Fifty-two-year-old Richard Allen, the prime suspected in the much-publicised Delphi murders, was found guilty on Monday (November 11). The case dates back to 2017 when two teenagers – 14-year-old Liberty German and 13-year-old Abigail Williams – were killed in the town of Delphi, in United States’ Indiana. Allen was accused of killing the two girls, cutting their throats and leaving their bodies behind near a trail. The case went cold for more than five years until he was arrested in 2022.
Allen sat in the courtroom emotionless, said a report in CNN. His sentencing is scheduled for December 20; until then, the court has issued a gag order restricting involved parties from speaking on the case.
Allen could be sentenced to up to 130 years in prison, the outlet further said.
What is the case?
The killings took place on February 13, 2017, when Liberty and Abigail went for a hike, the CNN report said. The teenagers went missing that afternoon. Their bodies were found the next day with throats slit and partially covered by sticks.
The prime suspect was caught on Liberty’s phone, which the police circulated among locals. The video showed a man walking on a bridge with his hands in his pockets.
Allen initially evaded the police by staying in the town and working at a local pharmacy. He was finally arrested on October 26, 2022 and charged with two counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit a kidnapping.
The “Odinism” defence
During the course of the trial, Allen maintained his innocence claimed that the murders were carried out by a pagan cult hijacked by white nationalists.
“Members of a pagan Norse religion, called Odinism, hijacked by white nationalists, ritualistically sacrificed Abigail Williams and Liberty German,” his attorneys wrote in the documents, as reported by The Independent.
His lawyers maintained the angle, even claiming in court that victims’ bodies were covered with branches and sticks in a manner that resembled pagan symbols.
The lawyers even named four people claiming they are involved in Odinism. However, none of these individuals have ever been named by police as suspects or persons of interest in the case.
