Delphi Murders Trial: A recap and the evidence leak

 

DELPHI, Ind.-- ABC57's Annie Kate recaps one of the year's biggest stories: the Delphi Murders Trial. Richard Allen was found guilty of the 2017 murders of 13-year-old Abby Williams and 14-year-old Libby German.

Special Judge Fran Gull handed down the maximum sentence Friday, 130 years in prison, 65 years for each girl served consecutively.

Before she did so, six family members of Abby and Libby gave victim impact statements.

"How can such evil hide in plain sight?" said Libby's mother, Carrie Timmons, going on to say she deserves answers from Allen about why he murdered her daughter.

"Please, put me on your visitor's list, I'll listen," she said.

Then Libby's first cousin, Josh Lank, took the stand, saying he and Libby were like brother and sister growing up.

"Now it's time for your life to be a living hell," Lank said.

Grandparents of both girls got up to speak.

"This is not a day of celebration," said Diana Erskin, Abby's grandmother. "I grieve the life I used to have."

"The loss of Abby is like losing a limb that will never grow back," said Eric Erskin, Abby's grandfather.

He said the trial confirmed some of his most horrific thoughts and fears over what happened to Abby.

When Libby's grandmother, Becky Patty, read her statement, she divulged that Richard Allen, a CVS employee in Delphi, developed photos for their family that they used for Libby's funeral.

"He robbed us all," she said. "The world was robbed of what could have been. Meanwhile, he got to go on and live his life."

In some of Allen's prison confessions, he mentioned wanting to apologize to the families. After the impact statements, Judge Gull gave him the opportunity to address the courtroom, but he chose to stay silent.

Something Patty said really stood out, that the impact on these families is now generational. That's because despite a court seal, there was an evidence leak before trial, and now the families hold on to fear that crime scene photos of the girls may still be circulating.

Turns out, the leak came from the office of Allen's defense attorney, Andrew Baldwin, who says his trust was violated without his knowledge.

Allen's team withdrew from the case after this incident, only to come back and accuse Judge Gull of forcing them out, then attempting to throw her off the case. Ultimately, the Indiana Supreme Court had to weigh in and kept all parties in place.

Still, the loved ones of Abby and Libby had to sit through 17 days of testimony once the trial came around, viewing both crime scene and autopsy photos of the teens, something they said in victim impact statements they can never unsee.

Now, with the gag order lifted from the case, law enforcement, the prosecution, and family members can speak out. Many echoed Patty's disgust over the possibility of crime scene photos on the internet.

"Anybody that shares those photographs of those two little girls should be held accountable," said Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter.

"The crime scene photos are still out there. And more may be out there in the future," said Carroll County Prosecutor, Nick McLeland. "Please, if you receive those, delete those. Don't forward those on. Don't revictimize the family, and the other family members. You can write whatever story you want and report however you want, you do not need those crime scene photos to do so. All it does is revictimize the families and hurt the reputation of Abby and Libby."