A man convicted of killing two teenage girls rolled his eyes as he was sentenced to 130 years in prison.
Richard Allen, 52, was handed sentence nearly eight years after the bodies of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, were found on a hiking trail just outside of the small town of Delphi, Indiana, in 2017.
He refused to address the family members of the victims or the court during the sentencing, even rolling his eyes at the judge as he was given 65 years for each murder charge.
Allen County Superior Court Judge Fran Gull said: ‘These families will deal with your carnage forever.’
She said: ‘You rank right up there with the most hideous crimes.
‘You sit here and roll your eyes at me as you’ve rolled your eyes at me the entire trial.’
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Abigail and Liberty were discovered with their throats cut on the trail a day after they went missing in February 2017.
The two best friends were described as being ‘more like sisters’ by the community.
A video they posted on Snapchat during the hike showed them being followed on the Monon High Bridge Trail by a man wearing a jeans and a dark jacket. An audio recording revealed a man ordering the girls to go ‘down the hill’.
Their bodies were found covered with branches, leaves and dirt. Libby was found naked, while Abigail was wearing her friend’s clothes.
Liberty’s grandfather, Mike Patty, said ‘justice has been served for the girls’.
‘It’s been almost eight years coming,’ he said.
‘If I live to make it 80, it would almost be 10% of my life has been spent working on this.’
Carrie Timmons, Liberty’s mum, said she has been left with a ‘hole in my soul’, according to the Daily Mail.
She said: ‘I’ll never understand how you were able to get away with this for so long.
‘The last 2867 days have been absolute hell. Next week, we should have been celebrating our birthdays. She would be 22, and she should be here.’
Liberty’s grandma Becky Patty said she hopes Allen is held in a prison’s general population rather than a single cell.
She said: ‘I hope he spends each day living with the same fear he inflicted on Libby and Abby the last moments of their lives.
‘I hope God can see my heart and forgive me.’
Abigail’s granddad Eric Erskin said losing her was like ‘losing a limb that will never grow back’.
He said: ‘You will never take away our memories and their legacy.’
Allen, of Delphi, has insisted he is innocent and one of his defense lawyers, Jennifer Auger, said they will appeal and request a new trial.
‘Thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims. What they went through was unimaginable,’ said Auger, declining to comment further.
A jury last month found Allen guilty of two counts of murder and two counts of murder while committing to trying to commit kidnapping. He faced 45 to 130 years behind bars.
The video that Liberty recorded turned out to be a crucial piece of evidence.
‘I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank Abby and Libby themselves,’ said Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland.
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‘Libby, for recording the defendant as he walked across the bridge. Having the wherewithal to pull out her phone and record that individual, having the wherewithal to know that something wasn’t right.’
During the trial, prosecutors played a jail call recording in which Allen allegedly confessed to his wife: ‘I did it, I killed Abby. I killed Abby and Libby.’
But his wife did not believe him and blamed his medication.
The double murder shocked the tight-knit community that is located about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis.
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