Apr 26, 2007 - 04:12:14 CDT
The wife of Moe Gibbs, charged in the death of a Valley City State University student, is seeking an annulment, saying she would not have married him if she had known the truth about his past.In court documents, Christina Gibbs, 24, of Valley City, said Moe Gibbs lied about his criminal past and the number of children and marriages he had.
Gibbs, 34, a former Barnes County jailer, is scheduled for trial June 19 in Minot, on a Class AA felony murder charge in the Sept. 13 death of Mindy Morgenstern, 22, of New Salem. The Valley City State University student was found dead in her off-campus apartment.
Moe Gibbs has pleaded not guilty.
Barnes County State's Attorney Brad Cruff said that if Christina Gibbs is called as a witness in the murder trial, the annulment will have no bearing on the case.
"It won't make any difference," Cruff said.
Gibbs' attorney, Jeff Bredahl, of Fargo, did not return a telephone call seeking comment on Wednesday.
A hearing on the annulment has not been set. An annulment is a judicial declaration that a marriage never legally existed.
Gibbs also is charged in a 2004 Fargo rape, and is charged with sexually abusing five female inmates at the Barnes County Jail between May and September. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Gibbs was known as Glen Dale Morgan Jr. before he legally changed his name in North Dakota in August 2005. Gibbs married Christina Judd in Barnes County on June 30, and the couple have a daughter, court records show.
Gibbs served 5½ years of a 10-year sentence for a premeditated attempted murder charge brought in military court while he was in the Navy.
Christina Gibbs said in court papers that Moe Gibbs told her before they were married that he had been incarcerated but lied about the "nature of the offense." She said her consent to marry him was obtained by fraud.
The annulment request did not specify the number of times Moe Gibbs was married or the number of children. The court records did say he fathered a child that was born last July to another woman.
The couple still owe about $1,420 for their wedding rings and wedding album, the court records said.
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