A haunting video capturing two girls’ final moments before they were found murdered near an Indiana bridge in 2017 has been publicly released in full by a group supporting their convicted killer as his defense attorneys file an appeal.
The 43-second video shows Abigail “Abby” Williams, 13, and Liberty “Libby” German, 14, walking on a railroad bridge in Delphi, Indiana, as a man appears to follow them and then order them down a hill.
The video was obtained from German’s phone and had been played before a court, but authorities only released it publicly in snippets in a bid for help identifying the man, widely known as “Bridge Guy.”
Richard Allen was later identified as the suspect, leading to his conviction on four counts of murder. He was sentenced last year to 130 years in prison.
In the footage from Feb. 13, 2017, Williams is seen walking on the bridge toward German with the man walking directly behind her.
“Is he right here?” Williams appears to whisper from a distance before hurrying over to German at the end of the bridge and onto some gravel.
“See, this is the path that we’re on,” German says as her camera points down at the gravel and Williams appears to race past her with a soft cry. “Um, there’s no path going there, so we have to go down here.”
One of the girls can be heard breathing heavily and sniffling as the camera remains pointed at the ground. The man can be heard telling them to go down the hill.
“Guys, go down the hill,” the voice says. The video then ends.
Some of what the girls say in the video is unclear and nearly inaudible.
Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett told jurors during Allen’s trial that while Williams was still standing on the bridge in the clip, he heard her telling German: “Is he right here? Don’t leave me up here.”
Liggett also said he heard German tell Williams: “This is the path. That be a gun.”
The video was published on a website called “Justice for Rick Allen.” The website argues that there was no “strong physical evidence” supporting Allen’s conviction, only “questionable confessions” he made while he was behind bars and “inconsistent and unreliable” eyewitness testimonies.
However, the website does not comment about any conclusions that can be drawn from the full video footage it shares.
Allen’s appellate lawyer told People that his defense team is not involved with the website and doesn’t have a copy of the video itself.
The video’s release came as Allen’s attorneys officially filed an appeal of his conviction on Tuesday, Fox 59 reported. In January, his attorneys argued in a 24-page motion that there was a series of legal errors committed during his trial and that crucial third-party evidence was withheld.
“This jury wanted to convict someone,” defense attorney Jennifer Auger said, according to Indianapolis station WRTV. “They feel that that’s their job. And with no one else to point the finger to, I believe that had our third-party evidence come out, this would have ended differently.”
Allen’s attorney, Stacey Uliana, also told Fox 59 that the video’s release is unrelated to the appeal.
“The fact that the video was posted on a website has nothing to do with the pending appeal or the fairness of the trial at the heart of that appeal,” Uliana said.