DELPHI, Ind. — Delphi, Indiana resident Richard Allen was found guilty of all charges on Monday double murder of best friends 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.

Urals broke out in the small town square.

“It’s weird. It’s uncomfortable. It’s a scary feeling to be so close to something so horrible,” Delphi resident Kaitlyn Cotner said. “Over the years, we haven’t gotten much news about the actual details of what happened. It finally came out and I found out how awful 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 wept, ABC News reported.

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

Relief settled over the small town in Indiana.

More than seven and a half years of mourning, anxiety and uncertainty have passed.

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

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

“Today to me is a major healing for this community,” Ausbrook said. “I’m sure the families are reliving that pain, but they’re also glad they got an answer.”

But, it was no easy endeavor: the two-and-a-half-year investigation or the four-week trial.

A curfew is in place preventing the girls’ families from commenting until the sentencing is complete.

German’s sister only posted a photo of the girls, captioning it, “Today was the almost 8 year anniversary.”

Allen’s sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 20.

Williams and German were killed on an abandoned local rail trail on February 13, 2017. The girls’ throats were slit and they were 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’ve supported these families all these years. We’ve done so much fundraising. They’ve been part of the community,” Ausbrook said.

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

As police searched for a culprit, they released a clip of the unknown suspect’s voice — a recording of him saying “down the hill” — that was recovered from German’s phone. Police also released a grainy image of the suspect on the trail: 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 period at the Carroll County courthouse.

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

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

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

“I hope they got 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 isn’t someone here running around.”

The prosecution’s key piece of evidence was police analysis of Allen’s handgun, which determined that an unexpended .40-caliber round found on the girls’ bodies had been fired through Allen’s Sig Sauer P226. But the defense disputed the accuracy of that test, calling it an “apples-to-oranges” comparison because the technician compared the initial round — 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 lack of DNA here was clearly a hurdle that the prosecution had to clear and was clearly at the forefront of the defense’s argument. And for good reason, jurors expect it. But this case teaches us that you can win the case. as a state, as a government, without DNA evidence, if you have some other type of evidence that they have enough, and in this case, again, confessions, they go a long way,” said ABC7 Chicago political analyst Gil Soffer.

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

“Tonight, we will be able to go to bed knowing that we are all safe again, knowing that we can ask and look at each other again in the hands of love and help. The man will now be put behind bars. for what he did,” resident Timothy Harper said. “I think this city had a lot of love 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’s going to be here. It’s not going to leave anybody in this town,” Cotner said. “I think a lot of people are happy to get justice, but I don’t think this is something that will ever go away from Delphi.”

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