An Indiana jury finds Richard Allen guilty on all counts in the murders of two teenage girls

November 11 (UPI) – The Indiana man accused of killing two teenage girls in a wooded area near Delphi was found guilty Monday and faces sentencing in mid-December.

“No matter what the verdict is,” said special judge Frances Gull as she urged the court to remain calm before announcing the guilty verdict, “people will not be happy.”

On Monday, a jury of five men and seven women in Indiana found 52-year-old Richard Allen guilty on all four counts in the 2017 murders of Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14.

The Delphi resident and former CVS employee was convicted of two counts of murder and two counts of murder during the kidnapping.

He is due in court on December 20 at 9 a.m. local time. All face a virtual life sentence of 90 or 130 years in prison.

The verdict came after a four-week trial in Allen County. On Saturday, the 12-member Indiana jury completed its second full day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.

The jury — including a nurse, a seminary professor, a school counselor, a homemaker and a transportation director — heard testimony from dozens of witnesses over 17 days after four days of deliberations.

The two teenage girls and best friends disappeared on February 13, 2017, on a trail near their hometown of Delphi, about 60 miles northwest of the state capital Indianapolis. Their bodies were found the next day in a wooded area.

He had pleaded not guilty and was formally charged and taken into custody by Indiana State Police in late 2022, nearly five years after the 2017 killings of the two middle school girls that rocked the small town.

According to local reports, a gag order remained in effect following the verdict. “This is far from over,” Allen’s wife said through tears, WTHR reported.