What Were the Delphi Murders? Here’s Who Killed Libby German and Abby Williams

It took five years for Libby German and Abby Williams’ killer to be caught.

On Feb. 13, 2017, the two middle schoolers set out on a walk along the Delphi Historic Trails in Indiana and were never seen alive again. Their bodies were discovered the next day near the Monon High Bridge with their throats cut.

The grisly case drew nationwide attention and thrust the small town of Delphi, Ind., into the spotlight, but it remained unsolved until 2022, when a man named Richard Allen was arrested.

Allen was later convicted of the murders in November 2024, but the families of the victims say the outcome hasn’t eased their grief.

“We got our verdict, but that didn’t bring the girls back. It doesn’t give us closure. It gives us a little bit of peace to know that he can never hurt another person again. And that’s where he should be,” Becky Patty, German’s grandmother, told Dateline in February 2025.

“But is it happy? Not really,” she added.

Here’s everything to know about the murders of Indiana teens Libby German and Abby Williams.

What happened to Libby German and Abby Williams?

Best friends Libby German and Abby Williams had the day off from school on Feb. 13, 2017, and decided to take a walk along the Delphi Historic Trails, a local hiking path in their hometown of Delphi, Ind.

German’s older sister, Kelsi German, dropped the girls off and told her sister she loved her.

“They just got out of the car and walked down the trail to go to High Bridge,” Kelsi recalled while speaking to Fox 2 Now in February 2022. “We told each other we loved each other. And that was the last time I saw her.”

Around 2 p.m., German posted a photo of Williams walking across the Monon High Bridge on Snapchat. A few hours later, the girls didn’t show up at the pickup location, and family members were unable to get in contact with them.

“We knew something wasn’t quite right,” Becky told Fox 2 Now. “So we said, ‘You know what? We’re all gonna go to the trails.’ And by this time, it was about 20 after five and said, ‘It’s gonna start, it’s gonna get dark. We need to … call the police.’ ”

The next morning, German and Williams’ bodies were found by police on the edge of a creek near the abandoned railroad bridge. It was later revealed in court that the girls’ throats had been cut.

How old were Libby German and Abby Williams when they were killed?

Williams was just 13 years old when she was tragically killed, and German was 14. The teens attended Delphi Middle School together and loved playing sports, taking photos and spending time outdoors. Williams was passionate about volleyball and had recently taken up softball just to be with German, who excelled in the sport.

“She and Libby were dead set on taking over the world by softball,” Anna Williams, Williams’ mom, recalled in an interview with Indianapolis’ WRTV. “She smiled all the time … she loved to be around other people.”

German was raised by her grandparents, Mike and Becky Patty, who described her as “a person who made it a point to make people feel good.”

Of the girls’ close bond and their final moments together, Mike said, “They did not leave each other’s side. I don’t know what happened out there that day … there’s a chance, an opportunity for one to break off or split or make a break for it, or whatever.”

“I look at it, you know, two young soldiers that stuck together, covered each other’s back, two best friends, you know. I wouldn’t leave my best friend’s side. Neither did they,” he continued.

Who killed Libby German and Abby Williams?

In October 2022, over five years after the murders, Indiana State Police arrested a man named Richard Allen and charged him with the crimes.

At the time of his arrest, Allen was 50 years old and working as a clerk at the local CVS, per NBC News. According to records obtained by WRTV, he had been a Delphi resident since at least 2006 and lived 2.5 miles from the Monon High Bridge, where the girls were found dead. He was also a licensed pharmacy technician and had no criminal record.

Allen was later convicted of two counts of murder and two counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in November 2024 and was sentenced to 130 years in prison a month later.

Is the Delphi murders case solved?

For years, the investigation into German and Williams’ murders stalled. However, in September 2022, a break in the case led authorities to zero in on Allen.

That breakthrough was thanks to Kathy Shank, a volunteer clerk who helped file and organize tips related to the investigation. In September 2022, she discovered a tip sheet from early 2017, in which Allen came forward and reported being on the trail the day of the murders.

Although the file had been labeled “Cleared,” Shank’s intuition led her to bring it to the attention of the lead investigator. From there, authorities were able to match a .40-caliber bullet found at the crime scene to a gun Allen owned.

“The reason justice was served today was due to one person,” Sheriff Tony Liggett said in a press conference after Allen’s sentencing, per WRTV. “The person that only knows how to give. She has given herself literally, for free, to this investigation in different ways. Since about March of 2017, Kathy Swank, while filing, scanning, and organizing, found a tip that led us to be here today.”

Another integral part of the investigation was a video German recorded herself just moments before she died. The video shows a man wearing jeans, a hat and a dark jacket following the two girls on the isolated bridge.

In the clip, the girls appear to be nervous, and the man can be heard telling them, “Guys, down the hill.” A brief portion of the video was released to the public early in the investigation, and the unidentified man quickly became known as “The Bridge Guy.”

“I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank Abby and Libby themselves,” prosecutor Nicholas McLeland said during the trial. “Libby, for recording the defendant as he walked across the bridge. Having the wherewithal to pull out her phone and record that individual, having the wherewithal to know that something wasn’t right … And then to Abby for hiding the phone.”

He continued, “Without the efforts from those two little girls, we wouldn’t be here today. So Abby and Libby, thank you.”