Richard Allen worked at the town's only pharmacy, spent time at a local bar, is married, has children and no known criminal history. He has been charged with killing Abby Williams and Libby German, two teen girls slain in 2017.
The man arrested in the killings of Abigail "Abby" Williams and Liberty "Libby" German was one of Delphi, Indiana’s own, leaving the townspeople reeling that the monster behind the brutal slayings of the two teenagers may have been amongst them this entire time.
Richard Allen, 50, was known for working at the local CVS Pharmacy, the only drug store in the town of just 2,972 people. Now, his name is making national headlines after he was charged with two counts of murder in connection with the 2017 deaths of 14-year-old Libby and 13-year-old Abby.
Reminders of the manhunt for the teens’ killer were everywhere in Delphi for five years, including the bar where Allen was photographed smiling, a sketch of the wanted man seen behind him.
“It’s such a shock, I just can’t see it in Rick, knowing the Rick I knew,” Bob Matlock, who owns the bar, told Inside Edition.
And Libby's grandmother, Becky Patty, told FOX59 that Allen printed pictures that the family used at the girls’ funeral. Allen did not charge the families for the photos, Patty said.
Allen has lived in Delphi for about 15 years and has no known criminal history, just two speeding tickets and a seatbelt violation on his record. He and his wife have two children.
At a news conference in 2019, cops gave what now seems like a perceptive insight.
“The killer, who may be in this room. We believe you are hiding in plain sight,” ISP Superintendent Doug Carter said at the time.
Forensic psychologist Dr. Lewis Schlessinger, of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, told Inside Edition it’s not uncommon for someone to do exactly as Carter said– hide in plain sight—after committing a heinous crime.
“Very often they block it out and they continue to function in a fairly normal way,” Schlessinger said.
Two sketches of suspects have been released by investigators over the years, and Allen resembles the first most. Authorities are tight-lipped about the case against Allen, and some believe it could be because they may think another person could be involved in the killings.
When asked if investigators think Allen had an accomplice, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland said, “We haven't closed the door on the investigation and so that's why we keep the tip line and the tip email open.”
Allen has pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces.
