VALLEY CITY (AP) - Forensic testing has determined that fingerprints found in a slain Valley City State University student's apartment do not match those of anyone fingerprinted during the investigation into her death.

Mindy Morgenstern, 22, of New Salem, was found dead in her off-campus apartment last September. Former Barnes County jailer Moe Maurice Gibbs, 34, is accused of killing her.

Gibbs is slated to face trial on June 19 in Minot on a Class AA felony murder charge in connection with Morgenstern's death, but testing on many items from the scene and obtained by search warrant is not yet complete.

Testing has matched DNA voluntarily submitted by Gibbs to scrapings found underneath at least two of Morgenstern's fingernails.

A light-colored hair found in Morgenstern's hand was one of five items sent to an independent laboratory for analysis after an agreement by both the defense and the state, according to a Jan. 31 order signed by Southeast District Court Judge John Paulson, who is presiding over the case.

Morgenstern was a brunette, and Gibbs has a shaved head. He is black.

The fingerprint details and the light-colored hair were among items discussed during pretrial telephone conferences in January and February.

Barnes County prosecutor Brad Cruff said there is sufficient evidence to go forward with the trial, saying few cases "hinge on fingerprints."

"I mean, the fact that they can't even find Mindy's fingerprints in the apartment kind of tells you something," he said. "It is very rare to get a good print from a crime."

Defense attorney Jeff Bredahl says the fact that the prints don't match Gibbs impacts the case. He says authorities ought to be searching for another suspect.

Bredahl said the fact that the prints do not match Gibbs "absolutely" affects the case.

"We ought to be searching for the person that actually killed her," he said.

Morgenstern died from strangulation and a cut to the neck, said Mark Sayler, a special agent with the state's Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

There were no fingerprints found on either knife. BCI Special Agent Arnie Rummel testified during the preliminary hearing that he believed a shirt found at the scene was wrapped around the handles.

Gibbs was charged with a 2004 Fargo rape after police said DNA he volunteered during the Morgenstern investigation linked him to the case. A preliminary hearing in that case is Wednesday in Cass County District Court.

He is also charged with sexually assaulting five female inmates while working at the Barnes County Jail from May to September, including one charge relating to an incident that took place the morning Morgenstern was killed.