Delphi man arrested for murder of Abby Williams and Libby German in 2017
DELPHI, Ind. (WISH) — After more than five years, someone has been charged for the murders of 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams and 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German.
Indiana State Police has formally announced the arrest of 50-year-old Delphi resident Richard Allen in the case after news of the arrest leaked out over the past several days. Sources have told News 8 that Allen is not cooperating with the case.
Allen faces two counts of murder in the case, according to ISP Superintendent Doug Carter. Carter said the court documents outlining the charges are temporarily sealed. Police did not say how they connected Allen to the murders. Online records indicate Allen has lived in Delphi since 2006.
Allen worked at a CVS in Delphi. The grandparents of German said they had previously interacted with Allen at his workplace, saying Allen had processed photos for them but did not charge them.
News 8 received this statement from the company:
As members of the Carroll County community, we remain devastated by these murders and our hearts go out to the German and Williams families. We are shocked and saddened to learn that one of our store employees was arrested as a suspect in these crimes. We stand ready to cooperate with the police investigation in any way we can.
CVS Health
See the entire press conference from Indiana State Police, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and the Carroll County Prosecutor’s Office.
“I know that today’s announcement will not diminish your resolve, but I hope you’ve found just a bit of peace in this most complicated world,” Carter said to the families of Abby Williams and Libby German.
“We got him,” Kelsi German, Libby’s sister, said on Twitter. “October 28th was the day.”
Allen entered a not guilty plea during an initial hearing and is due back in court on Jan. 10, 2023. He is being held without bond in the White County Jail.
“This is bittersweet, it is a step in the right direction,” Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland said.
McLeland urged people to continue sending tips.
“We encourage everybody to continue calling in tips, not only about Richard Allen, but about any other person you may have,” McLeland said. “For that reason and the nature of this case, the probable cause and the charging information has been sealed by the court.”
McLeland says he does not believe an attorney has entered an appearance on behalf of Allen yet.
Online court records reviewed by News 8 do not show any significant criminal history by Allen in Indiana.
The announcement marks a significant event in a case that has drawn national attention since 2017. Carter had long maintained that he wished he could tell the public what investigators knew about the case.
“I wish we could tell people and literally the world what we know and one day we will be able to, but today is not that day,” Carter told News 8 earlier in 2022.
Abby and Libby were last seen on the afternoon of Feb. 13, 2017. They had been dropped off near the Monon High Bridge near Delphi. The next day, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office announced that they were looking for the girls. A command post was set up and the community worked to locate the girls. Their bodies were located around 12:15 p.m. that day.
On Feb. 22, 2017, state police released an audio recording of a possible suspect’s voice and a still image of a man. The footage came from German’s cell phone. At the time, police called German “a hero” for recording video of the incident.
Investigators released a composite sketch of a possible suspect on July 17, 2017.
It would be nearly two years before any significant updates emerged.
On April 22, 2019, police released a second sketch. This sketch showed a different and younger person.
“…as the investigation has matured and past information has been reassessed, it is the belief of investigators with the Multi-Agency Task Force that the person depicted in the sketch released on April 22nd more accurately represents the person wanted for the murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German,” police said in a news release in the days following the release of the second sketch.
While public announcements regarding the case became few and far between, other things were happening that would not be revealed until much later.
On Dec. 6, 2021, state police asked for tips for anyone who had interacted with someone going by “anthony_shots” online between 2016-17. Police said someone was using photos of a male model.
The next day, it was learned that state police had been looking into a man named Kegan Kline as the man behind the fake account since just after the girls were murdered.
Kline was charged in 2020 for 30 felonies, including possession of child pornography and child molestation. He was never implicated in the murders. Investigators recently spent five weeks searching the Wabash River in relation to Kline’s case, but never said what they were looking for or if anything was found.
Adding to the complexity of the case is a March 17, 2017 search warrant that wasn’t publicly reported until more than five years later. An FBI agent said the girls bodies were “moved and staged” at the murder scene. Ron Logan, owner of the property were the girls were found, was targeted in the search warrant.
Investigators believed Logan lied about is whereabouts on the day the girls disappeared. The FBI agent writing the search warrant believed Logan was behind the murders.
“I believe there is probable cause to believe that RONALD LOGAN has committed the crime of murder and evidence of that can be found on RONALD LOGAN’S property,” the agent wrote.
Logan was never charged in the case or identified as a suspect and died on Jan. 24, 2022.
