(Carroll County, IN) -  Richard Allen has received the maximum sentence for the murders of two Delphi teenagers.

 

Last month Allen was found guilty by a Carroll County jury for the murders of 13-year-old Abby Williams and 14-year-old Libby German in 2017. Prosecutors and Allen’s defense team spent Friday morning making their case for a proper punishment.

 

After hearing arguments and victim impact statements from the families, Judge Frances Gull sentenced Allen to 65 years for each girl’s murder. The sentences will be served consecutively, which means the 52-year-old Allen is looking at 130 years behind bars.

 

A press conference took place shortly after the decision came down. With a gag order having been in place since the trial started, it was the first time officials involved with the case could speak publically. Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett talked about the impact of the tragedy on the Delphi community:

 

“Carroll County is tight-knit community of about 20 thousand people. It used t obe a place where people didn’t lock their doors. I believe that the verdict and the sentencing will help ease some of that sense of security for the people of Carroll County. I want to thank all of the people of Carroll County and the families for their patience during this investigation.”

 

However, Sheriff Liggett said today’s verdict does not close the book on the situation; it just starts a new chapter:

 

“I keep hearing the word closure. People are coming up to me saying, ‘I bet that you’re glad that there’s finally closure.’ There will never be any closure in this case. The Germans and the Williams families lost their daughters, their granddaughters, their siblings. A form of justice was served, but it does not bring Abby or Libby back.”

 

State Police Superintendent Doug Carter also addressed the media. An emotional Carter stuck up for the integrity of his investigators and blasted defense attorneys for spinning a narrative of conspiracies:

 

“Over the course of these last many years, there have been many, many, many investigative strategies. Any notion of a cover-up, any notion of us deciding the outcome of this, any notion of any connection to anything else is not correct. It’s not correct. I’ve never been a detective in my entire lifetime, but I get to represent some of the best on the planet earth. And I listened; I listened to them intently. And when they made strategy decisions associated with what the next steps would be, my job is to support them, and I stand by those decisions, every single one of them.”

 

Allen's attorneys have indicated that they will file an appeal. They have 30 days to do so.