Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen hit with additional murder and kidnapping charges
- Richard Allenw was previously charged with murder in commission of a felony
- Now he has also been charged with murder and kidnapping the girls himself
- Abigail Williams and Libby German were taken in Delphi, Indiana, in 2017
Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen has been hit with more murder and kidnapping charges in the 2014 deaths of Libby German and Abigail Williams.
Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland said the amended charges against Richard Allen of Delphi 'more accurately aligns the charging information with the cause´s discovery and probable cause affidavit.'
Crucially, the new charges accuse Allen of murdering the girls himself.
The previous set of charges - murder in the commission of a felony - accused him of kidnapping the girls, who were somehow murdered in the process.
Police arrested him after matching an unspent bullet found next to their bodies to a gun that Allen owned. He also confessed to the murders in jailhouse conversations with his wife, and others.
It remains unknown how the girls were murdered. Police have only gone as far as to reveal that they died as a result of being attacked and losing blood. They have held back key pieces of evidence for years to hone in on the right man after years of red herring tips and public speculation.
![Richard Matthew Allen has been charged with kidnapping and murdering the two Delphi teens. Police arrested him after matching an unspent bullet found next to their bodies to a gun that Allen owned. He also confessed to the murders in jailhouse conversations with his wife, and others](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/19/15/80227837-12983711-image-a-9_1705678391414.jpg)
Richard Matthew Allen has been charged with kidnapping and murdering the two Delphi teens. Police arrested him after matching an unspent bullet found next to their bodies to a gun that Allen owned. He also confessed to the murders in jailhouse conversations with his wife, and others
![Libby German and Abigail Williams were murdered in Delphi, Indiana, in 2017](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/19/15/80227857-12983711-Libby_German_and_Abigail_Williams_were_murdered_in_Delphi_Indian-a-20_1705678952978.jpg)
![Libby German and Abigail Williams were murdered in Delphi, Indiana, in 2017](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/19/15/80227861-12983711-Libby_German_and_Abigail_Williams_were_murdered_in_Delphi_Indian-a-21_1705678952979.jpg)
Libby German and Abigail Williams were murdered in Delphi, Indiana, in 2017
In later court documents, Allen retracted the confessions and suggested that the girls were killed by members of a Satanic cult instead.
The new set of charges accuses him specifically of not just kidnapping them himself, but also killing them.
Allen was arrested in October 2022 and charged with two counts of murder in the 2017 slayings of 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German of Delphi. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
A relative of one of the teenagers - known as Abby and Libby - dropped them off on Feb. 13, 2017, at a hiking trail near their hometown of Delphi, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Indianapolis.
They were reported missing that evening after they didn´t show up at a meeting place to be picked up. Their bodies were found the next day in a rugged, heavily wooded area near the trail.
![A bullet that matched the Sig Sauer handgun found in Allen's home was left next to the girls' bodies](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/19/17/80231905-12983711-image-a-8_1705684732725.jpg)
A bullet that matched the Sig Sauer handgun found in Allen's home was left next to the girls' bodies
The killings have haunted Delphi, a city of about 3,000 where Allen worked at a drugstore, and the case has been closely watched in the state and nationwide.
Gull issued the gag order in December 2022, barring attorneys, law enforcement officials, court personnel, the coroner and the girls´ family members from commenting on the case to the public or the media in any form, including social media.
Prosecutors had sought the order, citing intense public scrutiny and media attention. Gull was brought in as a special judge to oversee the case after a Carroll County judge recused himself.