DELPHI, Ind. — Richard Allen, a resident of Delphi, Indiana, was found guilty of all charges Monday at the best friends double murder Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14.

The jury’s verdict came on the fourth day of deliberations in the high-profile case that shocked the nation.

Applause broke out in the small town square.

“It’s unsettling. It’s uncomfortable. It’s a scary feeling to be so close to something so horrible,” said Delphi resident Kaitlyn Cotner. “Over the years, we haven’t gotten much news about the actual details of what happened. It finally came to light and you found out how horrible it was for them.”

Allen, a husband and father, was stoic in court and did not react to the verdict, but his mother and wife sobbed. ABC News reported.

Allen was convicted of felony murder for the murder of Abigail Williams while attempting to commit a kidnapping; felony murder for the murder of Liberty German while attempting to commit a kidnapping; murder for knowingly killing Abigail Williams; and murder for knowingly killing Liberty German.

Relief has washed over the small Indiana town.

It has been more than seven and a half years of grief, anxiety and uncertainty.

“Today is the day. It’s been a long time coming,” Delphi resident Sarah Ausbrook told ABC News. “I always believed in prayer. I had a positive feeling that God was going to guide them, guide them in the direction they needed to go.”

He praised prosecutors, saying they “did an outstanding job presenting the evidence they had.”

“To me, today means great healing for this community,” Ausbrook said. “I’m sure the families are reliving that pain, but they are also glad to have received an answer.”

But it was not an easy task: the investigation that lasted two and a half years or the trial that lasted four weeks.

There is a gag order preventing the girls’ families from commenting until the sentence is finalized.

German’s sister only posted a photo of the girls, which read: “Today turned almost 8 years old.”

Allen’s sentencing is scheduled for December 20.

Williams and German were killed on an abandoned local hiking trail on February 13, 2017. The girls’ throats were slit and dumped in a wooded area near the trail. Their bodies were found the next day.

“In this community, as you can see, a lot of them had signs on their doors. They supported these families all these years. We raised a lot of funds. They were part of the community,” Ausbrook said.

On the day of the murders, German posted a photo of Williams on Snapchat as they walked on the Monon High Bridge. After the girls crossed the bridge, they saw a man behind them and German began recording on his phone, according to prosecutor Nick McLeland.

As police searched for the culprit, they released a clip of the unknown suspect’s voice, a recording of him saying “downhill,” which was recovered from German’s phone. Police also released a grainy image of the suspect on the road: a man who became known as “the bridge guy.”

The jury of eight women and four men considered that evidence, among other testimony, over a four-day span in the Carroll County courthouse.

Allen, who was arrested for murder in 2022, admitted to police that he was on the trail that day, but denied any involvement in the crime.

Allen’s numerous confessions while in prison and his mental health at the time became the main focus of the trial.

The defense argued that Allen was in a psychotic state when he made numerous confessions to prison officials, his wife and a psychologist.

“I hope they found the right guy? I can’t be sure. I honestly think he’s innocent,” Devin Chapin said. “I hope I’m wrong. I hope there’s no one running around here.”

The prosecution’s key evidence was police analysis of Allen’s gun, which determined that an unspent .40 caliber bullet discovered by the girls’ bodies was passed through Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226. But the defense rejected the accuracy of that test, calling it an “apples to oranges” comparison, because the technician compared the initial bullet (which had been cycled, not fired) to a bullet fired from Allen’s gun.

No DNA was found at the scene linking Allen or anyone else to the crime scene, a forensic scientist testified.

“The absence of DNA here was clearly an obstacle the prosecution had to overcome, and it was clearly at the center of the defense’s argument. And for good reason, jurors expect it. But this case teaches us that the case can be won. case. like the state, like the government, without DNA evidence, if you have other types of evidence they have enough and in this case, again, confessions, they are a great help,” said Gil Soffer, political analyst for ABC7 Chicago.

With Allen locked up, as he has been for the past two years, and convicted, Delphi can really begin to heal.

“Tonight we can go to sleep knowing that we are all safe again, knowing that we can ask and see ourselves again in the hands of love and help. The man is now going to be put behind bars for what he has done,” he said resident Timothy Harper. “I think this town had a lot of love that was waiting for this day, and we are one again.”

The symbols of hope around Delphi will become signs of healing and lasting memories of the murdered girls.

Allen will likely be locked up for the rest of his life.

“It’s a permanent scar that will be left here. It won’t leave anyone in this city,” Cotner said. “I think a lot of people are happy that justice is being served, but I don’t think this is something that’s ever going to go away from Delphi.”

Alex Perez of ABC News and Liz Nagy of ABC7 Chicago contributed to this report.