Jurors heard opening statements Friday in the trial of a man accused of killing two teen girls in a small Indiana community, horrific slayings that went unsolved for five years before investigators arrested a pharmacy employee who lived in the same town. Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland said 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German had their throats cut. He told jurors they will see photos of the crime scene: a rugged, wooded area near the Monon High Bridge Trail in Carroll County. Richard Allen, 52, who lived and worked in Delphi, is charged with two counts of murder and two additional murder counts while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping. If convicted, the AP reports, he could face up to 130 years in prison.
Jurors were picked this week in Fort Wayne, nearly 100 miles away, and brought to Carroll County. They'll be sequestered for what could be a monthlong trial, prohibited from watching the news, and allowed only limited use of their phones to call relatives while monitored by bailiffs. Defense attorney Andrew Baldwin told the jury there's reasonable doubt about the case against Allen. He raised questions about hair evidence and said the girls may have gotten into a vehicle at one point. The trial has seen repeated delays, some surrounding a leak of evidence, the withdrawal of Allen's public defenders and their reinstatement by the Indiana Supreme Court. News media are barred from reporting directly from the courtroom with electronic devices.
The teens, known as Abby and Libby, were found dead on Feb. 14, 2017. They went missing a day earlier while hiking that trail just outside their hometown, population 3,000. Within days, police released files found on Libby's cellphone that they said captured the killer's image and voice—two grainy photos and audio of a man saying "down the hill." Investigators released one sketch of a suspect in July 2017 and another in April 2019. And they released a brief video showing a suspect walking on an abandoned railroad bridge, known as the Monon High Bridge. After more years passed without a suspect identified, investigators said they went back and reviewed "prior tips." They returned to Allen, who was first interviewed in 2017.
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