Carroll County sheriff requests Delphi murder suspect be transferred for safety

DELPHI, Ind. – Richard Allen, the Delphi, Ind., man charged in the 2017 murders of two teens, will no longer await trial in the town where Liberty German and Abigail Williams were killed.

Carroll County Sheriff Tobe Leazenby on Thursday filed a motion requesting that Allen, 50, be transferred from the county jail to a state prison "for safekeeping."

For subscribers:A look back on all of our reporting of the Delphi murders since 2017

Carroll County Circuit Court judge Benjamin A. Diener signed the request Thursday morning. Public court records listed Allen would be transferred from "the Custody of the Sheriff to the Custody of the Indiana Department of Corrections."

On Oct. 31, multiple law enforcement agencies held a press conference announcing that Allen, 50, of Delphi had been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of Libby and Abby, found killed Feb. 14, 2017, after they went hiking the day before.

Doug Carter, superintendent of the Indiana State Police, announced during the conference the probable cause affidavit would remain sealed until a public hearing on the matter.

Law enforcement officials cited a need to protect the integrity of the investigation for the "unusual" move to seal the affidavit, the IndyStar reported. During the press conference, held at a Delphi church and attended by family and friends of the teenagers, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland called the sealed affidavit “unusual.”

Records such as these, typically public within 24 hours of an arrest, detail the case against a person and cite reasons for making the charging decision.

The day Libby and Abby were found

On a day off from school Monday, Feb. 13, 2017, Liberty, 14, and Abigail, 13, hiked the trail around the Monon High Bridge.

When the the girls did not show up for their scheduled ride home, family members started a search later joined by members of the Delphi community.

Delphi murders:What we know and don't know 5 years after Abby and Libby were killed

The search on Valentine's Day, the next day, found Libby and Abby's bodies along the Deer Creek, about a quarter of a mile east of the Monon High Bridge.

An early clue to their killing came from a video Libby took on her phone – capturing a man approaching them, who then could be heard telling the girls to go "down the hill."

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen to be transferred from county jail