Tears coursed down Kathy Allens face on Thursday as an Indiana courtroom listened to emotional prison calls between her and her husband in which he repeatedly confessed to murdering Delphi victims Liberty German and Abigail Williams.
Richard Allen glanced anxiously back to where his wife sat in the gallery, at one point mouthing: Are you okay? as the audio of her refusing to believe in his guilt played out in court in Delphi.
The calls – eight in total – were placed by Allen between November 2022 and June 2023 and marked the start of a devastating morning of testimony which saw the state, now nearing the close of their case, damn Allen through his own words, a detail they say only the killer could have known and, they allege, his own voice.
Allen has been charged on four counts in relation to the 2017 murders of Libby, 14, and Abby, 13, two counts of murder and two of felony murder – murder committed during the act of another crime, in this instance kidnapping.
Richard Allens wife Kathy broke down in tears on Thursday as the court listened to him confess to the murders of Libby and Abby in multiple prison phone calls
Libby, 14, and Abby, 13, were killed outside their hometown of Delphi, Indiana, in February 2017
He denies all charges. If convicted he faces a maximum of 130 years in prison.
Jurors in Carroll County Court listened intently as, one after the other, the prison calls were played with Allen referring to himself as Ricky in the automated system that informs the listener they are receiving a call from Westville Correctional Facility.
In all he referred to his wife as honey and baby and often tearfully asserted his love for her, asking if she still loved him.
In one, placed April 3, 2023, he told her: I just wanted to apologize to you. I did it. No, I did it. I killed Abby and Libby.
In another placed May 10, 2023 he tells Kathy: I need you to know that I did this.
Later that same morning he called her back and reiterated: I may have to spend the rest of my life here. You dont understand.
I just need to know everyone is still going to love me. I hope I may be able to see you one last time. Do you know what Im saying? Its true honey. Its true.
No its not, Kathy responded, rejecting his confession as she did on every occasion, telling her husband he was unwell and theres no way, no way he could have committed the crimes to which he was confessing.
Later, Master Trooper Brian Harshman, the Indiana State Police officer tasked with listening to more than 700 prison calls made by Allen since his arrest, testified to how he spotted a key detail within Allens confession to prison psychologist Dr. Monica Wala that only the killer would know.
On Wednesday, the court heard the detailed confession Allen made to Wala in April 2023.
In a phone call placed April 3, 2023, Allen tells his wife: I just wanted to apologize to you. I did it. No, I did it. I killed Abby and Libby.
The two best friends were last seen alive going on their fateful hike to Monon High Bridge in February 2017
In it he claimed he had planned to rape the girls but saw a van and got scared so didnt go through with it, instead telling them to cross the creek where he murdered them by cutting their necks.
Harshman told the court it occurred to him that Only Libby, Abby, and the killer would have seen that van.
He explained: I knew the area was 625 W which is a gravel drive that ends at a private resident.
That residence is owned by Brad Weber who on Wednesday told the court that he had clocked into work at Subaru in Lafayette at 5:14am on the morning of February 13, 2017 – the day the girls went on their fateful hike to Monon High Bridge – and clocked out at 2:02pm.
DMV records revealed that Webster drove a Ford Econoline Van and that his drive home that day would have taken roughly 20-25 minutes.
Libby recorded her video of Bridge Guy at 2:13pm and the last movement recorded by the Health App on Libbys phone took place at 2:32pm, Harshman told the court.
Weber would have been arriving home in his van, he asserted, between 2:27 and 2:30pm which would place him near the murder scene at the time Libby and Abby were attacked.
The suspect, who became known as Bridge Guy, was first spotted in footage captured on one of the girls cellphones before they were killed
Libby recorded her video of Bridge Guy at 2:13pm and the last movement recorded by the Health App on Libbys phone took place at 2:32pm, a state police officer told the court
Allens reference to seeing a van, which Harshmam asserted was Weber returning home from work was, he repeated, a detail only the killer would have known.
Harshmans testimony came to a close with prosecutor Nick McLeland playing the enhanced version of Libbys Bridge Guy video once more.
The killers instructions to the girls, Down the hill, rang out in court loud and clear.
The similarity to the voice just heard on Allens prison calls was undeniable.
Youve listened to many hours of Richard Allens phone calls, McLeland addressed Harshman.
Over 700 calls. Do you recognize the voice of the male individual in that video?
Harshman responded: Its the voice of Richard Allen.