richard Allen's Sentencing
Loved ones of murdered teens Abby Williams and Libby German broke their silence after a 2-year gag order was lifted following sentencing.
Richard Allen, the Indiana man responsible for the deaths of Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14, will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
On Friday, December 20, 2024, Special Judge Fran Gull handed the 52-year-old pharmacy tech a maximum 130-year sentence minus 786 days for time served, according to Fox Indianapolis affiliate WXIN. The decision comes less than six weeks after Allen was found guilty on all counts for the high-profile 2017 double homicide widely known as The Delphi Murders.
"I've spent 27 years as a judge, and you rank right up there with the most heinous crimes in the state of Indiana," said the judge, according to ABC News. "You rank right up there in the extraordinary impact on family, including the generational impact … These families will deal with your carnage forever."
Gull chastised the defendant for rolling his eyes at her, “like you rolled your eyes at me through this trial.”
What happened to Delphi murder victims, Abigail Williams and Liberty German?
Junior high school friends Williams and German disappeared on February 13, 2017, while walking along Monon High Bridge on Delphi’s historic trails, about 70 miles north of Indianapolis. They were found dead the next day, less than a mile from the bridge, with sharp wounds to their necks.
The case attracted significant media attention, especially because German had enough insight to record Allen on her phone shortly before they disappeared. A grainy video of the suspect saying, “Down the hill,” prompted thousands of tips over the years.
Allen was arrested in October 2022 after an unspent .40-caliber shell casing found near the girls' bodies connected Allen to the crime, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Oxygen.com. Allen confessed to the murders several times while behind bars.
The German and Williams families speak out following Richard Allen's sentencing
A temporary gag order — ordered by Judge Gull in December 2022 due to crime's “highly publicized” nature — barred relatives from speaking publicly about the case. However, German’s grandmother, Becky Patty, broke her silence following the sentence, according to ABC News.
“I can never change my choice to let Libby and Abby go to the trails that day,” she said. “I hope [Allen] lives with the same fear he caused Abby and Libby in the last hour of their lives.”
RELATED: Abigail Williams and Liberty German's Final Moments Detailed in Delphi Murders Trial
German’s mother, Carrie Timmons, told reporters that she “was blind that such evil existed.”
As for Williams’ family, her grandmother, Diane Erskine, also broke her silence, per ABC News.
“This is a day of great sadness for our family,” she said. “We won’t be going home to celebrate with champagne.”
Richard Allen's defense plans to appeal Delphi murders convictions
On Wednesday, December 18, 2024, Allen’s defense attorneys released a memorandum, stating that they “will be speaking and articulating arguments in minimal fashion” at Friday's sentencing hearing, according to the Fox affiliate. They said, “It’s not over,” and expressed their intention to appeal an unfavorable outcome.
“Richard Allen maintains his innocence and [is] hopeful that the appellate process will provide him with an opportunity to present a full defense at a second trial,” attorneys stated.
At the sentencing, German’s grandfather, Mike Patty, addressed the defendant over his intention to appeal, according to ABC News.
“You could have taken accountability,” he said. “You need to stand up and not appeal.”
After the judge doled out the sentence, Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett joined relatives and other law enforcement officials when speaking to reporters, according to The Lafayette Journal & Courier.
"There will never be any closure in this case," said Liggett. "The Germans and the Williams families lost their daughters, their granddaughters, their siblings ... These families will live every day without two of the most important people in their lives."
