DELPHI, Ind. – Closing arguments began with the prosecution in the Delphi murders trial. Before Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland made his presentation to jurors, Special Judge Fran Gull reminded the courtroom to remain silent during the proceedings and told the gallery she wouldn’t hesitate to remove anyone who broke decorum. After the jury entered the courtroom, Gull read jury instructions and told them they were the judges who must “consider all the facts of this case.” COMPLETE COVERAGE | Delphi Murders Trial She read the charges aloud, defining murder and what is often known as “felony murder” to the jury. Richard Allen faces four counts of murder in the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German near the Monon High Bridge. Two counts are what is often known as “felony murder,” which is causing someone’s death in the commission of a crime. In this case, the state argues that underlying crime was kidnapping. The other two murder counts charge Allen with killing the girls. Gull said jurors must weigh the value of witness testimony and told them Allen was under no obligation to testify and that his lack of testimony can’t be held against him. State makes its case McLeland went first, delivering closing arguments that lasted a little more than an hour. He described how Abby and Libby went to the trails on Feb. 13, 2017, and never came back. He described it as a “day this community will never forget.” He said Libby’s older sister drove them to the trails and dropped them off at 1:48 p.m. When Libby German’s father arrived to pick them up around 3 p.m., they didn’t show up at the prearranged meeting spot. More alarmingly, no one could contact them. Delphi murders trial: Day-by-day summary of the proceedings He went looking for the girls but didn’t find them. He called Libby’s grandmother, Becky Patty, at 3:30 p.m., leading to additional family searches. Still, no one could find or contact the girls. The search grew throughout the day and lasted until 2 a.m., when it became too dark and too dangerous. “No one thought anything bad had happened to Abby and Libby,” McLeland said. “That doesn’t happen around here.” Searcher Pat Brown found the bodies on Feb. 14, 2017, and said they “looked like mannequins." 'Bridge Guy' and a bullet Next, McLeland showed crime scene photos, telling the court that “these next pictures are hard to see.” While processing the crime scene, investigators found Libby’s phone and the bullet that became central to the state’s case. McLeland mentioned the “Bridge Guy” video found on Libby’s phone and played it for the jury. The video was taken at 2:13 p.m. and, in McLeland’s estimation, showed the “moment Abby and Libby were kidnapped.” He said “Bridge Guy” ordered them down the hill and used a gun to intimidate them. He played an “enhanced” version of the video with the “down the hill” part amplified. He recounted numerous witnesses who saw someone on the high bridge and mentioned Sarah Carbaugh, who told investigators she saw a man who was “muddy and bloody” walking along the road around 4 p.m. McLeland noted that descriptions from the witnesses varied somewhat, but all were “adamant” they’d encountered “Bridge Guy.” McLeland mentioned Steve Mullin, the former Delphi police chief and investigator for the prosecutor’s office, who looked at video from the nearby Hoosier Harvest Store. Forensic experts analyzed Libby’s phone, which indicated the girls arrived on the trails at 1:48 p.m. and walked to the Monon High Bridge. At 2:32 p.m., the analysis found, Libby’s phone stopped moving and stayed where it was. McLeland then brought up a map and reviewed the timeline of events. One witness and her friends encountered “Bridge Guy” at 1:26 p.m. Another witness saw “Bridge Guy” and passed the previous witnesses, he said. “If we determine who ‘Bridge Guy’ is, we can find out who killed them,” McLeland said. Suspicion falls on Allen He recounted how in September 2022 Kathy Shank, a volunteer who helped police organize tips related to the Delphi murders, came across a “tip sheet” from 2017 that indicated a person told a DNR investigator he’d been on the bridge between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2017. The man’s name was Richard Allen. It appeared no one had followed up on him. Further investigation found Allen owned a black 2016 Ford Focus SE. McLeland said, only one such model of that car was registered in Carroll County in February 2017. Investigators believe the car matched video from the Hoosier Harvest Store. Police called Allen for an interview. He said he was wearing clothes similar to “Bridge Guy.” The interview started out polite but soon turned hostile, with Allen refusing to let investigators look at his phone or search his house. Police obtained a search warrant. The search turned up knives, box cutters and a blue Carhartt jacket. “Surprise, surprise,” McLeland said, “Same as ‘Bridge Guy’ was wearing.” The search turned up a .40 caliber round kept in a “hope box” and a Sig Sauer P226 handgun. McLeland described it as the “‘Bridge Guy’ starter kit.” Investigators recovered numerous electronic devices from Allen’s home, but they didn’t find the phone he had in 2017. An Indiana State Police crime lab technician determined that the bullet found at the crime scene was cycled through Allen’s Sig Sauer. “Oh, and her results were verified,” McLeland said of the analysis from Melissa Oberg. During a follow-up interview with police, Allen said he never loaned his gun to anyone and had no explanation for how a bullet matched to his gun ended up at the scene of one of Indiana’s most infamous murder cases. Police suggested that Allen racked his gun to intimidate the girls into doing what he told them. Allen grew angrier during the interview. Confessions central to state's case McLeland said Allen was moved from a county jail to a state prison for his own safety. Once housed at Westville Correctional Facility, “he starts to confess,” the prosecutor said. He mentioned calls Allen made to his wife and mother. He played some of them in court. “I did it. Just know I did it,” Allen said in the call. “I killed Abby and Libby.” “They’re screwing with you there,” his wife, Kathy Allen, said. “I think I did it,” Allen told his wife. “I wish they would kill me or let me apologize to the families at least.” McLeland recounted the testimony of Dr. Monica Wala, the prison psychologist who treated Allen at Westville and heard him confess. He told her his motive was sexual in nature and he took the girls' lives “in order to preserve his own.” He eventually gave Wala a more detailed account about Feb. 13, 2017, and said he saw a white van that startled him. Wala said Allen admitted he'd killed the girls and made sure they were dead so they "didn't suffer." McLeland played another phone call. “Did Kathy tell you I did it?” Allen asked his mother. "We're not going to discuss this, okay?" she answered. "We love you, you know that, don't you?" “I’m worried that you guys aren't going to love me because I said I did it," Allen replied. In another call to his mother he said, "I wouldn't tell you I did it if I didn't." The prosecutor described Allen’s admissions as “unprovoked.” He mentioned a letter Allen sent to the warden and another statement he made about throwing a box cutter in a CVS dumpster. He pointed to testimony from ISP Master Trooper Brian Harshman, who listened to Allen’s phone calls and noticed the detail about the van in Allen’s confession. McLeland described it as “a detail only the killer would know.” McLeland said the van was that of Brad Weber, who owns property across from the crime scene. Weber testified he clocked out of work around 2:02 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2017, and drove by the crime scene on an access road around 2:30 p.m. According to the state’s theory, that’s around the time of the murders. The state suggested Allen saw the van, which spooked him, and then killed the girls. Harshman also testified, after listening to hours of phone calls from Allen, that the voice on the “Bridge Guy” video belonged to Allen. Harshman had "no doubt" in his mind. McLeland's closing McLeland said he had proved elements of each count Allen faces. “The day started out like any other day,” the prosecutor said. “But that day ‘Bridge Guy’ stole the youth and light out of Abby and Libby.” He said no one out on the trail that day matched the description of "Bridge Guy" except for Allen. He estimated Allen had about seven minutes with the girls before Weber drove down the access road and spooked him. He told the court Allen slashed Libby’s throat first and then killed Abby. "He slit their throats," he said. "Allen used his gun and power to take those girls down the hill." “If that’s not enough to convince you, we have his confessions,” McLeland said. He said the bullet left at the scene and Libby's phone led investigator's to Allen's doorstep. He said he believes the evidence showed Allen was responsible for killing the girls, asked the jury to consider all the evidence and implored them to find him guilty. McLeland wrapped up at 10:22 a.m.