(NewsNation) — Richard Allen, who was convicted of killing two Indiana girls in the 2017 Delphi murders, was sentenced to 130 years in prison during a sentencing hearing held on Friday.
The sentencing range for Allen was 45 years to 130 years in prison. He was given 65 years for counts three and four, to be served consecutively, for a total of 130 years. Counts one and two were vacated because of double jeopardy.
Allen was convicted on Nov. 11 in the killings of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14. A jury found him guilty of two counts of murder and two counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping.
After Friday’s sentencing, Mike Patty, Libby German’s grandfather, said he was grateful that “justice has been served for the girls.”
Patty thanked the jurors for their service before thanking Delphi community members who embraced the families of the two girls from Day 1. In a news conference, Patty thanked prosecutors and investigators for “remaining steadfast” in the nearly eight years that passed since the murders.
Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett said Friday that he hopes Allen’s conviction and sentencing will help to restore a feeling of security for local residents who he said once felt they did not have to lock their doors.
However, Liggett said that “there will never be any closure” in the case involving the two girls.
“The Germans and the Williams families lost their daughters, their granddaughters, their siblings,” Liggett said at the news conference. “A form of justice was served, but it does not bring Abby or Libby back. These families will live every day without two of the most important people in their lives.
“They’re missing milestones because of a low-life coward (who) decided to take their innocent lives. They did not deserve this.”
Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland said now that Allen has been sentenced, he hopes the girls’ families can “take a sense of relief” that this portion of the legal process has reached a conclusion.
McLeland thanked the families of the two girls for their perseverance and said without their help, a conviction against Allen would have never been achieved. He also said without the “graceful” words used in victim impact statements that were issued on Friday, the judge’s 130-year sentence would have never been handed down.
McLeland also thanked the two victims. He praised Libby German for recording the defendant as he walked across the bridge and for knowing something wasn’t right, providing investigators with the biggest piece of evidence in the case.
He credited Abby Williams for hiding the cell phone used to record Allen so that it wouldn’t be taken from the scene.
“Without the efforts from those two little girls, we wouldn’t be here today,” McLeland said.
McLeland said that the prosecution continues to maintain that no other people were involved in the deaths of the two girls. He said he would “gladly accept” information that Allen is willing to provide.
When he was arrested in October 2022, more than five years after the February 2017 killings, Allen was employed as a pharmacy technician just blocks from the county courthouse where he later stood trial.
The trial came after repeated delays, a leak of evidence, the withdrawal of his public defenders and their reinstatement by the Indiana Supreme Court.
Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said Friday that investigators relied on “many, many” strategies, but that any notion of a cover-up or police “deciding the outcome of this” are false.
Carter accused Allen’s defense team of violating the judge’s gag order in the case. Carter said documents were released by defense attorneys that drove a public narrative. Carter also said that anyone who shared crime scene photos of the two girls during the course of the investigation should be held accountable.
“Whether they’re in the public sphere, whether they’re emailed to you, whether you found them in a place you didn’t want them to see, I hope if you ever see them, you’ll picture your own children as Abby and Libby,” Carter said. “I will never forgive that. I will never, ever forgive that.”
Allen’s defense team has said that they would not participate in Friday’s sentencing hearing as they prepare to appeal Allen’s conviction. Allen has continued to maintain his innocence throughout the legal process.
Asked about Allen’s right to appeal, McLeland said that Allen has 30 days to file a notice of appeal with the court and that if it isn’t filed, no appeal will be heard. McLeland said prosecutors were very happy with the jury’s verdict as well as Friday’s sentence, which he called “appropriate.” Asked about Allen’s right to appeal,
“I feel confident in the verdict and the sentence, but I’m not on the Court of Appeals and so they will have to make those decision if it comes to them,” McLeland said.
“He added: “I hope it’s a sigh of relief that this portion is over and that the conviction as it now stands and that (Allen) has been sentenced to the maximum possible sentence is a sigh of relief for them … and that they can put this chapter behind them.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
