Jan 01, 2008 - 04:04:27 CST
Associated Press Writer
By DAVE KOLPACKBy DAVE KOLPACK
FARGO - Drug cases continued to dominate North Dakota's courts in 2007, even though two murder trials for a Barnes County jailer kept state prosecutors busy for much of the year.
Moe Gibbs, 35, was convicted by a Bismarck jury in November of killing Valley City State University student Mindy Morgenstern. A Minot jury wound up deadlocked 6-6 in the first trial in July.
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said prosecutors did a better job in the second trial of showing that Gibbs' DNA found under Morgenstern's fingernails was not "touch DNA" transferred from touching a doorknob or some other source.
"We were able to show that the touch DNA theory by the defense was bogus science," Stenehjem said.
Prosecuting Gibbs cost the state more than $75,000.
"We had all three divisions of my office involved in that case," Stenehjem said, referring to the crime lab, Bureau of Criminal Investigation and prosecutors. "What we're interested in here is that guilty people get convicted."
After the second murder trial, Gibbs pleaded guilty to abusing five female inmates while he worked at the jail and raping a Fargo woman in 2004.
Another murder case was announced by Valley City police in October, when James Lee Thompson and his girlfriend, Cassandra Riediger, were charged in the death of Thompson's 14-month-old son.
"They've been through some tough times in the last several years," Stenehjem said of Valley City residents. "But that could be any community. There's nothing particular about Valley City. Fortunately, they have outstanding, well-trained law enforcement."
North Dakota averages 11 murders a year, Stenehjem said. While the final numbers are still being tallied, the state had at least that many deaths involving charges of murder, manslaughter or negligent homicide in 2007.
Minot reported four cases in the span of four months, including the killing of Minot State University student Anita Knutson, whose body was found in her in early June. Her killer has never been found.
Aron Nichols and his fiancee, Tamara Sorenson, of Fargo, are charged with murder for the April deaths of Donald Willey, 70, and his wife, Alice, 67, of rural Sykeston. Authorities said the Willeys were shot and their farm home was set on fire.
In another high profile case, a Fargo teenager has been charged in adult court with killing his 16-year-old sister, Whitney, in July. Sergei Carlson is charged with murder and a deviate sexual act. His trial is scheduled in February.
Stenehjem said he still expects North Dakota to retain its status as safest state in the nation. "That's a tribute to our top law enforcement and our citizens," he said.
Stenehjem and U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley, the state's top federal prosecutor, listed drug cases as their top priority. Wrigley spearheaded two large drug conspiracy investigations in 2007, labeled Operation Speed Racer and Operation White Cloud.
"We hit a peak for drug cases in 2005 and they remained steady in 2006 and 2007," Wrigley said. "No one can no longer say it's a statistical blip."
Stenehjem said authorities are making a dent in the meth trade, but he said the use of crack cocaine and illegal pharmaceuticals, particularly OxyContin, is increasing.
"There's always something to take the place of these drugs," he said.
The year 2007 also was highlighted by a number of older cases:
n A murder case dating back 20 years was in the spotlight when fugitive Richard McNair, one of the nation's most wanted, was captured in Canada. He was serving life for the killing of a Minnesota trucker in Minot in 1987.
n William See Walker, of Fort Yates, was sentenced to 30 years in the state penitentiary for the killing of convenience store clerk Gary Gerth in 1982.
n Steve Thomas, of Fargo, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter in the death of Norman Limesand, 82, of Marion, who disappeared in 1999.
n Steven Torkelsen was convicted of murder in the death of Rebecca Flaa, 48, whose body was discovered by a Towner County farmer in a ditch in June 2004.
n Dana Deegan, of White Shield, pleaded guilty to murder in the death of her baby boy, whose body was found in a suitcase in 1999.
There also were acquittals and reversals in prominent cases.
In March, a federal appeals court overturned the conviction of former simulcast racing company founder Susan Bala in what authorities had called the largest illegal gambling case in North Dakota. In September, a Grand Forks jury found Tyson Hammond not guilty of charges he abused his infant daughter and smothered her.
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