DELPHI, Ind. — The jury in the Delphi murder trial returned its verdict Monday afternoon.

The families of Libby German and Abby Williams were bracing for a possible verdict.

It is not yet known when the verdict will be read.

The jury, sequestered since mid-October, deliberated for around twenty hours spread over four days.

The jury left the Carrol County Courthouse in Delphi, Indiana, on Saturday after a third day of deliberations in the double murder trial of Richard Allen.

Allen is accused of killing German and Williams while they were walking in February 2017 along the Monon High Trail.

The jury was asked on Saturday to examine the evidence.

Allen has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of murder in connection with the 2017 deaths of 14-year-old German and 13-year-old Williams. Allen could face up to 130 years in prison if convicted of all charges. the Associated Press reported.

The 12-person jury began deliberations Thursday and returned Saturday morning to CNN affiliate WTHR’s Carroll County Courthouse. reported.

READ MORE | Delphi murder trial: Jury sees videos of Richard Allen while he was held at Westville prison

Last month, 16 Allen County residents were selected to serve on the jury, including four alternates, WITH said.

Allen County Superior Court Judge Frances Gull gave jurors their final instructions Thursday morning and urged them to “consider the facts” before Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland presents his findings finals, guiding the jury through the evidence and testimony presented during the trial, WTHR reported.

“I believe the evidence is strongly convincing that Richard Allen is Bridge Guy and that he killed Abby and Libby,” McLeland told the jury.

McLeland showed jurors graphic photos of the girls’ bodies, a video of the suspect taken from German’s smartphone that he said captured the final moments of the girls’ lives, and a recording of Allen allegedly confessing to his wife during of a phone call.

“I did it,” Allen could be heard telling his wife. “I killed Abby and Libby.”

Defense attorney Brad Rozzi, in closing arguments, said a missed timeline, false confessions and a lack of DNA or weapons evidence should lead to acquittal.

“The defense believes that what you have heard over the past few weeks is more important than what you are hearing today,” Rozzi told the jury Thursday.

The defense further argued that there was no physical evidence linking Allen to the murders and said that confessions he made in the past were “involuntary” and the result of months in solitary confinement.

The Delphi murder case dates back to February 13, 2017, when “Abby” and “Libby” went for a hike on the Monon High Bridge in Delphi. Both girls were reported missing after failing to meet German’s father that afternoon. The next day their bodies were found, both dead from cuts to their throats, partially covered with sticks.

The case gained public attention in part because of a photo and audio recording of the suspect taken from German’s smartphone. The image shows a man walking on the bridge with his hands in his pockets, and the audio includes a man’s muffled voice saying, “Guys, down the hill.” Although police released the photo and audio just days after the murders and identified the “Bridge Guy” as their prime suspect, the case went unaddressed for more than five years until Allen was stopped in 2022.

Allen had apparently escaped police attention, remaining in the small town of Delphi and working at a local CVS pharmacy, until an employee scanning information related to the investigation in September 2022 noticed that he had placed himself at the scene of the crime. Just days after the bodies were discovered, Allen told police he had been on that trail during the time the girls were allegedly killed.

Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett said that despite the information, Allen “got lost in the cracks,” according to the CNN affiliate. WLFI. About a month after the tip was rediscovered, Allen was arrested after police compared an unused cartridge found between the girls’ bodies to a gun recovered from his home during a police search.

After Allen was arrested on October 26, 2022, he was charged with two counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping five days later. Prosecutors later amended the charges to include two additional counts of murder.

Allen’s mental state and confessions came to light

During the trial, which began on October 18, the prosecution highlighted dozens of confessions Allen made during his incarceration: he confessed to the crime more than 60 times, according to prosecutors, including to his wife, to his mother, to the psychologist who treated him, to the director and other prison employees and inmates. They played audio recordings of some confessions for the jury.

Monica Wala, the former lead psychologist at the Westville Correctional Center where Allen was housed, said he initially told her he was innocent, but began confessing to the crimes in April 2023, at around the time he was put back on suicide watch.

Wala testified that Allen told him, “I killed Abby and Libby. I’m sorry,” according to the CNN affiliate. WITH. He said he initially planned to sexually assault the victims, but fled when he saw a van nearby, and slit the girls’ throats and covered their bodies with sticks, she testified.

SEE ALSO | Delphi murder trial: Psychologist says suspect distorted reality during prison confession

The defense sought to paint Allen as mentally ill whose fragile mental state was exacerbated by months spent in solitary confinement – including during the period he confessed to the crimes. He was twice placed on suicide watch while incarcerated, exhibited bizarre behaviors, such as eating his own feces and banging his head, and was at one point diagnosed as suffering from a “brief psychotic disorder.” ”, according to Wala’s testimony.

Testifying for the defense, Deanna Dwenger, a clinical psychologist who worked for the Indiana Department of Corrections’ Behavioral Health Department, said Allen was diagnosed with serious mental illness in April 2023 and a team of mental health professionals concluded that he suffered from a “severe disability”. ” according to CNN affiliate WRTV.

The defense originally hoped to introduce the so-called “Odinism” defense: a theory that followers of Odinism, a Norse pagan religion recently adopted by white supremacists, committed the murders. But Judge Gull has repeatedly denied motions to introduce this theory.

Audio recording and gunshot evidence have become priorities

Despite Allen’s confession, there is very little physical evidence linking him to the case: a DNA expert testifying for the state found no DNA from Allen at the crime scene, and no DNA from German or Williams was found on items recovered from his home.

Prosecutors pointed to the unused .40-caliber cartridge found in the girls’ bodies, which a prosecution expert said matched Allen’s gun. The defense questioned the bullet evidence, questioning why more footage of the cartridge wasn’t taken and suggesting the bullet could have come from a law enforcement officer’s gun , according to WRTV.

The prosecution also attempted to match Allen with the video and audio recording of the “Bridge Guy” captured on German’s cell phone. Indiana State Police Chief Brian Harshman, who said he listened in on more than 700 phone calls from Allen in prison, testified for the prosecution that in his opinion, “the voice of the ‘Bridge Guy’ is the voice of Richard Allen'”, according to WRTV.

“Richard Allen is Bridge Guy,” McLeland told jurors. “He kidnapped them and then murdered them.”

In response, Rozzi said Allen was not clearly identified by witnesses as the man on the hiking trail or bridge when the teens disappeared. He also pointed out that Allen was still living in Delphi for more than five years after the girls’ murder.

“He had every chance to run, but he didn’t because he didn’t,” Rozzi told jurors.

ABC7 Chicago contributed to this report.

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