The man accused of killing 14-year-old Libby German and 13-year-old Abigail Williams on an Indiana hiking trail in 2017 may not have acted alone, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Richard Allen, a 50-year-old pharmacy technician arrested for the grisly killings of the teenage best friends, appeared in court Tuesday morning for the first time since his arrest last month.
Prosecutors argued against unsealing the probable cause affidavit against Allen, claiming that to do so would jeopardize their case.
In the course of their arguments, they revealed a chilling bombshell: There may have been others involved in the murders.
“We have good reason to believe that Allen was not alone. That there could be other actors,” Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland told the judge, according to reporting from the courthouse by local outlet WRTV.
The case has captivated the nation since Williams and German vanished while on a walk together in February 2017. After frantic search efforts, their bodies were found the next day along a creek near Indiana’s Monon High Bridge.
An investigation kicked into high gear, with investigators and the public alike searching for clues in audio captured on German’s phone that featured an unknown man appearing to command the girls to go “down the hill” before they were murdered. Police also released a grainy photo of a man wearing blue jeans and a thick blue jacket.
While thousands of tips poured in over the years that followed, the case remained cold for nearly six years—until police finally announced Allen’s arrest last month.
Allen has denied involvement and pleaded not guilty to the murders.
The evidence that led to his arrest has remained mired in secrecy, with police citing “extraordinary circumstances” to keep the probable cause affidavit sealed.
In court Tuesday, prosecutors continued to push to keep the affidavit secret. McLeland even went a step further and filed a motion for a gag order to prevent anyone involved in the case from divulging details.
Special Judge Fran Gull has yet to make a decision on whether the probable cause affidavit will be released, but promised to do so “in due haste,” according to The Indianapolis Star.
German’s mother, Carrie Timmons, told the U.S. Sun she’d prefer to keep the details of the case under wraps for now to ensure the trial goes forward.
“What is releasing that information going to do?” she was quoted saying. “It’s certainly not going to help the prosecution in any way.”
She also questioned why it took authorities so long to nab a suspect in the case.
“If they have in fact caught this guy after six years with him living under their noses then what were they doing all this time? … It makes me sick. Obviously, it’s all alleged, but it’s rather disturbing he was just there this whole time.”
