(CNN) 鈥� A jury on Saturday wrapped up a third day of deliberations in the highly publicized double murder trial of Richard Allen, who is accused of killing two teenage girls and leaving their bodies near a hiking path in the small town of Delphi, Indiana, more than seven years ago.
Deliberations will resume on Monday, .
Allen has pleaded not guilty to two murder and two felony murder charges in connection with the 2017 deaths of Liberty 鈥淟ibby鈥� German, 14, and Abigail 鈥淎bby鈥� Williams, 13. Allen could be sentenced to up to 130 years in prison if convicted of all the charges, the Associated Press .
The 12-person jury, which began deliberations Thursday, deliberated for more than five hours Saturday at the Carroll County Courthouse before departing for the day, WTHR . Jurors will deliberate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday until they reach a verdict, according to . Last month, 16 Allen County residents were selected to serve on the jury, including four people serving as alternates, said.
Allen County Superior Court Judge Frances Gull gave the jurors their final instructions Thursday morning and urged them to 鈥渃onsider the facts鈥� before Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland delivered closing arguments, walking the jury through the evidence and testimony presented during the trial, WTHR reported.
鈥淚 believe the evidence is firmly convincing that Richard Allen is Bridge Guy and he killed Abby and Libby,鈥� McLeland told the jury.
McLeland showed jurors graphic photos of the girls鈥� bodies, a video of the suspect taken from Libby鈥檚 smartphone that he said captured the final moments of the girls鈥� lives, and a recording of Allen purportedly confessing to his wife during a phone call.
鈥淚 did it,鈥� Allen could be heard telling his wife. 鈥淚 killed Abby and Libby.鈥�
Defense attorney Brad Rozzi in closing arguments said a broken timeline, false confessions and a lack of DNA or weapons evidence should lead to acquittal.
鈥淭he defense trusts what you鈥檝e heard over the past several weeks is more important than what you鈥檙e hearing today,鈥� Rozzi told the jury Thursday.
The defense further argued no physical evidence ties Allen to the killings and said confessions he made in the past were 鈥渋nvoluntary鈥� and stemmed from being in solitary confinement for months.
The Delphi murder case goes back to February 13, 2017, when 鈥淎bby鈥� and 鈥淟ibby鈥� went for a hike on the Monon High Bridge in Delphi. The two girls were reported missing after they failed to meet Libby鈥檚 father that afternoon. The next day, their bodies were found, both dead from cuts to the throat, partially covered by sticks.
The case attracted public attention in part because of a photo and audio recording of a suspect taken from Libby鈥檚 smartphone. The image shows a man walking on the bridge with his hands in his pockets, and the audio includes a man鈥檚 muffled voice saying, 鈥淕uys, down the hill.鈥� Although police circulated the photo and audio just days after the killings and identified the 鈥淏ridge Guy鈥� as their prime suspect, the case ran cold for more than five years until Allen was arrested in 2022.
Allen had seemingly evaded police notice, staying in the small town of Delphi and working at a local CVS pharmacy, until related to the investigation in September 2022 noticed 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 timeframe the girls were thought to have been killed.
Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett said despite the tip, Allen 鈥済ot lost in the cracks,鈥� Around a month after the tip was rediscovered, Allen after police matched an unspent cartridge found between the girls鈥� bodies to a pistol 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 a kidnapping five days later. Prosecutors later amended the charges to include two additional counts of murder.
Allen鈥檚 mental state and confessions were highlighted
Over the course of the trial, which began October 18, the prosecution highlighted Allen鈥檚 while incarcerated: He confessed to the crime more than 60 times, prosecutors say, including to his wife, his mother, the psychologist who treated him, the warden and other prison employees and inmates. They played audio recordings of some of the confessions for the jury.
Monica Wala, the former lead psychologist at Westville Correctional Facility where Allen was housed, testified he initially told her he was innocent, but began confessing to the crimes in April 2023, around the time he was placed back on suicide watch.
Wala testified that Allen had told her, 鈥淚 killed Abby and Libby. I鈥檓 sorry,鈥� . He said he originally planned to sexually assault the victims but ran away when he saw a van nearby, and that he had cut the girls鈥� throats and covered their bodies with sticks, she testified.
The defense has sought to paint a portrait of Allen as a mentally ill man whose fragile mental state was exacerbated by months spent in solitary confinement 鈥� including during the time period when he confessed to the crimes. He was twice put on suicide watch while in prison, exhibited bizarre behavior such as eating his own feces and banging his head, and was at one time diagnosed with 鈥渁 brief psychotic disorder,鈥� according to testimony from Wala.
Testifying for the defense, Deanna Dwenger, a clinical psychologist who worked for the Indiana Department of Corrections Behavioral Health, testified Allen was diagnosed with a serious mental illness in April 2023 and that a team of mental health professionals concluded he had a 鈥済rave disability,鈥�
The defense originally hoped to introduce an 鈥淥dinism鈥� defense: a theory that followers of Odinism, a Norse pagan religion recently adopted by White supremacists, committed the killings. But Judge Gull repeatedly rejected motions to introduce this theory.
Audio recording and bullet evidence became key focuses
Despite Allen鈥檚 confessions, very little physical evidence ties him to the case: A DNA expert testifying for the state found none of Allen鈥檚 DNA at the crime scene, and none of Libby or Abby鈥檚 DNA was found on items recovered from his home.
Prosecutors drew attention to the .40-caliber unspent round found by the girls鈥� bodies, which a prosecution expert testified matched Allen鈥檚 pistol. The defense cast doubt on the bullet evidence, questioning why more images were not taken of the cartridge and suggesting the bullet could have come from a law enforcement officer鈥檚 weapon, according to WRTV.
The prosecution has also tried to match Allen with the video and audio recording of the 鈥淏ridge Guy鈥� captured on Libby鈥檚 cellphone. Indiana State Police Master Trooper Brian Harshman, who said he listened to more than 700 of Allen鈥檚 prison phone calls, testified for the prosecution that in his opinion, 鈥渢he voice of the 鈥楤ridge Guy鈥� is the voice of Richard Allen,鈥欌€�
鈥淩ichard Allen is Bridge Guy,鈥� McLeland told jurors. 鈥淗e kidnapped them and later murdered them.鈥�
In response, Rozzi said that Allen wasn鈥檛 clearly identified by witnesses as the man on the hiking trail or the bridge when the teenagers went missing. He also pointed out that Allen still lived in Delphi for more than five years after the girls were killed.
鈥淗e had every chance to run, but he did not because he didn鈥檛 do it,鈥� Rozzi told jurors.
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