How Delphi Snapchat murdered victim Libby German, 14, saved lives by courageously videotaping crucial moments before her death

DELPHI Snapchat murder victim Libby German saved lives by taking a video of the suspect before she was killed, a cold case expert said.

Teenagers Libby, 14, and Abigail Williams, 13, were found dead in 2017 after walking on the Delphi Historic Trails in Indiana.

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Libby, 14, recorded video of a man called “Bridge Guy” walking towards them just before they were found dead.

But despite there being a picture of the suspect and an audio recording of his voice, it took over five years to identify him.

CVS employee Richard Allen, 50, has been charged with two counts of murder in the slayings of the teenage girls last year.

He denied involvement in the girls’ deaths and pleaded not guilty.

His trial was scheduled for January – but earlier this week his lawyers sensationally withdrew from the case due to a security breach when grim crime scene photos were released to the public.

True Crime Garage host Nic Edwards has been following the bizarre case since day one.

Since the beginning of the investigation, he assumed that the teenager’s killer was the man in Libby’s video, which also captured the suspect’s voice.

And he said the teenager’s quick thinking saved lives.

Speaking to The Sun, the cold case expert said: “I don’t think anyone who does something like that would never do it again.”

“And I’m not saying they would definitely do it again, but once you’ve done something so terrible, you’re always capable of doing it again.

“I think Libby may have saved some lives by taking pictures of him on her phone and capturing his voice.

“Because when it was first released to the public, it said, ‘This is a guy who was seen on the trails, we’d like to talk to him, he might have been a witness, he might have seen something.’

“I knew immediately that it was probably a suspect and that he was probably the murderer.

“Had she not filmed him and he had gotten away scot-free, he would have believed he had the ability to do this again undetected.”

Nic said the suspect didn’t realize his photo had been taken until he “got out of the woods, wiped all the blood off him and went home to watch TV.”

“I would have liked to have seen the look on his face when that image popped up on his TV,” he said.

“I truly believe she saved some lives by having the courage and intelligence to hold up her phone, record his picture, and then the wisdom to hide her phone, put it in her pocket and record his voice.”

It was February 13, 2013, when the two girls went missing after a hike along the Monon High Bridge Trail in the town of Delphi.

They were dropped off near the abandoned bridge by Libby’s sister Kelsi.

The last contact between the girls occurred when Libby posted two photos on Snapchat.

Their disappearance sparked a frantic search before they were found dead the next day.

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Nic said locals initially believed the girls were either at someone else’s home or one of them may have sustained an injury in the woods.

“They were due to be picked up at around 3.30pm that afternoon and the family were concerned because they tried to contact Libby on her mobile phone but were unable to,” he said.

“At this point they were not in complete panic.

“It was an incredibly terrible and tragic end and I don’t think anyone could have even imagined that this was a possibility.”

Days after the teens’ bodies were discovered, investigators released an eerie video from Libby’s phone that shows a man wearing jeans and a blue jacket walking toward her and then saying, “Guys, down the hill.”

The girls’ murder made headlines around the world as it remained a mystery and numerous theories speculated on different perpetrators.

One of the people questioned by the police was Ronald Loganwho owned the property where the girls’ bodies were found.

A Search warrant leaked The Murder Sheet podcast revealed that his property was searched after the girls’ deaths, their bodies were “staged” and a “souvenir” was taken from at least one of the victims.

Nic said the fact that police had remained “silent” about the details of the investigation had led the public to “fill in the gaps with unconfirmed rumours”.

He points out that it took law enforcement more than five years to catch him, despite billboards displaying the suspect’s photo in 46 states.

“When a child is killed, it enrages the public – of course – but then we had two child victims in broad daylight,” he said.

“It was that rare strange case where the victim had filmed the perpetrator and we had that information, the investigators had that information, they sent it out to the public and still couldn’t find the guy.

“Who would have thought that we would have his picture, a video of him and an audio recording of his voice and it would still take five and a half years to find out who it was.”

An affidavit unsealed by a judge revealed that a unused .40 bullet Found between the bodies of the two girls, Allen appeared to have passed through a pistol.

The documents also revealed that Allen admitted to being on the bridge at the same time the girls in front of him were killed arrested End of October 2022.

According to court documents released in June, the two girls’ wounds were caused by a sharp object.

The documents also included a prosecutor’s office file that said Allen repeatedly confessed to the murders in a phone call with his wife, which was later transcribed by authorities.

Allen is the only one The suspect is to be officially named by the police.

Last month, Allen’s lawyers argued in court documents that the girls were killed as part of a ritual sacrifice by members of a pagan Nordic religion and a white nationalist group called the Odinists.

The prosecutor overseeing the case dismissed the theory as a fanciful social media defense.

Earlier this week, Allen’s defense attorneys Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi announced they had withdrawn from the case.

Special Judge Fran Gull said during a hearing: “We have witnessed an unexpected turn of events.”

She said a new public defender will be appointed and hopes to hold the scheduled hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 31, but does not expect to be able to meet the Jan. 8 trial date.

The process continues.

Nic Edwards is host of True Crime Garage and author of The Delphi Murders

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