MINOT - An inmate in the Cass County jail plans to testify that Moe Maurice Gibbs gave a "jailhouse confession" to murdering Mindy Morgenstern, a prosecutor said.

Gibbs, 34, was charged last September with Class AA felony murder in the death of Morgenstern, 22.

Morgenstern, a Valley City State University student from New Salem, was found dead in her off-campus apartment on Sept. 13, 2006.

During his opening statement, Barnes County State's Attorney Brad Cruff said Jeremy Leopold had been an inmate at the Barnes County jail while Gibbs worked there as a jailer, then was in the custody of the Cass County jail at the same time as Gibbs awaited trial in that facility.

"That's where Mr. Leopold heard the defendant say he'd do it again about Mindy's death," Cruff said.

However, Gibbs' defense attorney, Jeff Bredahl, countered that Leopold has a long criminal history that includes giving false information to police and multiple forgery and drug convictions and that he and Gibbs were not cellmates at the time of the alleged confession.

Cruff previewed the state's case during a 20-minute opening statement, in which he talked about DNA found under the fingernails and on the shirt of Morgenstern, 22. The DNA on the shirt was found to be a match to Gibbs or a male relative, and the DNA under Morgenstern's fingernails was a match to Gibbs.

Bredahl said experts will testify that the DNA was in such a small amount that it was likely "touch DNA," which he says could have been transferred to Morgenstern by touching a doorknob Gibbs touched several times while moving out of his apartment.

"They used the same door to leave and come in," he said.

Cruff said prosecutors will not be able to offer a motive in the murder.

"We're not going to be able to offer evidence as to why," he said.

He said the state's case will center on the "jailhouse confession," as well as the DNA evidence, Gibbs' lack of an alibi for part of Sept. 13, and the 6-feet-2-inches tall former college football player and professional boxer's ability to commit the crime.

Bredahl refuted Cruff's preview in his own 35-minute opening statement by pointing out that none of the fingerprints in the apartment matched Gibbs, nor was Gibbs' DNA found on knives and gloves at the murder scene.

"Things just don't fit," Bredahl said. "There's too many unanswered questions."

Prosecutors had called three witnesses by the court's noon break. Morgenstern's friends Toni Baumann and Danielle Holmstrom testified they had been unable to get in touch with Morgenstern, so they stopped by her apartment to get her to go out with them.

Baumann said it was unusual for Morgenstern to be so hard to reach.

"If you called Mindy, and she didn't answer, she was either busy or at work," she said. "But she'd always call you back."

She said she ran in to the apartment building to get her friend.

"I rang the doorbell, I knocked on the door, and I yelled Mindy's name," she said, adding that she called Morgenstern again to try and hear her phone.

Baumann, crying, said she opened the unusually unlocked door, switched on a light and saw Morgenstern on the ground.

At first, she thought her friend may have had complications with her multiple sclerosis, but then she said she saw something around Morgenstern's neck, saw her eyes were open and there was blood on her shirt.

"And then, I just jumped up and ran out," she said.

Baumann and Holmstrom said they called 911. Holmstrom said she went upstairs with a man who had heard the girls screaming and checked out what was going on.

The man, Robert Lynds, testified he was visiting his "significant other" and his daughter. He said he went alone upstairs to see what was wrong with Mindy, saying he did not recall either of the girls going upstairs with him.

Lynds said there was "an overwhelming smell of Pine Sol in the building, and he saw a bottle of the cleaning product under Morgenstern's arm.

He said police arrived after he touched Morgenstern's arm and discovered she did not have a pulse.

"It was quite evident that she wasn't alive," he said.

Lynds said he was a suspect for a while, because he was new in town and has a criminal history. He said he voluntarily gave a DNA sample to police.

Attorney Dennis Fisher cross examined the state's first three witnesses. Cruff questioned Baumann and Holmstrom, and Barnes County Assistant State's Attorney Lee Grossman questioned Lynds. Also assisting prosecutors is Assistant Attorney General Jon Byers.