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- [00:04]
Podcast Host
On the afternoon of 13 February 2017, teenagers Abby Williams and Libby German were dropped off at a popular hiking trail near the Monong High Bridge just outside their hometown of Delphi, Indiana. About 40 minutes later, Libby posted a picture of Abby to her Snapchat account, showing Abby carefully walking across the bridge. And it was the last time they made contact with the outside world. Although it was not the last time Libby recorded their surroundings. The girls were reported missing later that afternoon and sadly, their bodies were discovered the following day. The day after that, police released a photograph of a man they wanted to speak to. It was grainy, but it was pretty close up. Surely they thought in this tight knit community of less than 3,000 people, somebody would recognise the man in the picture. It would be another frustrating week without a break before police would make an admission that the photo was actually a still image from a video. The video was recorded by one of the victims, Libby German. At that point, they also released a few seconds of the video in which the man ordered the girls to move down the hill. The video turned the case into an international sensation. And yet years passed without an arrest, until finally, in October 2022, a local man by the name of Richard Allen was taken into custody. Richard Allen admitted he was on the Mononghai Bridge trail that day and in 2024 he stood trial for their killings. A jury found him guilty of murdering both girls. He was sentenced to 130 years in prison. The prosecution's case centred on an unspent.40 calibre round found between the girls bodies. It was linked to Alan's firearm, along with multiple incriminating statements he made while in custody. Our guest for this episode of ATC International is Susan Hendricks, an American author, journalist and anchor who wrote the book down the My Descent into the Double Murder in Delphi. This is Australian true crime. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this podcast is created. The Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung People of the Kulin Nation.
- [02:28]
Susan Hendricks
This is.
- [02:29]
Podcast Host
And a warning. This episode of the podcast contains graphic descriptions of violence.
- [02:39]
Susan Hendricks
At vrbo, we understand that even the best of plans sometimes need a little support. So we've planned for the plot twists. Every booking is automatically backed by our VRBO care guarantee, giving you confidence from the very start. Whenever you need help, it's ready before your stay, through the moments in between and after your trip. Because a great trip starts with peace of mind and maybe a good playlist, but we've got the peace of mind part covered. It was February 13, 2017 when the girls were reported missing. And I remember being on the set that day and we did cover it as two girls missing, but nothing had come about, meaning they didn't know of course, the severity. And at first we didn't cover it because no one knew about it. Families thinking, okay, Libby's dad Derek was supposed to meet them at the trailhead at 3 o'.
- [03:34]
Podcast Host
Clock.
- [03:34]
Susan Hendricks
They never showed up. He called Becky, his mom and said the girls aren't here, what do I do? He started calling their names. So of course at that particular point you never think that the worst would occur. Your mind just doesn't go there. But as the hours went on and the girls weren't around, weren't coming home, weren't calling, and Libby of course had her cell phone, they started to worry and get concerned, but their thought process was o maybe they just got injured, they, they can't move, maybe someone broke a leg. Kelsey, Libby's sister, told me that her mind was going everywhere. But then the town, such a small town, under 3,000 people, really rallied around this, got together and formed this search party and they were searching with officials as well. As soon as they were reported missing. I say the search kind of picked up steam around 5:15, a little bit later when they were officially declared missing and the authorities called off the search officially and sheriff to be said, look, it just, it's so dense down there and it became dangerous. So officially they called it off. But no one really left in terms of the townspeople of Deli. They were down there with their flashlights and Becky remembers just that orange glow, that yellow orange glow of the lights of the flashlights and feeling good, that okay, everyone's down here, everyone's looking and they're all were positive at that point. But it was cold that night. It was abnormally warm during the day than it normally is. But at night of course the temperatures were dropping and that's when the worry set in. But their minds had never gone to murder at that particular point. Next morning everyone gets up, starts again and it's not like they went home and went to bed. I mean there were people looking throughout the night. And the next day when the sun came up I believe was around 12 noon their time. And again it is dense down there. So if you've never seen the area, you may think, well, how could no one have spotted the girls? Well it's because of all the brush and the small hills and the creek down there. But Becky said she held on to hope that morning, even so. And then she heard A firefighter say that they had found the girl. She heard whispers of that and she got her hopes up and went up to her sister and said they found them, they found them. And her sister knew at that point. And then she said she saw her sister's face and then knew it was the worst outcome that they could even imagine. And they couldn't really grasp it at that particular point.
- [06:04]
Podcast Host
No, because it is such a small community. It's a safe community. Right. It's. It was unfathomable that the girls could have been taken by somebody, murdered, let alone. As the story progressed, it became such a horrifying story more and more. So it's the kind of community as well, where if there were blow ins, we would call them in Australia. But people who, tourists, people who were new to town, they would have noticed. They would have been noticed.
- [06:34]
Susan Hendricks
Right, exactly. Because it was so small, less than 3,000 people in the entire town. So if you didn't know someone by name, you may have known their family member. And it just felt to me like this perfect small town. When I went there in 2019, what surprised me it was more difficult to get to because when you see the bridge and you see the man, the video that Libby was able to record on her phone walking, you think maybe at least I did, you don't see the enormity of this. But what was most chilling were the big gaps in between. It was an abandoned railroad. So just, I mean, gaps. And I'm scared of heights. As a young kid, I guess Abby and Libby's age, I wouldn't have been. I could see myself walking across there. When you have no fear and it's kind of what you do.
- [07:25]
Podcast Host
We get a little bit of a sense of that in the photo of Abby where she's. She's obviously sort of. She's looking down, she's being quite cautious as she's taking a big step across. But you're right in the video though, of the man walking towards them, he. He appears to be walking very, very confidently. I don't feel as though there's any gaps beneath his feet at all.
- [07:46]
Susan Hendricks
That's a great point that you bring up about Abby because she had never been there. Maybe not never, but not often according to her family. Well, Libby had been there a lot. So to Libby was. She was used to walking across it. It was no big deal. That's exactly what I saw with the man on the bridge. To him, you would have thought that it was just a sidewalk, that it was. He was taking a stroll. So it was clear to me that that person had been there, especially once I saw the bridge. And I went, oh my gosh. And I did mention Paul Holes earlier. He said that to me too, that when he, he didn't understand, he saw pictures, but he didn't understand certain things about the crime. And just what I mean, that's what he does. And he's excellent at it, obviously. So he can see things and assess things and maybe put his mind in, in a killer's mind and look around and see. He said to me in the chapter, I see things that don't have to be there. Meaning the crime didn't have to. This didn't have to be part of this. And why was it there? His question was, why down the hill? Why that particular area? When there's houses, there's a few in the background. And then he understood once he saw it, how isolating it was. And he essentially said to me, at the end of that bridge, at the end, and maybe Richard Allen waited for that. And that was the trap. That is what his plan entailed was to get the girls on the other side of the bridge, take them down the hill, knowing that he would have time to do what he wanted to do.
- [09:19]
Podcast Host
So were they kind of trapped at the end of that bridge? There was no. Yeah, that's the sense I get. They couldn't run, for example, by that stage, right. Because they could see him coming for quite a ways. And clearly Libby, if not Abby, or maybe both, she got a bad feeling. She got a bad feeling for quite a while when he was approaching them because she started recording.
- [09:40]
Susan Hendricks
Oh, she did. And Becky said to me, you know, Susan, she watched those crime shows, she wanted to study, be in that field in some way. She would talk about it. So I think, and Mike said to me, you know what, Susan? I think that she wanted to come home. The reason she hit record and say, grandpa, look at this guy, isn't he creepy on the bridge? Because you don't, your mind doesn't go, especially as a 14 year old, really. I mean, you may get a sense, and I believe fully that they both sensed, of course, something was off. But to hit record, you don't think this person can murder the both of us. The reason why it was a trap is that that now is private property. And that is where. Because the entryway on the other side is where they were dropped off. So the chances of seeing other people. And that's where witnesses, according to the probable cause affidavit, saw someone they thought looked like Richard Allen. But on this side, it's a lot more isolating. I mean, essentially, yes, it is a trap, because where are you going to go there? It's private. Proper homes are too far. Of course, two young girls. It's been a question from some who ask, well, how do you think this person, a rhetorical question, control two girls. Well, I could see that if I was 13 or 14, anyone has a gun, I'm going to listen to them.
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Podcast Host
Yeah, absolutely.
- [11:12]
Susan Hendricks
And then of course, the unspent bullet which was found in between the girls bodies was matched and I had to learn a lot about the bullets and. And what you can see and can't see and what an unspent bullet even is.
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Podcast Host
Because they. They did interview him, didn't they? Very, very early on. They did speak to him.
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Susan Hendricks
Exactly. That's the beginning. Right. When he came forward, which it's frustrating and infuriating all at once for the families because he put himself there. Which is interesting to me because the recording at first, first what was released from Libby's phone was a still shot, and then they came out with the sketch. And then later, of course, the video. But down the hill, the voice, we did guys, down the hill came later, April 2019, the word guys was added to down the hill, but that was not released to the media at that time. When he came forward and said, I was there, this was with a conservation officer meeting him in some sort of parking lot, saying, I was there, this is what I was wearing. I was looking at my phone, at the stock ticker, and I was watching fish looking at fish, which seemed odd and. But put himself there that particular time. Since then, he's kind of dialed back that time, or his attorneys have, meaning what time he put himself at the bridge. But would he have put himself there if his image was released in the media? I don't think so. So apparently the frustration is that that conservation officer took down the note, said, thank you. I believe maybe he looked at this. Of course, nothing like this had ever happened in this town. He looked at this person working at cvs, husband, father, as more of a witness than a possible suspect.
- [12:55]
Podcast Host
Absolutely. Because that's obviously how he was presenting himself, you know, in those early days when police say, if you were there, please come forward, you may have seen something, you. You may not realize something that, please come forward. So no doubt that's how he was presenting himself as a potential witness who came forward and said, I'd love to help you. I didn't see anything, but I was there looking at fish. Very innocent, very innocuous. Yeah, I just work at the local pharmacy, I'm a local guy.
- [13:21]
Susan Hendricks
It does make you wonder because the biggest fear for the families was if this person is capable of this double murder, horrific murder, slaughtering two young girls, he's capable of doing it again. Yeah, that was the family's biggest fear.
- [13:35]
Podcast Host
Yeah, because that's a big attack, isn't it? You would think. People don't usually start that way and they don't usually finish that way. It's not usually an attack that someone carries out once.
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Susan Hendricks
Right. And he was 44 years old, in his 40s. I asked Paul that, I said, can it happen? Does it happen? Is it odd to you that it would happen? And he said, well, it is because you think a father, a husband, you're going to wake up at 44 years old and kill two young girls in the middle of the day. He did mention though, the fantasy of this. If he had been thinking about it for years and years and acting on this and then having that fantasy and having that sustain him because there was no arrest for close to six years. But that was a fear for everyone in the community.
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Podcast Host
So tell us about Richard Allen. It seemed to come out of the blue, certainly from this distance. Did it for you? Did that arrest come out of the blue? This is, as we've mentioned, for all intents and purposes, a mild mannered pharmacist, or certainly he works at the local pharmacy, chemist we call them, he's worked there for many years in town. There are photographs of him sitting at a bar with his friends with the sketch pinned to the notice board in the background of the perpetrator they're looking for. Who is this man or who did people think he was prior to the arrest?
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Susan Hendricks
Isn't that common that we all think of? I'm sure you do. You don't think of a monster or someone capable of a double murder as. As looking. I picture them looking evil.
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Podcast Host
Yeah.
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Susan Hendricks
You think they're going to look like a monster and they rarely do. They, that's what's so frightening. They rarely do. What's so fascinating to me or to everyone really, how could they live their normal life? How could they go on it? How can they? Well, according to Paul, Holes, and we all know this, they're not like us. So they can do that. The psychopath, he was able to stay married, he was able to raise a daughter, she's married, walked her down the aisle. All of the things that you think that can't be true. A man is married Right at cvs. And chillingly so, the day that this arrest happened, I called Becky, Libby's grandmother as soon as I heard. So I drove home, waited about an hour and thought, should I, should I, I'm calling her. So I called, no answer. She calls me right back. I said, oh my gosh. She said, hold on, I'm walking out in the hall. I'm at my nephew's wedding.
- [16:02]
Podcast Host
Oh my.
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Susan Hendricks
And she said, I'm so. I don't want to ruin the wedding, but I could, I could sense excite, almost like a jittery excitement, but it's what everyone's talking about. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. I said, what is Mike say? And she said, well, he's still hesitant. He wants, he. We didn't get the call yet from the investigators, so he wants the official, like this is. Mike was hesitant because he had been. His hopes were up in the past, but they knew, of course, when someone's in custody, this is serious. And I said, do you know who he is? And she said, oh my gosh. Tara, her daughter, which is Libby's aunt, who I'd met several times, she said, Tara remembers him. She went into CBS the day of the funeral. She was getting pictures developed to put near the casket of Libby.
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Podcast Host
That story's true. I was going to ask if that's true. Oh my God, it's true.
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Susan Hendricks
She was crying. And he said it's on me. Like here. I know my, I go to FedEx a lot to send stuff to my parents or my sister. So I know the FedEx people. Don't you like or CVS? Don't you kind of have familiar faces?
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Podcast Host
Absolutely, yeah.
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Susan Hendricks
That was it. So he said it's on me. And to think that, that, that he would be able to say that.
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Podcast Host
But he handed over these photos of the victims and said it's on me. That's unbelievable.
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Susan Hendricks
It's unbelievable. So that's. It was so shocking.
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News Reporter
In Delphi, Indiana, husband and father turned convicted killer Richard Allen handed the maximum sentence, 130 years in prison for the 2017 slayings of 13 year old Abby Williams and her 14 year old best friend Libby German. The judge telling Allen, you rank right up there with the most hideous cases I've ever presided over. Adding, you continue to roll your eyes at me as you have throughout the trial tonight. With a gag order lifted, the girl's families able to share their anguish for the first time in court. She would be 22 and she should be here. Libby's mom said, so many what ifs she doesn't get to fall in love and have babies. Abby's grandfather comparing the pain to losing a limb that will never grow back Libby's uncle leaving the courthouse there still
- [18:05]
Susan Hendricks
ain't justice nothing is gonna bring the girls to.
- [18:14]
Podcast Host
Thanks for joining us on Australian True Crime. If you would like any more information about anything you've heard on the show today, or support numbers, just check out the show notes. The producers of this podcast recognised the traditional owners of the land on which it's recorded. They pay respect to the Aboriginal elders past, present and those emerging.