Down the Hill: Inside the Delphi Murders Case
How a smartphone recording became crucial evidence in the hunt for two girls' killer
On February 13, 2017, best friends Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, were dropped at the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Indiana, around 1:40 p.m. The eighth graders never left the trail alive. When they failed to meet Libby's father at the planned pickup time of 3:15 p.m., authorities launched a desperate search that would uncover one of the country's most disturbing crimes—and an extraordinary piece of evidence captured by one of the victims themselves.
Bodies discovered along Deer Creek the following afternoon revealed a brutal crime. Both girls had their throats cut. Abigail was found fully clothed in Libby's garments, while Libby was nude. Between their bodies lay an unspent .40 caliber bullet, later linked through ballistic analysis to suspect Richard Allen's firearm.
But it was Libby's smartphone that would transform this case into a national obsession. At 2:14 p.m. on February 13—minutes before the girls' movements ceased—Libby's phone captured audio and video of a man walking behind them. In muffled but audible tones, a voice could be heard saying "Guys, down the hill." Prosecutors would later state that the man pulled a gun and ordered the girls down the embankment before the recording abruptly ended.
Cell phone data provided crucial corroboration. Libby's device pinged near the bridge at 2:05 p.m., detected movement at 2:31 p.m., and stopped moving entirely at 2:32 p.m.—remaining in the area where bodies would be found. The phone gradually powered down, dying at 10:32 p.m., before mysteriously spiking awake at 4:33 a.m. on February 14, receiving 15 to 20 text messages. When recovered, Libby's phone was found beneath Abigail's body.