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The Delphi Murders: Justice for Libby and Abby · 10 Minute Murder | Bingeable True Crime Stories

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  Speaker 1: Delphi, Indiana, a quiet little town where nothing ever happens
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  Speaker 1: until it does. In February twenty seventeen, two best friends,
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  Speaker 1: Libby German and Abby Williams set off on a hike
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  Speaker 1: on the Monan high Bridge Trail. It was the kind
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  Speaker 1: of carefree afternoon you'd expect in a small town in America.
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  Speaker 1: By the next day, though, their families and the entire
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  Speaker 1: town were plunged into a nightmare. What followed was a
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  Speaker 1: case that gripped the nation. A grainy video, a disembodied
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  Speaker 1: voice saying the hill, and a manhunt that dragged on
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  Speaker 1: for years. The killer wasn't some shadowy figure from a
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  Speaker 1: crime novel. He turned out to be much closer than
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  Speaker 1: anyone could have imagined. This is a story of bravery, heartbreak,
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  Speaker 1: and a seven year pursuit of justice that hinged on
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  Speaker 1: a single piece of evidence. But before we get into
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  Speaker 1: that story, if you like your true crime brief and bingeable,
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  Speaker 1: you have found the right podcast. I give you at
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  Speaker 1: least two episodes per week, So hit that follow button
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  Speaker 1: now and welcome to ten minute murder. On an unseasonably
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  Speaker 1: warm February afternoon in twenty seventeen, best friends Liberty. Libby
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  Speaker 1: Jerman and Abigail Abby Williams set out to explore the
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  Speaker 1: Monon high Bridge trailed in Delphi, Indiana. It was the
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  Speaker 1: kind of spot that embodied small town charm, quiet, picturesque
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  Speaker 1: and seemingly safe, But by the next morning that illusion
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  Speaker 1: was destroyed. Their bodies were discovered not far from the trail,
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  Speaker 1: and the small town of Delphi would soon find itself
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  Speaker 1: at the heart of one of the most chilling unsolved
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  Speaker 1: cases in modern true crime. What made this case stand
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  Speaker 1: out almost immediately was a haunting piece of video left
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  Speaker 1: behind by Libby's quick thinking authorities released an audio clip
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  Speaker 1: and a short video from her phone, sending a collective
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  Speaker 1: shiver down the spine of anyone who listened. The voice
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  Speaker 1: of an unidentified man could be heard saying, guys down
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  Speaker 1: the hill. This grainy video captured him walking towards the
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  Speaker 1: girls with unsettling confidence. It wasn't the stuff of horror
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  Speaker 1: movies because it was much worse. It was real, and
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  Speaker 1: it was irreversible. The case quickly became a national obsession.
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  Speaker 1: Armchair detectives scrutinized every frame of the video and dissected
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  Speaker 1: each each syllable of the chilling phrase. Guys down the
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  Speaker 1: Hill podcasts, YouTube channels, and Reddit threads dedicated themselves to
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  Speaker 1: unraveling the mystery of a man infamously known as Bridge Guy.
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  Speaker 1: Despite the relentless efforts of law enforcement and the public,
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  Speaker 1: years passed without an arrest, Delphi remained trapped in a nightmare,
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  Speaker 1: its close knit community burdened by unanswered questions and profound grief.
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  Speaker 1: For years, it seemed like the case might remain unsolved,
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  Speaker 1: But after what felt like an eternity of silence and speculation,
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  Speaker 1: a breakthrough finally arrived, a development so significant it shocked
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  Speaker 1: even the most seasoned true crime followers. Justice was on
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  Speaker 1: the horizon and the case had taken a dramatic and
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  Speaker 1: long awaited turn. Libby fourteen and Abby thirteen were the
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  Speaker 1: kind of best friends who seemed inseparable, embodying the spirit
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  Speaker 1: of a small town childhood. Libby enjoyed photography and softball,
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  Speaker 1: while Abby had a natural talent for art and a
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  Speaker 1: big imagination. Together, they filled their world with laughter, inside jokes,
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  Speaker 1: and boundless energy. They were simply put two bright lights
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  Speaker 1: on the brink of a future that was stolen far
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  Speaker 1: too soon. On February thirteenth, twenty seventeen, the girls had
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  Speaker 1: a day off from school and decided to make the
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  Speaker 1: most of it. They persuaded Libby's older sister to drop
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  Speaker 1: them off at the Monon High Bridge Trail, a local
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  Speaker 1: hiking spot famous for its scenic views and the towering,
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  Speaker 1: weathered railroad bridge stretching over Deer Creek. It was the
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  Speaker 1: kind of place where two teenagers could take pictures, explore,
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  Speaker 1: and enjoy a little bit of freedom. At two seven pm,
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  Speaker 1: Libby posted a snapchat photo of Abby walking along the bridge,
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  Speaker 1: a quiet snapshot of a care free afternoon. But sometime
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  Speaker 1: after that moment, everything went terribly wrong. When the girls
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  Speaker 1: didn't show up at the designated pickup spot later that afternoon,
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  Speaker 1: the the families knew something was off. Concern quickly turned
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  Speaker 1: to alarm, and by nightfall, search teams were combing the
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  Speaker 1: woods with flashlights. Despite their efforts, there was no sign
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  Speaker 1: of the girls that evening. What makes this case particularly
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  Speaker 1: haunting is Libby's remarkable quick thinking. In a moment of
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  Speaker 1: unimaginable terror, she took out her phone and recorded both
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  Speaker 1: video and audio of the man believed to be their killer.
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  Speaker 1: It was an active bravery that defies her age, one
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  Speaker 1: that preserved vital evidence of the man infamously known as
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  Speaker 1: Bridge Guy. Her actions would become the foundation of the investigation,
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  Speaker 1: ensuring that his voice and image would not only haunt Delphi,
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  Speaker 1: but the entire world. The search for Libby and Abbey
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  Speaker 1: ended in heartbreak on Valentine's Day twenty seventeen. Their bodies
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  Speaker 1: were discovered near Deer Creek, just off the High Bridge Trail.
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  Speaker 1: They weren't far from where they'd last been seen, less
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  Speaker 1: than a half a mile, was still remote, overgrown, and
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  Speaker 1: easy to miss. What started as a frantic search ended
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  Speaker 1: in the kind of nightmare that forever changes of family,
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  Speaker 1: a small town, and anyone paying attention. For years, the
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  Speaker 1: details of what actually happened remained locked away, fueling the
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  Speaker 1: frustration and mystery of an already devastating case. It wasn't
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  Speaker 1: until the trial of Richard Allen in twenty twenty four
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  Speaker 1: that some of the truth came to light, and it
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  Speaker 1: was much worse than anyone could have imagined. Both girls
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  Speaker 1: had their throats cut and what can only be described
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  Speaker 1: as brutal and senseless. Libby's body was found unclothed, while
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  Speaker 1: Abby was wearing Libby's clothes. Why no one knows. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: it was part of the killer's depraved plan, or maybe
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  Speaker 1: it was something even more twisted. Whatever the reason, it's
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  Speaker 1: a detail that sticks with you, whether you want it
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  Speaker 1: to or not. And then there was the bullet, a
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  Speaker 1: single un spent forty caliber round found near their bodies.
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  Speaker 1: At first glance, it seemed like a random clue, but
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  Speaker 1: that lone piece of evidence turned out to be a
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  Speaker 1: game changer. It linked a firearm owned by Richard Allen
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  Speaker 1: directly to the crime scene and gave investigators the lead
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  Speaker 1: they desperately needed after years of frustration and false starts.
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  Speaker 1: It's impossible to comprehend what Libby and Abbey endured in
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  Speaker 1: their final moments, and honestly, it's something that the people
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  Speaker 1: in Delphi and beyond are still struggling to wrap their
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  Speaker 1: heads around. The details are as horrifying as they come,
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  Speaker 1: but they're a painful reminder of why justice for these
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  Speaker 1: two remarkable girls was never optional. It was a fight
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  Speaker 1: that had to be won, no matter how long it took.
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  Speaker 1: The investigation into Libby and Abbey's murders began with one
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  Speaker 1: of the most haunting clues in modern true crime police
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  Speaker 1: released that audio clip from Libby's phone, a man saying,
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  Speaker 1: guys down the hill. Hearing it made your stomach drop.
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  Speaker 1: Those these were some of the last words that girls
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  Speaker 1: ever heard. Alongside the audio was a grainy video of
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  Speaker 1: the suspect walking across the bridge, hands in his pockets,
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  Speaker 1: stride steady. It was chilling and frustratingly vague enough to
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  Speaker 1: terrify but not enough to identify him. Then came the sketches,
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  Speaker 1: first one, then another, then a revision. Each update felt
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  Speaker 1: like a breakthrough, just waiting to happen, but the tips
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  Speaker 1: led nowhere. As years passed, the case became an obsession
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  Speaker 1: for the public and a relentless pursuit for law enforcement.
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  Speaker 1: Yet the trail only grew colder. Out of nowhere a breakthrough.
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  Speaker 1: In October twenty twenty two, police arrested Richard Allen, a
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  Speaker 1: local who had been hiding in plain Sight and Delphi
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  Speaker 1: the entire time. He wasn't a drifter or an outsider.
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  Speaker 1: He blended seamlessly into the community. The key to his
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  Speaker 1: arrest that unspent forty caliber bullet found at the crime scene.
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  Speaker 1: It linked to God that Allan owned. After years of
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  Speaker 1: heartbreak and dead ends, investigators finally had a tangible connection.
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  Speaker 1: The arrest was a turning point, but left lingering questions.
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  Speaker 1: How it'd he gone unnoticed for so long? Why did
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  Speaker 1: it take years to make the connection. Relief was tempered
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  Speaker 1: by the bitter realization that justice had been so close
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  Speaker 1: yet so far away. Alan's trial was a roller coaster,
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  Speaker 1: equal parts shocking and heartbreaking. The prosecution's case centered on
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  Speaker 1: that bullet, arguing it was the literal, smoking gun that
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  Speaker 1: tied Alan to the murders. They also presented Alan's alleged confessions,
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  Speaker 1: made multiple times to his wife, his mother, and even
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  Speaker 1: the prison staff. It was damning and the combined and
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  Speaker 1: combined with the horrific details of the crime, the picture
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  Speaker 1: was painted grim. But Allan's defense fought back. They challenged
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  Speaker 1: the confessions, citing his mental health and solitary confinement as factors,
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  Speaker 1: and pointed to the lack of deals in nate evidence
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  Speaker 1: directly linking him to the scene. No fingerprints, no fibers,
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  Speaker 1: just that bullet, and they didn't let the jury forget it.
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  Speaker 1: Deliberations stretched over nineteen hours across several days, and excruciating
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  Speaker 1: weights for the families, the community, and everyone invested in
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  Speaker 1: the case. Finally, on November eleventh, twenty twenty four, nearly
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  Speaker 1: seven years after the tragedy, the jury delivered their verdict.
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  Speaker 1: Richard Allen was found guilty on all counts. The court
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  Speaker 1: room erupted with a mix of relief, grief, and bittersweet closure,
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  Speaker 1: just as at last had been served. Sentencing is scheduled
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  Speaker 1: for December twentieth, twenty twenty four, with Alan facing up
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  Speaker 1: to one hundred thirty years in prison. It won't erase
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  Speaker 1: the pain or bring Libby an Abbey back, but it
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  Speaker 1: ensures he will never walk free again. Libby and Abbey's
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  Speaker 1: legacy is one of courage, strength, and a community united
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  Speaker 1: by their memory. Their loss is an unhealable wound on Delphi,
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  Speaker 1: but their bravery, especially Libby's quick thinking to capture crucial evidence,
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  Speaker 1: helped bring justice. While the verdict offers some peace, their
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  Speaker 1: names will always symbolize the fight for justice and the
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  Speaker 1: power of perseverance. That's ten minute Murder for Today, brief
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