Delphi Murders: Richard Allen found guilty of double murder in ...

The former CVS clerk charged in the 2017 killings of two middle school girls was convicted of murder Monday in a case that shook the small Indiana town of Delphi.

The jury reached its verdict after a four-week trial in which Richard Allen, 52, pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the Feb. 13, 2017, slayings of close friends Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14.

Allen is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 20.

A gag order remained in effect, NBC affiliate WTHR of Indianapolis reported. A spokesperson for Indiana State Police, which investigated the killings, declined to comment because of the order, according to the station.

"This isn't over at all," Allen's wife tearfully told reporters, WTHR reported.

The jury heard from dozens of witnesses who testified over 17 days. It deliberated for four days.

Abigail and Liberty had been hanging out at Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, north of Indianapolis, when, prosecutors said, Allen used “power and fear” to force them down a hill and cut their throats.

In his closing argument Thursday, Carroll County Prosecutor Nick McLeland identified Allen as "the bridge guy" — a man seen in a Snapchat video walking on a then-abandoned bridge along the trail.

Authorities released the video, which was captured on Liberty's cellphone the day she died, in an effort to identify the man.

“Now all the pieces are clear,” McLeland said, according to WTHR. “Richard Allen is the ‘bridge guy.’ He kidnapped them and later murdered them. He slit their throats. He stole the youth and life away from Abby and Libby.” 

Defense attorney Brad Rozzi challenged that conclusion, saying witnesses who testified that they saw "the bridge guy" gave physical descriptions that did not match Allen, the station reported.

Rozzi also described Allen's repeated confessions to the murder as "false," according to the station.

In an interview with authorities before his 2022 arrest, Allen acknowledged that he had been at the trail the day of the girls' deaths, but he repeatedly denied having killed them.

Allen was held in solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison while he awaited trial. Rozzi attributed the confessions to a mental health crisis.

“When the dust settled, he was there for 13 months,” Rozzi said, according to WTHR. “How much can one human endure?” 

In addition to the Snapchat video and witness accounts, prosecutors pointed to an unspent .40-caliber cartridge that was found near the girls’ bodies, which authorities said came from Allen’s gun.

The defense called the markings on the cartridge “insufficient” to link the bullet to Allen’s gun. In his closing argument, Rozzi referred to the cartridge as "a magic bullet," WTHR reported.

Allen, a former CVS clerk, was not a suspect until a file clerk organizing thousands of tips discovered a mislabeled “lead sheet” in September 2022.

The document, which had incorrectly been marked "clear," showed that Allen reached out to investigators days after the killings and said he had been at the same location as the girls on the day they disappeared.

Authorities announced Allen's arrest on Oct. 31, 2022, weeks after the discovery.

Tim Stelloh

Tim Stelloh is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.