Richard Allen’s initial bail was set at $20 million after he was arrested for the 2017 deaths of two teenage girls in Delphi.
Allen, 50, was detained last week in a shocking move by authorities who had never previously linked him publicly to the case.
On February 13 in Indiana, Liberty German, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, were slain while hiking along the Delphi Historic Trail near the Monon High Bridge.
The killer remained a mystery for five years, as police remained tight-lipped about how the girls were murdered.
Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland has sealed Allen’s charging documents in an effort to maintain secrecy over the deaths.
Today, Judge Benjamin Diener authorized the release of certain case data, with a hearing scheduled for November 22 to determine whether the documents will remain under seal.
Allen has been charged under a specific subsection of Indiana’s statute involving at least one underlying offense, however it is unclear what those offenses are.
Richard Allen, age 50, is accused with the 2017 slayings of Libby, age 14, and Abigail Williams, age 13, in Delphi, Indiana.
In February of 2017, Abigail Williams, left, and Liberty German, right, were murdered after walking along the Delphi Historic Trail near the Monon High Bridge.
However, according to Indiana law, they could be committing or attempting to commit the following: arson, burglary, child molesting, consumer product tampering, criminal deviant conduct, kidnapping, rape, robbery, human trafficking, promotion of human labor trafficking, promotion of human sexual trafficking, promotion of child sexual trafficking, promotion of sexual trafficking of a younger child, child sexual trafficking, or carjacking.
McLeland requested that the probable cause affidavit be sealed in accordance with Rule 6 of the Indiana Rules to Access Court Records. Indiana law mandates that the probable cause affidavit be made public upon the arrest of a suspect; however, McLeland requested that the affidavit be kept confidential.
It indicates that a judge may exclude the record from public access in “exceptional circumstances”; nonetheless, it is unclear why McLeland made this request.
Several media outlets have appealed the decision to seal the document, as it would explain in greater detail why Allen was connected to the horrible crime.
Allen’s initial bail following his arrest was set at $20 million, however he is apparently being held without bond at this time.
A case summary detailing prior and prospective court dates is now available, along with a case number, allowing the public to track the case’s latest developments.
In addition, Judge Diener said that his court staff has been ‘overwhelmed’ by requests for public records.
A photo of Richard Allen, 50, smiling with his wife is displayed on the wall of Bob Matlock’s bar, along with a police sketch that closely resembles him.
In February of 2017, her friend and fellow victim Abigail Williams videotaped Libby German seconds before their murders.
Allen will be transported to the Indiana Department of Corrections after the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office requested that he be transferred from the county jail to a state prison for’safekeeping’
According to police files obtained by Fox 59, officers were dispatched to Allen’s residence on 18 June 2015 at approximately 3:30 a.m. in response to complaints of a ‘domestic’ dispute.
In 2017, a composite sketch depicting a suspected suspect in the case was revealed.
Allen, a father of one and CVS technician, was allegedly intoxicated, and his wife transported him to a hospital for examination, according to Sheriff Tobe Leazenby.
Authorities acknowledged that their role during the event was to “maintain the peace,” and no arrests or charges were made.
Indiana police shared Snapchat footage captured by the victims of a man closely following them on a bridge soon before their deaths. The individual was called “Bridge Guy.”
On February 13, Libby and Abigail went for a walk along the Delphi Historic Trail near the Monon High Bridge but were reported missing when they failed to meet their parents.
The day after their disappearance, their remains were discovered near the bridge. Several individuals were linked to the crime throughout the years, but no arrests were made until last week.
It is unknown whether Allen is the man on the video or the voice that said “down the hill” on Libby’s cell phone just before the incident.
Allen and his wife Kathy are depicted in this undated photograph. They reside only a few miles from the bridge from which the two adolescents vanished in 2017
The arrest of Allen, according to the prosecutor of Carroll County, Nicholas McLeland, is “a step in the right path.”
The bridge where the kids were last seen is located within a few miles of Allen’s residence, which is also within a half-mile of the middle school that the two girls attended.
Libby had posted a’snap’ of herself walking down the railroad tracks on Snapchat on the day of her murder, sparking a sensation and making the case one of the most notorious unsolved homicides in the United States.
After the news of Allen’s arrest broke, a frightening image of his daughter posing in the same location where the victims were last seen alive surfaced.
Brittany Zapanta, age 28, is depicted on the Monon High Bridge posing.
In 2018, Allen’s 50-year-old wife Kathy uploaded the photo to Facebook, little over a year after the girls vanished in February 2017.
On the Monon High Bridge Trail, neither the photograph’s date nor the photographer’s identity are known.
The arrest of Allen could mark the conclusion of a multi-year investigation in which multiple potential leads have proven fruitless and authorities have remained tight-lipped about the case’s specifics.
Before Libby and Abby’s murders, an unidentified man — now assumed to be Allen — was filmed approaching them.
Monday, Indiana State Police revealed that Allen had been charged with the slayings of two girls.
During the news conference, the families of Libby German and Abigail Williams listened attentively.
It is unknown how the girls died, and the condition in which their bodies were discovered is similarly shrouded in mystery.
During the summer, a search warrant revealed that Libby and Abigail were discovered covered in blood and that their murderer appeared to have stolen a memento from the crime scene.
The warrant did not specify what the memento was, but it did state that ‘the remainder of [the girls’] clothing was found,’ hinting that the murderer had removed something from the girls’ clothing.
The murderer reportedly “arranged” the girls’ bodies in a specific manner after killing them, although it is unclear how he did so.
Investigators felt that images or recordings were taken to “memorialize” the horrific crime scene.
Throughout the years, numerous individuals have been proposed as potential suspects in the case.
Ron Logan, who passed away in 2020, was the prime suspect.
Allen was photographed while seated near this drawing. It is one of several released after the murders in February 2017
In an undated photograph, Allen is seen with his wife, Kathy. He does not appear to have a prior criminal history and was known locally for working in the local CVS
The photo of Allen’s daughter, 28-year-old Brittany, was posted to Facebook by his wife Kathy, 50, in 2018 – just over a year after the girls disappeared in February, 2017
The girls’ bodies were discovered on his property – just 1,400ft from his house – and it was revealed over the summer that his alibi for the day of the murder did not line up.
His home was searched and he was arrested shortly after the killings, but he was released and never charged.
The voice in the clip was described as being ‘not inconsistent’ with that of Logan, the FBI investigation concluded.
Another man, Kegan Kline, 27, of Peru, Indiana, was also previously named as a suspect in the murders.
According to reports, he acknowledged to communicating with Libby German via a phony Instagram account named Anthony shots.
Kline, who is overweight and pasty-faced, deceived adolescent girls into speaking with him by portraying a ripped and strong young man.
The day before she was murdered on the Delphi High Bridge, he allegedly arranged to meet Libby there.
However, he allegedly shared his Anthony shots password with others, including his father, and suggested that his father could be a major suspect in the murders.
Kline is incarcerated after being caught in 2020 on separate child pornography accusations.
The Indiana State Police Department’s tip line can be reached by phone at 765- 822-3535 or by email at abbyandlibbytip@cacoshrf.com.