DELPHI, Ind. — Delphi, Indiana resident Richard Allen was found guilty on all charges 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 country.

Cheers rose in the small town square.

“It’s spooky. It’s disturbing. It’s a scary feeling to be that close to something that scary,” Delphi resident Kaitlyn Cotner said. “Over the years, we didn’t hear much about the actual details of what happened. Eventually it came out and we realized how terrible it was for them.”

Allen, a husband and wife, 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 killing Abigail Williams during an attempted kidnapping; Felony murder for the death of Liberty German during a kidnapping attempt; murder for knowingly killing Abigail Williams; and murder for knowingly killing Liberty German.

Relief has come to the small Indiana town.

More than seven and a half years have passed with grief, anxiety and uncertainty.

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

He praised prosecutors and said they “did an outstanding job presenting the evidence they had.”

“Today for me means a huge recovery for this community,” Ausbrook said. “I’m sure the families are reliving this pain, but they’re also glad to have an answer.”

But it was not easy: two and a half years of investigation or four weeks of trial.

There is a gag order preventing the girls’ families from commenting until the sentencing is concluded.

German’s sister posted just one photo of the girls with the caption: “It’s been almost 8 years today.”

Allen’s sentencing is scheduled to be announced on December 20.

Williams and German were killed on a local abandoned railroad walkway on February 13, 2017. The girls’ throats were cut and they were thrown into a wooded area near the road. Their bodies were found the next day.

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

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

While searching for a suspect, police released a clip of the unidentified suspect’s voice found on German’s phone (a recording he called “down hill”). Police also released a grainy image of the suspect on the trail: a man known as the “bridge man.”

The jury of eight women and four men considered that evidence, along with other testimony, over four days at the Carroll County Courthouse.

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

Allen’s many 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 because 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’s no one running around here.”

The prosecution’s key evidence was police analysis of Allen’s gun; This analysis determined that the unspent .40 caliber bullet discovered by the girls’ bodies had been fired from Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226. However, the defense denied the accuracy of this test, calling it an “apples to oranges” comparison because the technician compared the unfired, repeated initial bullet to a bullet fired from Allen’s gun.

According to a forensic scientist’s testimony, no DNA was found at the scene that would link Allen or anyone else to the crime scene.

“The absence of DNA here was clearly an obstacle the prosecution had to clear, and it was clearly front and center in the defense’s argument. Jurors have good reason to expect that. But this case teaches us that you can win the case.” “As a state, as a government, if you have another type of evidence that they have sufficient evidence, without DNA evidence, and then again, confessions go a long way,” said ABC7 Chicago political analyst Gil Soffer.

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

“Tonight, we will be able to sleep knowing that we are safe again, that we can ask questions, that we can care for each other again in the hands of love and help. The man will now be put behind bars. For what he did,” said resident Timothy Harper. “I believe this town has so much love waiting for this day, and we are one again.”

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

Allen will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.

“It’s going to leave a permanent scar here. It’s not going to leave anyone in this town,” Cotner said. “I think a lot of people are happy to get justice, but I don’t think it’s going to be taken away from Delphi.”

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