EDITOR’S NOTE: Despite court records showing a judge issuing a $20 million bond for Richard Allen, both Carroll County sheriff and prosecutor state that no bond has been issued for Allen. No answer has been given as to why records show a bond being filed.
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DELPHI, Ind. — The man accused of killing Abby Williams and Libby German below the Monon High Bridge east of Delphi on Feb. 13, 2017, is being held on two counts of felony murder with no bond.
Previously, court records showed a $20 million bond had been issued but both the sheriff’s department and the Carroll County Prosecutor’s Office report there is no bond. No answer has been given at this time as to why a bond was listed.
Richard Allen, 50, was taken into custody at the Indiana State Police Lafayette Post last week, one week after investigators searched his home in Carroll County.
Sources indicate evidence linking Allen to the murders was found during that search.
Though the case remains under a rare court-ordered seal, felony murder charges were listed this morning in the state’s MyCase tracking system.
This past Monday morning, Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter and Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland announced that Allen was charged with murder.
According to state statute, the charge of felony murder alleges a defendant, “kills another human being while committing or attempting to commit arson, burglary, child molesting, consumer product tampering, criminal deviate conduct, kidnapping, rape, robbery, human trafficking, promotion of human trafficking, sexual trafficking of a minor, or carjacking.”
Investigators have alleged that Abby and Libby were forced under threat to leave the bridge by a man whose voice and image were captured on one of the cell phone of one of the girls and their bodies were discovered several hundred feet on a piece of land along the bank of Deer Creek.
Experts tell FOX59 News that the felony murder statute provides prosecutors with leeway to charge multiple individuals with participation in a murder even if they played only a supporting role.
Carter and McLeland would not answer reporters’ questions as to whether additional suspects are being sought.
At a closed hearing in Carroll County Circuit Court last week, Judge Benjamin Diener ordered Allen held pending a pre-trial conference on Jan. 13, 2022, and a jury trial set for March 20, 2023.
Allen reserves the right to demand a speedy trial within one year of his incarceration.
Judge Diener has set a hearing for November 22 to consider granting public access to the Probable Cause Affidavit upon which the prosecutor’s case against Allen has been filed.
