You’ve probably seen the grainy, haunting photo of a man walking across a high railroad bridge. For years, he was just "Bridge Guy"—a faceless ghost in a blue jacket who walked into the woods behind two teenage girls and never seemed to leave. But in late 2022, that ghost got a name: Richard Allen.
Honestly, the reveal stunned everyone. Richard Allen wasn't a drifter or a known violent offender living on the fringes. He was a 50-year-old pharmacy technician who lived right there in Delphi, Indiana. He was the guy who probably filled your prescriptions at the local CVS. He even reportedly processed photos for the family of one of his victims.
In late 2024, a jury decided he was more than just a neighbor. After a grueling trial that felt like it would never end, Richard Allen was convicted for the 2017 murders of Abigail "Abby" Williams and Liberty "Libby" German. He’s currently serving 130 years in prison, though his lawyers are still fighting to get that overturned.
The Quiet Life of a Pharmacy Tech
Who is Richard Allen, really? Before his arrest, he was basically invisible. He had lived in Delphi since at least 2011 with his wife, Kathy. They lived in a modest house on Whiteman Drive, just a few minutes from the Monon High Bridge where the girls were last seen.
He didn't have a rap sheet. No history of violence. Just a few traffic tickets.
Local residents described him as a "regular guy." He liked to play pool at the local bar. He walked his dog. On social media, you could find photos of him celebrating holidays or sitting in his backyard. That’s the part that really messes with people’s heads—the idea that the person responsible for one of the most notorious crimes in Indiana history was hiding in plain sight for five and a half years.
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How He Finally Got Caught
The wildest part of this story? Richard Allen actually talked to the police just days after the murders in 2017.
He met an officer in a grocery store parking lot and admitted he had been on the trail that day. He even told them what he was wearing—a blue or black Carhartt jacket and jeans. Somehow, that tip got filed away and forgotten. For five years, it sat in a box or a digital folder, completely overlooked while the "Bridge Guy" investigation went global.
It wasn't until a volunteer, a retired state worker named Kathy Shank, was organizing files in 2022 that she found his statement. She realized that this guy, Richard Allen, had placed himself at the scene, at the exact time, wearing the exact clothes seen in Libby’s famous cellphone video.
When police finally searched his house in October 2022, they found a Sig Sauer .40-caliber handgun. Forensic experts testified that an unspent round found between the girls' bodies—a bullet that hadn't been fired but had been cycled through a gun—matched Allen’s pistol.
The Trial and the "Odinist" Theory
The trial was a total circus. It was delayed over and over. There were leaks of crime scene photos. At one point, Allen’s original defense lawyers actually quit (or were forced out, depending on who you ask) and then were reinstated by the Indiana Supreme Court.
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Allen’s defense team, led by Bradley Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin, didn't just say he was innocent; they went for a wild alternative theory. They claimed the girls were killed as part of a ritualistic sacrifice by "Odinists"—followers of a Norse pagan religion. They argued the way the bodies were positioned and the sticks placed over them pointed to a cult, not a lone pharmacy tech.
The judge, Fran Gull, eventually blocked them from presenting most of that "Odinist" evidence to the jury. She said there wasn't enough solid proof to back it up.
The Confessions That Sealed It
If you followed the trial, you know the prosecution’s strongest cards weren't just the bullet or the jacket. It was Allen’s own voice.
While he was sitting in prison awaiting trial, Allen made dozens of phone calls to his wife and mother. In those calls, he confessed. Over and over. He reportedly confessed more than 60 times. In one recording played for the jury, he told his wife, "I did it. I killed Abby and Libby."
The defense argued these weren't "real" confessions. They said Allen was in the middle of a mental health breakdown brought on by months of solitary confinement. They described him as psychotic, eating his own feces and shivering in a cold cell. They claimed he just wanted the pressure to stop.
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But the jury didn't buy it. They deliberated for about 19 hours before coming back with "guilty" on all counts.
Where the Case Stands Today
Richard Allen is currently housed in an Oklahoma prison, a move made for his own safety because of how high-profile the case is. He was sentenced to the maximum: 130 years.
Is it over? Not quite. His legal team filed a massive 113-page appeal in late 2025. They’re arguing that the trial was unfair because they weren't allowed to talk about other suspects or the ritualistic theory. They’re also questioning the ballistics evidence, calling it "junk science."
For the families of Abby and Libby, the conviction brought a measure of peace after nearly eight years of looking at every man in town and wondering if he was the one. But with the appeals process in full swing, the name Richard Allen is going to be in the news for a long time.
Key Takeaways for Following the Case:
- The Appeal Status: Keep an eye on the Indiana Court of Appeals. A ruling on whether Allen gets a new trial likely won't happen until late 2026 or 2027.
- Transcript Access: Much of the evidence, including the full "Bridge Guy" video and the audio of the confessions, is now part of the public record after the gag order was lifted.
- Safety Protocols: Allen’s transfer to Oklahoma under the Interstate Corrections Compact is a rare move for an Indiana inmate, showing just how much of a lightning rod this case remains.
If you’re looking to dive deeper into the technical side of the evidence, you can search for the unsealed "Probable Cause Affidavit" from October 2022. It’s the document that first laid out the connection between the forgotten 2017 tip and the .40-caliber bullet. It's a sobering read that shows just how close the investigation came to stalling out forever.