Delphi families honored as CrimeCon 2025 'Crimefighters of the Year'

INDIANAPOLIS - Libby German, Abby Williams and their families were honored as "Crimefighters of the Year" at CrimeCon 2025 in Denver, an annual conference devoted to true crime, this past weekend.




Also on stage were Indiana State Police Lieutenant Jerry Holeman, who led the investigation against Richard Allen and Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland who successfully convinced jurors to convict Allen for the 2017 killings and then a judge to sentence him to 130 years in prison.




"It's a new experience. Never been to anything like this before," McLeland told a breakout audience. "It's been nice to meet a lot of folks out here and kind of walk around and see the different content creators, different genres of, I guess, the true crime world that are out there."




Throughout the case, social media interest in the Delphi killings of the two girls near the Monon High Bridge was intense and sometimes intruded into the investigation as McLeland defended both detectives and his prosecution team at a briefing hours after Allen was sentenced last December.




"They were attacked by members of the internet for their integrity, they were called corrupt, they were called evil and they were called liars and they weathered that storm with professionalism," McLeland said that day. "They spent countless hours chasing down leaks of crime scene photos, countless hours attempting to scrub the internet of those crime scene photos."




McLeland recalled his advice to the girls' families throughout the case.




"A lot of it was, 'Hey, try not to read that stuff you see on the internet,' which is easier said than done."




At that same briefing, ISP Superintendent Doug Carter spoke to the audience of people who likely would make up the CrimeCon 2025 attendees.




"Let's heal. Let's tone down the rhetoric," Carter said. "Stop all the politics and all the nonsense and all the conspiracy theories."




CrimeCon 2025 signage and attendees acknowledged their obsession with true crime.




"It started by me watching YouTube videos," said Victoria Barrasbrantner, who traveled from New Orleans to Denver for the conference. "If you're into true crime or anything about crime or have been a victim of a crime, this is a good support network right here."




Some attendees were admittedly dazzled to meet television and podcast hosts who feed their interest in true crime coverage.




"I'm a huge true crime addict, so it's fun to be around everybody else that is too," said Saja Janney. "Both my mom and I are huge true crimers."




Attendees circulated among booths selling merchandise and visited with members of Libby and Abby's families in meet-and-greets and also a breakout session titled, "Hope, Heartbreak and Justice: The Delphi Case."




Libby's grandparents attended a previous CrimeCon in 2018 in Nashville.




"I just think that everyone is very, very cool here. Like everyone walking around, complimenting everyone being on the same page with all the true crime, I think is really, really cool," said Janney. "Meeting some of like the small podcasters that I heard like only one or two of their episodes of but still never seeing them, but it's just cool to kind of meet like a little bit of a celebrity in my eyes."




During a session titled "From Tragedy to Justice: Inside the Delphi Investigation and Prosecution," Holeman and McLeland led attendees through the seven-year-plus quest to solve the murders.




"We had, I think over 70,000 tips we had to go through all of them and it took a lot of time and effort," said Holeman, "but 69,999 of them weren't the one we were looking for."




"The evidence is there," said McLeland when asked if Allen was guilty of the killings. "He placed himself on the bridge. We assert he is the man on the bridge. He is the last person who had contact with the girls. We tied him to the crime scene. And then you have his confessions, so I believe he is the right guy. The jury came down with the correct verdict and he's guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."




Holeman and McLeland were also honored as "Crimefighters of the Year," an award handed to them by "America's Most Wanted" creator and host John Walsh.




Also attending CrimeCon  2025 was Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison, who updated attendees on the ongoing investigation into the Fox Hollow murders of mass killer Herbert Baumeister, who preyed on young gay males in Indianapolis in the 1990s.





via: https://fox59.com/news/delphi-families-honored-as-crimecon-2025-crimefighters-of-the-year/