Town Stunned When 'Friendly' Man Is Arrested in Murders - Then Bar Owner Notices Something Behind Suspect in Old Photo
Residents of Delphi, Indiana, were relieved to hear an arrest had finally been made this week in the 2017 murder of two teen girls. But quite a few of them were stunned to learn that the suspect is a local man some of them considered to be a friend.
Richard M. Allen, 50, of Delphi, was arrested Monday and charged with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14, CNN reported.
The two girls set together out for a hike on Delphi Historic Trails on Feb. 13, 2017, during a school holiday. Libby’s dad was supposed to meet them at a predetermined time, but they never showed up. Their bodies were later found near a creek and bridge.
Here is the mugshot of Richard M. Allen. He’s being charged with 2 felony counts of murder in connection with the killings of Abby & Libby in Delphi in 2017.
Police say the 50-year-old entered a not guilty plea today. He’s being held without bond.@WTHRcom pic.twitter.com/gkDo0N3Qq8— Carlos Diaz (@CarlosWTHR) October 31, 2022
The crime shocked the tiny town, about 75 miles north of Indianapolis, which has a population of less than 3,000.
One of those shaken by Allen’s arrest was Bob Matlock, who owned JC’s Bar until it closed in 2021.
Matlock told the Daily Beast that Allen, a pharmacy technician at the local CVS, was a regular at the tavern and he considered Allen and his wife Kathy “good friends.” He described Allen as “quiet” and “friendly.”
“He would come in and we would always talk about the (murdered) girls and everything,” Matlock told The Daily Beast.
In an eerie twist, there’s even a photo circulating on social media of Allen at the bar, with posters showing the police sketch of the murder suspect in the background.
“We were all sitting at the table there, we were having a pool night, and just having fun — we were snapping pictures and everything,” Matlock told the Daily Beast. “Every business in town had those [sketches] up. It just happened to be, he was sitting there at the time.
“But to me, that did not resemble Rick… My other patrons around town [would] come in for breakfast or lunch, everybody would say, ‘Christ, that don’t look like anybody,’ or, ‘It could be anybody.’”
Many townspeople interviewed by the media knew Allen — either by face or by name — as a somewhat reserved man, but who was kind and helpful to them when they shopped at CVS.
“He was always nice. Anybody would tell you that,” A.J. Robinson told the Indianapolis Star. “You’d never think in a million years.”
Libby’s aunt, Tara German, told CNN she knew Allen because she shopped often at CVS.
She said he was particularly helpful to her on one occasion shortly after the murders.
“I went into the store to print photos of Libby for the funeral, and he was the one who helped me,” German said, according to the news outlet. “I was a mess trying to get the images off my phone. Once they were printed, he looked at me and said, ‘I’m not gonna charge you for this.’”
CVS released a prepared statement saying they were “shocked and saddened” about Allen’s arrest, the Star reported.
“As members of the Carroll County community, we remain devastated by these murders and our hearts go out to the German and Williams families,” the statement said. “We stand ready to cooperate with the police investigation in any way we can.”
Allen’s trial date has been set for March 20, according to news reports.
“There’s a lot of people that will be there,” Delphi resident Shirley Goyer told CNN. “We’ve been waiting for this, so it’s a good thing that we’re finally getting to the end of it, I hope.”
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