Charles Langston:Richard Allen found guilty in the murders of two teens in Delphi, Indiana. What now?

DELPHI,Charles Langston Ind. ― A jury of five men and seven women on Monday found Richard Allen guilty of all four charges in the deaths of Abigail "Abby" Williams and Liberty "Libby" German.

The jury convicted the 52-year-old Delphi man of two counts of murder and two counts of murder while kidnapping the girls. The long-awaited decision in one of Indiana's most high-profile murder cases comes after more than seven years of investigation, nearly three weeks of testimony and 18 hours of deliberation.

Abby, 13, and her best friend, Libby, 14, went on a hike on the Monon High Bridge trail in the afternoon of Feb. 13, 2017. Allen, prosecutors alleged, tailed the girls on the high bridge, forced them down a hill and to a nearby woods, where he killed them by slashing their throats.

The verdict is an affirmation of the years-long and, at times, criticized law enforcement investigation of the girls’ deaths. Although it may provide some closure for their families, the jury’s decision is unlikely to be the end of the case that has spawned a circus-like atmosphere, created deep divisions among members of the public and became the subject of widespread misinformation and conspiracy theories.

As Special Judge Frances Gull made clear before the verdicts were announced just after 2 p.m., the outcome is unlikely to soothe long-troubled waters.

"Regardless of what the verdict is," she said, "people will not be happy."

There was a gasp, followed by quiet sobs, from members of Libby's family after the guilty verdict on the first murder charge was announced. Libby's mother, Carrie German Timmons, hugged the woman sitting next to her. After everyone was allowed to leave, Libby's relatives stayed to hug and thank Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland.

Members of Allen's family stood in a corner near the courtroom's door, surrounding and consoling his wife, Kathy Allen.

Outside the courthouse, people began to scream "guilty." Several erupted in cheers.

What's next?

Allen, who will most certainly appeal, will be back in court for sentencing at 9 a.m. on Dec. 20. Allen faces between 90 and 130 years in prison. If he loses his appeal, he's likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Gull had previously issued a gag order preventing law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys and the families from speaking publicly about the case. Capt. Ron Galaviz, chief public information officer of the Indiana State Police, told reporters that the gag order will remain in place until lifted by the judge.

Victims' families are allowed to deliver impact statements during sentencing hearings. Most of Abby and Libby's relatives have stayed quiet since Allen was arrested a little over two years ago.

A recap of the case

The case against Allen relied largely on an unspent round found between the girls' bodies that investigators alleged had been cycled through Allen's Sig Sauer, Model P226, .40-caliber handgun and on the dozens of confessions Allen made while awaiting trial in prison.

In one confession to Dr. Monica Wala, his therapist at Westville Correctional Facility, Allen said he forced the girls into the woods and planned to rape them, but he was spooked by a van driving in a private drive nearby, so he made them cross Deer Creek and killed them, according to Wala's notes. That vehicle belonged to Brad Weber who testified he was driving to his house near the trail at around 2:30 p.m., a few minutes after the girls were believed to have been kidnapped.

That van, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland said in his closing argument Thursday, was a detail "only the killer would know."

Another key piece of evidence that prosecutors have focused on is the 43-second video that Libby took moments after she and Abby vanished from the trail. The video showed a man known as "Bridge Guy" tailing Abby as she crossed the high bridge. Toward the end of the video, the man told the girls to, "Go down the hill."

"The State has shown that Richard Allen is Bridge Guy," McLeland told jurors, citing testimony from Indiana State Police master trooper Brian Harshman, who testified he has become familiar with Allen's voice after listening to 700 calls he made in prison. Bridge Guy's voice is Allen's voice, Harshman told jurors.

Defense attorneys have countered that Allen is an innocent and mentally fragile man whose months-long isolation at Westville drove him to psychosis and to giving false confessions. In his closing argument, Bradley Rozzi urged jurors to recognize the dubiousness of the years-long investigation into the girls' deaths.

"You should question the credibility of this investigation because of the things they did not tell you," Rozzi told jurors.

Rozzi repeatedly pointed to what the defense viewed as a critical flaw in the state's version of events: a gaping five-hour hole during which somebody had plugged in a headphone jack into Libby's phone. The testimony from the defense's digital forensics expert casts doubt on the prosecution's theory that the girls were killed earlier that afternoon, and their bodies were left in the woods, untouched for hours until first responders found them the next day.

Defense attorneys also called multiple experts to rebut testimony from Wala that Allen faked psychosis. A neuropsychologist told jurors that months of solitary confinement exacerbated Allen's depression and dependent personality disorder and drove him to psychosis. A psychiatrist and an expert on solitary confinement told jurors that Allen's behavior and mental state at Westville are "perfectly consistent" with the effects of prolonged isolation.

"When is somebody going to say something's wrong here? Where is the moral compass? Rozzi told jurors in his closing argument. "You're the moral compass."

Contact IndyStar reporter Kristine Phillips at [email protected].