(NewsNation) — Richard Allen is being charged with murder in the deaths of Libby German and Abby Williams in Delphi, Indiana. Forensic psychology professor Dr. Katherine Ramsland said the killer’s mindset could have let him live in the community without fear for five years while police investigated.
Allen reportedly worked in a CVS convenience store where police sketches of the suspects in the case were displayed, even posing for a selfie in front of them.
Ramsland said the sketches might not have made him nervous.
“He kind of looks pretty ordinary, so even if right now we can look at those drawings and say he has some resemblance to them, a lot of people do,” she said. “I don’t think that they’re that out of the ordinary.”
The teenage girls went for a walk on the Delphi Historic Trails in February of 2017. They never returned. The next day, police found their bodies.
Police released a photo of the suspect found on German’s phone, as well as a snippet of audio where his voice could be heard.
Ramsland said the fact the investigation has gone on for five years could have made the killer feel safe.
“If no one came for him the first few weeks, I think that he would have believed he got away with this,” Ramsland said.
Allen wasn’t the only suspect police considered. They investigated Ron Logan, who owned the land where the girls were found and looked into a possible link to Kegan Kline, who was charged with possession of child sexual assault images in an unrelated case. Kline had allegedly been communicating with one of the girls using a fake social media profile.
Ramsland believes the killer would have had a fantasy life he kept secret from those around him.
“He had a secret life, he knew the area, he was comfortable with handling bodies, whether that means he’s done this before in some capacity or he fantasized in such detail, he certainly believed no one was going to find him while he was in the act. That means that he really scoped out the area to find a place he thought would be protected,” she said.
Police have kept details of the case under wraps, though they have said the killer likely staged or posed the bodies, there was a significant amount of blood found at the scene and the killer took a souvenir from the victims.
The charging documents against Allen have been sealed.
Ramsland said the lack of information makes it difficult to speculate too much on what might have been going on in the killer’s mind.
“He might be narcissistic, he might have that feeling of immunity that I’m too smart for this,” she said. “Or he might be just not smart enough to realize that he was at risk.”