Delphi Murders - Monon Bridge

Author: Jewls Krueger

On the afternoon of February 13, 2017, 13 year old Abigail "Abby" Williams and 14 year old Liberty "Libby" German were dropped off to hike the Delphi Historic Trails in the small town of Delphi, Indiana. The two best friends were murdered later that afternoon by a man who confronted them on the abandoned Monon High Bridge.

Their bodies were found the next day in the woods on the north side of Deer Creek. The case remained unsolved for more than five years, captivating the country, before a local pharmacy worker named Richard Allen was arrested in October 2022. He was convicted of both murders in November 2024.

Abby, Libby, and Delphi

Delphi is a small town of roughly 3,000 people on the Wabash River in Carroll County, north central Indiana. The town's most popular outdoor attraction is the Delphi Historic Trails, a network of walking paths along the Wabash and Erie Canal and Deer Creek. The trail system includes the abandoned Monon High Bridge, a long, narrow former railroad trestle that towers about 63 feet above Deer Creek.

Abby Williams and Libby German were eighth graders at Delphi Community Middle School and had been best friends for years. On February 13, 2017, the Delphi schools were closed for the day. The girls asked Libby's older sister Kelsi to drop them off at the trailhead for an afternoon hike. Kelsi dropped them off around 1:35 p.m. with plans to pick them up at 3:15 p.m. The girls never came back.

The Murders

While walking the trails, Abby and Libby crossed the Monon High Bridge. While on the bridge, Libby used her cell phone to record a man following them. The short video, including a recording of the man saying "down the hill," would become one of the most important pieces of evidence in the case. The girls were directed off the bridge into the wooded area on the north side of Deer Creek.

When the girls did not return to the meeting spot, family members began searching and called police. A volunteer search began at first light on February 14. Around noon that day, searchers found the bodies of Abby and Libby in the woods about half a mile north of the bridge.

A Long Investigation

Initial sketch of a suspect - Public Domain

Investigators released portions of Libby's cell phone evidence in the days after the murders, including a grainy photo of the man and the audio of him telling the girls "down the hill." The case quickly drew national attention. Over the next five and a half years, the Indiana State Police received tens of thousands of tips, processed thousands of interviews, and released additional sketches of suspects.

The major break came in 2022, when a clerical review of older case files turned up a tip about a man named Richard Allen, a 50 year old pharmacy technician who worked at the local CVS in Delphi. In a 2017 interview that had been filed and overlooked, Allen had told an Indiana conservation officer that he had been at the trails on the day of the murders.

After follow up investigation, Allen was arrested on October 26, 2022 and charged with two counts of murder. Investigators recovered an unspent .40 caliber bullet at the crime scene that was linked through ballistics to a handgun owned by Allen. While in custody, Allen also made dozens of recorded confessions to his wife, mother, prison officials, and a prison psychologist.

The Trial and Conviction

Richard Allen's trial began on October 18, 2024 in Delphi after multiple delays, judge changes, and legal disputes over leaked discovery materials. The defense attempted to argue that Allen's confessions had been made during a mental health crisis brought on by harsh prison conditions, and pursued an alternative theory involving a fringe pagan religious group, which the judge ultimately barred from the jury.

On November 11, 2024, after roughly four days of deliberation, a jury found Richard Allen guilty on all four counts: two counts of murder and two counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping. On December 20, 2024, he was sentenced to 130 years in prison, the maximum allowed under Indiana law.

The Monon High Bridge Today

The Monon High Bridge sits along the Delphi Historic Trails system on the south side of town. The bridge itself had been closed to the public for safety reasons even before the murders, although hikers had long crossed it informally.

After the murders, the bridge was officially closed off and is no longer accessible. Memorials to Abby and Libby can be found at several spots near the trailheads, and a permanent memorial park called the "Abby and Libby Memorial Park" was built and dedicated in 2022. The broader trail system, including the Delphi Canal Park and the High Bridge Trail leading to the bridge approach, remains open and is well marked.

Please be respectful of the surrounding community and visitors paying their respects, do not attempt to cross or climb the closed bridge, and stay on the public trails at all times. The trails are best accessed from the main trailhead at the Delphi Opera House parking area.