INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Friday is Day 19 in the trial of Delphi Murders suspect Richard Allen at the Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi.

Allen, 52, is charged with murder and murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in the deaths of 13-year-old Abigail “Abby” Williams and 14-year-old Liberty “Libby” German. The girls’ bodies were found near the Monon High Bridge near Delphi on Feb. 14, 2017, a day after they went missing.

Allen was first investigated in 2017 and again in October 2022. After a second police interview, he was taken into custody.

The trial began Oct. 18 and was expected to continue through mid-November. Originally, 16 Allen County residents sat as the jury on the case, but one juror was dismissed on Oct. 25.

Cameras are not allowed in the courtroom.

Tune into News 8 and follow our daily live blogs throughout the trial for the latest developments.

NOTE: The times listed in the blog headers are the times which the entries were added. Specific times for courtroom events will be listed in the entries if available. These notes are compiled from photographs of written notes provided by reporters in courtroom and emailed to the WISH-TV news desk.

For a brief summary of Day 18 in the Delphi Murders trial (Thursday), scroll to the bottom of the page.

To view all of our previous trial coverage, click here, and follow News 8’s Kyla Russell on X as she covers the trial live from Delphi.

• More Delphi Murders trial on WISHTV.com

3:57 p.m. The jury has concluded deliberations for today. They will continue Saturday morning.

3:37 p.m. Jury continues to deliberate.

News 8’s Kyla Russell reports Friday’s deliberations continue after nearly eight hours in the Delphi Murders trial.

9 a.m.: Court in session for Friday

After five hours of closing arguments and roughly two hours of jury deliberation on Thursday, the jury is scheduled to resume deliberations at 9 a.m. inside the Carroll County Courthouse.

There will be 15 jurors in the room — the 12 who will decide whether Richard Allen is guilty in the murders of Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” German, along with three alternates.

Deliberations could take hours or days. The 12-member jury (three alternates excluded) must reach a unanimous verdict.

If they have reasonable doubt Allen committed the murders, they are instructed to find him not guilty. If they believe he committed the murders, they are instructed to find him guilty.

If the jury is unable to reach a unanimous verdict, the trial could end in a mistrial.

8:57 a.m.: Bus with jurors arrives at Carroll County Courthouse

Brief summary of day 18 in the Delphi Murders trial

Thursday’s court session started with 58 minutes of closing arguments from Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland — the man trying to convince jurors that Richard Allen murdered murdered Abby and Libby.

McLeland again showed the jury an audio-enhanced “Bridge Guy” video, taken by Libby moments before the girls died. Bridge Guy orders the girls, “down the hill,” and Libby said “that be a gun.”

News 8’s Kyla Russell says McLeland reminded the jury of the many witnesses who say they saw Bridge Guy on Feb. 13, 2017.

The state again laid out their timeline leading to Allen’s arrest and noted what they call incriminating items found inside Allen’s home just before his arrest in 2022 — more than 5 years after the deaths.

Inside the house, McLeland said, they found “a Bridge Guy starter kit” – complete with a handgun they say matched an unspent round found between the girls.

Allen’s prison confessions are another linchpin in their argument. McLeland played the calls again, noting when Allen told his wife, “I did it. Just know I did it.”

McLeland told the jury that Bridge Guy “stole the youth and life” from Libby and Abby.

“I believe the evidence is firmly convincing that Richard Allen is Bridge Guy and he killed Abby and Libby,” McLeland told the jury.

After 58 minutes, he finished his closing argument.

Defense attorney Brad Rozzi was next.

Rozzi acknowledged the girls’ families and the suffering they have experienced over the last seven years, but he said that Richard Allen’s life was ruined, too.

He showed the jury graphic photos of Allen inside Westville covered in feces and pictures of medieval torture tools. He told the jury if they convict Allen they would be “endorsing that behavior.”

Rozzi outlined what he says are the four main themes in the case: a broken timeline, bumbled ballistics, false confessions, and digital forensics.

He said the defense’s case for his innocence was easy to make as it centered on the state’s clumsy investigation. Time and time again, Rozzi said, Allen’s defense team had to do the job of investigators.

He cited missing interviews, a yearslong delay in DNA testing, changing timelines, and shotty firearm toolkit science as reasons the investigation fell fall short.

Rozzi again noted there is no DNA evidence or digital evidence to tie Richard Allen to the scene.

After speaking for an hour and 17 minutes, Rozzi ended his argument with a clear message to the jury: you must find Allen innocent.

The court then adjourned for lunch.

When court went back into session, McLeland gave his rebuttal to the defense’s closing argument.

McLeland began by telling the court it’s been a long three or four weeks and that now it’s time to hand the case over to the jury. He reminded the jurors, “You’re in the driver’s seat. I’m not up here to tell you how to feel.”

He said that the defense did not back up their claims and that the prosecution has witnesses who were on the trail that day and they simply reaffirm that Allen was there. He told the jury that Melissa Oberg’s testing of the cartridge found at the scene linked Allen to the crimes.

In closing, McLeland said there were two victims in the case, Abby and Libby. “They are Allen’s victims. But they aren’t just victims, they are heroes.”

After the rebuttal, Judge Gull gave the jury instructions. She said their decision must be “beyond a reasonable doubt,” not “beyond all possible doubt.” She said the burden is on the state to prove that.

Gull told the jury if they are left with two interpretations, they must choose one that sides with innocence.

After giving instructions to the jurors, the jurors were given about two hours to deliberate before the court session ended for the day.