Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - Gibbs sentenced to life with no parole

Gibbs sentenced to life with no parole

Dec 18, 2007 - 04:09:44 CST

By DAVE KOLPACK
Associated Press Writer

FARGO - Former jailer Moe Gibbs was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for stabbing and strangling Valley City State University student Mindy Morgenstern in her off-campus apartment.

Gibbs was convicted in Bismarck last month of murder in the September 2006 slaying of Morgenstern, 22, of New Salem. His first murder trial, in Minot, ended in a deadlocked jury.

Gibbs, 35, showed no reaction when he was sentenced Monday.

When asked if he had anything to say before sentencing, Gibbs maintained his innocence and told Judge John Paulson: "My heart, my prayers go out to the Morgenstern family. This is a terrible crime that never should have happened, and I apologize that it happened."

Morgenstern's mother, Eunice, was the only witness to give a statement at Monday's hearing. She looked directly at Gibbs and said, "Mr. Gibbs, I forgive you publicly here. I also want you to know that I won't forget what you did to Mindy."

She ended her comments by telling Gibbs, "my heart goes out" to his family and children, and Gibbs said, "Thank you."

Before sentencing Gibbs, Paulson denied the former Barnes County jailer's request for a new trial.

The judge said the evidence was overwhelming that Gibbs strangled and stabbed Morgenstern in the neck, then poured Pine-Sol cleaning fluid on her face and torso last year.

"The actual happenings of the murder are just horrific," the judge said.

Gibbs has pleaded guilty to a 2004 rape in Fargo and to six counts of sexual assault against five women inmates at the Barnes County jail.

The plea deal in the jail assault case calls for a 25-year prison sentence with 10 years suspended, to be served at the same time as the sentence for rape. Sentencing in the rape case is set for Thursday. A plea agreement in that case calls for 12 years in prison.

Prosecutor Jonathan Byers said he believed Morgenstern's killing was sexually motivated. He said one of sexual assaults at the jail happened the morning Morgenstern was killed, and said Gibbs has admitted he has a sexual addiction.

"That's a connection between dots that a citizen could make," Byers said.

Paulson said evidence shows Morgenstern was surprised by the attack. Prosecutors believe she was killed after she fought back.

Defense attorney Jeff Bredahl said Monday that shortly after he took over the case, Gibbs was offered a plea deal of two years in prison. Bredahl said he told Gibbs he would be foolish not to take it.

"He looked at me and said, 'I didn't kill Mindy Morgenstern,'" Bredahl said.

Gibbs' fiancee, Amy, and his lawyers declined comment afterward.

Earlier, Gibbs' attorneys said he should be granted a third murder trial because their $55,000 budget was too small to hire the expert witnesses he needed.

"I apologized to this man because the system let him down," Bredahl told Paulson, touching Gibbs on the shoulder. "The system let him down because of money."

Byers said Gibbs had two good lawyers and access to evidence.

"We think the taxpayers did fund a fair trial for Mr. Gibbs," Byers said.

News > State

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Comments

what wrote on Dec 20, 2007 9:37 AM:

" This year for Christmas my family is struggling. Prices of everything is going up and wages stay the same, food, heat, gas, clothes, etc. Sure glad my tax dollars are going to support somebody like Gibbs. He'll have a better life and more luxeries than the average household. Free meals, bed, library, weight room and anything else that we pay for. If he is good, he can even eventually have a TV in his room. The cost of his trials are more than I make in 3 years. What a joke "

Simle Mom wrote on Dec 19, 2007 4:18 PM:

" Mr. Gibbs will 'get his' in prison.....and no--I do NOT feel any remorse for his "wife", Amy. In my eyes she is just as guilty as he is--how can you live with someone like that & not know what a mental trip he is?? And with all the evidence, and she was STILL supporting him? Geez lady, what's up? Moe is guilty as they come, and I am glad that the justice will finally be served. It's been a long time coming. "

understand wrote on Dec 19, 2007 12:07 PM:

" What I don't understand is they say that the DNA could have been there by both of them touching the same handrail. It's all just confusing. "

JUST ME wrote on Dec 19, 2007 9:20 AM:

" His lawyers say they didn't have eough money to give him a good defense? When there is DNA under the victum's fingernails.... it does not matter how much money the defense has.... he is guilty! "

save money wrote on Dec 18, 2007 9:54 PM:

" It's cheaper to let him rot in jail than to give him the death penalty. not that you can do that in ND, but anyway. If it's a death penalty case, the state has to fund all the appeals... "

tax payer wrote on Dec 18, 2007 4:35 PM:

" Save all our tax money and HANG HIM!!!!!!!!! "

C5323 wrote on Dec 18, 2007 4:03 PM:

" Let his name dissapear from our minds and our media. Its over with and hopefully we never see or hear of him again. "

bigpoppakdog wrote on Dec 18, 2007 3:02 PM:

" no capital punishment...there has been many cases of death row inmates who were later found innocent....there are too many cases where one person gets the death penalty while another goes free after 6 months(lady who killed her preacher husband)..how can that be justice? How can cases like that support the death penalty? If you murder someone then you get the death penalty is the only way I could see it happen... if you bring in other circumstances then you an unjust method of determining life vs death...thats my views anyway....anxious to see what others have on my ideas. "

haze wrote on Dec 18, 2007 2:25 PM:

" na na na na naaaaaaaaaa na. KNEW he was guilty!!!! Ta ta Friend til the End! "

LB wrote on Dec 18, 2007 11:37 AM:

" I am glad to see justice served!! Mindy, RIP. "Mr." Gibbs will be punished in prison by his fellow criminals... "

Cindyloo wrote on Dec 18, 2007 10:35 AM:

" Last I have heard, there has been no arrest, nothing. At one time I had heard that they were still waiting for some test results, but they have to have them by now. I'm afraid it's going to be an unsolved mystery. "

Federation Commander wrote on Dec 18, 2007 10:34 AM:

" Scary--scuttlebutt is that the case is being worked--no definite charges filed yet. As far as the death penalty is concerned--we don't do it, and the general trend of the entire First World is to look on it as a barbaric practice. Consider--what if, even if it is a remote possibility--that Gibbs is innocent? Murder by the State is even more reprehensible than murder by an individual--the culpability is not divided amongst the citizens--it is multiplied. "

Scary!! wrote on Dec 18, 2007 10:06 AM:

" That's scary because what ever happened to that student in Minot that was found dead. Did they ever catch her killer or what happened with that? "

This is Right wrote on Dec 18, 2007 9:31 AM:

" The death penalty is an easy fix. Hopefully Gibbs will someday have remorse for all the harm he has caused while spending the rest of his life in prison. Unfortunately his family are the ones who will be suffering the most because of Gibbs' actions. "

At-work wrote on Dec 18, 2007 8:28 AM:

" Still not enough punishment. Now we have to pay for him to live out the rest of his life in prison. He is not worth the air he breathes. He should have been given a death penalty. Mindy was. Anyone who has a history of not one but two murders and countless rapes-that he has been charged with. Who knows how many more he has committed! He is pure evil. "

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