Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen made a bombshell claim that teenage best friends Libby German and Abby Williams were killed as part of a “ritualistic sacrifice” at the hands of a white nationalist cult.
In shocking court documents, filed Monday, lawyers for the 50-year-old accused killer claimed the brutal 2017 killings were carried out by members of a Norse pagan religion and white nationalist group called Odinists.
“Members of the pagan Norse religion, called Odinism, were hijacked by white nationalists, ritually sacrificing Abigail Williams and Liberty German,” said the documents, seen by The Independent.
The nature of the crime scene points to the work of a cult from the start, according to the bombshell 135-page document that says it is “similar to the possible signatures of Odinism left at the crime scene” .
The bodies of Libby and Abby both had tree branches and sticks attached to their bodies in the form of pagan symbols, the documents said.
According to Mr Allen’s lawyers, law enforcement officials explored possible links between the murders early in the investigation – but then “abandoned” the theory.
While his defense lawyers say Mr Allen has no connection to any pagan cult, the bombshell documents also take the unusual step of naming four other individuals as potential suspects.
None of the individuals have been named by law enforcement as suspects or persons of interest in the case.
The bombshell claims outlined in new court documents mark the latest twist in the tragic case that began when two teenage best friends were walking together one day in spring of 2017.
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On 13 February 2017, Libby and Abby headed to the Monon High Bridge Trail in their hometown of Delphi.
During the walk, Libby posted a photo of her best friend on Snapchat as they walked across the Monon High Bridge.
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A few minutes later, Libby captured a video of a man – known as the “bridge guy” – wearing blue jeans, a blue jacket and a hat walking along the abandoned bridge in railway
In the footage – found on Libby’s phone after their murders – the man tells the two women: “Guys, down the hill.”
Later that day, the teenagers were reported missing when they failed to return to a place where a family member had picked them up.
The next day – Valentine’s Day 2017 – their bodies were discovered in a wooded area less than half a mile from the trail along the banks of Deer Creek.
For more than five years, the devastated families of the women have been waiting for answers in the case because no arrests have been made.
Then, in late October 2022, Mr Allen – a local man who served the families of the victims at his job at the Delphi CVS store – was finally arrested and charged with their murders.
According to the investigators, Mr Allen is the so-called “bridge guy” who was caught on camera by the victims.
The suspect forced the two victims down the hill and took them to the place where they were killed, according to his probable cause affidavit.
The criminal affidavit, which was partially redacted and released in November, previously revealed that the local man was ultimately tied to the February 2017 murders by a bullet found at the bloody crime scene.
Ballistics confirmed that the unexpended .40 caliber bullet found near the bodies of the teenage victims was from Mr Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226.
Libby German (left) and Abby Williams (right) pose for a photo
(Facebook)
The gun – which he has owned since 2011 – was found during a search of his home in October and both he and his wife, Kathy, told police he was the only person who had access to it, documents show. – said.
The documents also revealed that, in Libby’s cellphone footage, one of the victims mentioned the word “gun” – suggesting that their attacker was armed with a weapon and used it to force the victims.
In an interview with police on 13 October, Mr Allen told investigators he had “no explanation” for how the spent bullet ended up near the bodies of the two teenage victims, the document said. – said.
The accused killer said he was “not on the property where the unexpended round was found, that he did not know the owner of the property, and that he had no explanation as to why a circle surrounded his weapons are at that location,” it said. The owner of the property – Ron Logan – was also previously tied to the case. He died in 2020.
As well as ballistics evidence, Mr Allen was also linked to the murders after his car was found parked near the driveway in “a strange way” with the license plate “hidden”, the affidavit previously revealed.
Several witnesses also reported seeing a “terrible” figure matching the description of the “old bridge” at the time of the murders while one person said they saw a “muddy and bloody” figure who left the trail about two hours after Libby and Abby were last seen alive. Witnesses saw no one but the “bridge guy” in the driveway at the time, the affidavit reads.
The married father of one daughter was on the radar of law enforcement in 2017 after he admitted to being in the driveway the day the girls were killed.
During a 2017 interview with police, Mr Allen admitted to being on the Monon High Bridge Trail that afternoon but denied any involvement in the murders and insisted he had not seen the two women that day.
Despite placing himself at the scene of the crime during the murders, he slipped through the net due to a “clerical error”.
Since his arrest, Mr. Allen has confessed to the 2017 murders several times behind bars — including a jailhouse phone call with his wife, dramatic court documents revealed last week. June.
Libby German posted a Snapchat as the girls walked down the aisle
(Snapchat)
While prosecutors said the accused killer admitted “time and again” that he carried out the brutal murders, Mr Allen’s lawyers claimed his confession was not credible due to his current mental state. .
The sudden arrest of the local man nearly six years after the murders marked a major break in the case.
But the investigation is not over with officers saying they believe Mr Allen may not have acted alone.
Before Mr Allen’s arrest, investigators sought information about a catfishing account that had been in contact with Libby on the day she was killed.
The man behind the account – Kegan Anthony Kline – was tied to the 2017 murders in December 2021 when investigators urged the public to come forward with information about a fake online profile named @anthony_shots.
Kline, 28, admitted he used the fake profile to solicit underage girls, send them nude photos and their addresses, and try to meet her in person.
In a 2020 police interview, a transcript seen by The IndependentKline admitted to communicating with 14-year-old Libby on Instagram and Snapchat through a catfishing profile before her death.
The transcript revealed that he had exchanged photos with the teenage girl and that Libby had communicated with the fake profile on the very day she and Abby were killed.
On 25 February 2017 – less than two weeks after the two girls were brutally murdered – police searched Kline’s home in Peru.
Kline has not been charged in connection with the murders.
However, he told “The Murder Sheet” podcast in a jailhouse interview that he had information about the murders but the police “didn’t want to hear anything I had to say”.
In July, he was sentenced to more than four decades in prison for a series of child abuse and child exploitation charges.
