The Chilling Delphi Murders
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When you’re into true crime, and when you research it and write about it extensively, you quickly realize that there is no limit to the depravity that can overtake a person. Really, all you have to do is turn on the news to realize that. I often find myself saying, “I just don’t get it,” and I’m glad I don’t get it. I figure that’s part of what makes me a normal person … or at least a stable one.
But there is something about the Delphi Murders that chills me to the bone. I think it’s the evidence in the case, the audio and video recordings, that make it such a haunting case for me. Those things will be what eventually helps to solve the murders, but they are chilling nonetheless.
Then there’s the setting of the crimes. I love walking in nature. Years ago, I used to go for nature walks alone in a local wildlife preserve. It was my chance to think, pray, and clear my head. That ended when, several years ago, a young woman was raped, beaten, set on fire, and left to die in that same wildlife preserve. Until that day, my greatest fear in the woods was walking face-first into a spider web.
But the woods, I found out, can be a dangerous place.
A Normal Day
Monday, February 13, 2017 was a school day for Liberty “Libby” German and Abigail “Abby” Williams, ages 14 and 13, respectively. It was one of those awesome make-up days built into the school calendar in case too much snow and ice resulted in multiple days off. And since the weather was unusually warm for that time of year, Libby and Abby decided they didn’t want to be cooped up in the house all day.
The eighth-graders convinced a family member to drop them off at a trail near the Monon High Bridge, one of the tallest bridges in Indiana that crosses Deer Creek, around 1 p.m. The girls were to be picked up around 3 p.m.
A little after 2 p.m., Libby posted a photo to Snapchat of Abby walking across the deserted bridge. This is why the case is sometimes referred to as the Snapchat Murders.
When pickup time arrived, the girls failed to show up. This didn’t immediately send up red…
