Molina-Pompa received a one year sentence for her role in the murder. Investigation Discovery is in Peoria, Arizona, to investigate the chilling murder of Steven Gibson, who was killed after his wife, Michelle Gibson, enlisted the help of her son and two teenagers to kill him brutally. He is now being held in a Delaware prison on $305,200 cash bail on the robbery charge. On Tuesday, June 7, Gibson was arrested on suspicion of pistol-whipping a Rite Aid clerk during another Wilmington robbery. The defense ended their questioning on Friday by again asking Alex Murdaugh if he murdered his wife and son. Authorities announced on June 12, after matching the shell casings in Garber's and Schultz's murders, that the boys were suspects. Family and friends told police Gibson had been released from jail and raised concerns about his behavior, Vanore said. The next morning, they used a ruse about needing Garber's phone and once inside, McMahan told Kauffman he had to kill Garber in order to prove himself. Keith Gibson Indicted On 41 Felony Charges For Multiple Murders, Assaults, And Robberies - State of Delaware News State Agencies Social Media Mobile Apps Topics NEWS FEED Nominations Open for State of Delaware's Compassionate Champion Awards Date Posted: February 20, 2023 IE 11 is not supported. Authorities allege that Steven Gibson, 39, the owner of a machine shop, was the target of a family murder plot hatched by his wife and their son Steven Jr., 15, who took part in stabbing him. Later that night, as police officers were putting tape around the crime scene, McAbee and Molina-Pompa returned to the house and approached the investigators. Murdaugh's story that he tried to stage his own murder in a suicide plot in order for his son Buster to collect his life insurance has been treated with skepticism, especially after the man involved in the incident, Curtis Eddie Smith, said he was set up. On April 13, a probation violation hearing was held where the judge found Gibson guilty. When he was two years old, the family moved out of state and settled in New Albany, Indiana, where Gibson grew up. At the time of his death, Steven was facing aggravated assault charges. The defense is expected to have four more witnesses before the state is allowed its rebuttal. [2] This continued outside of school, with a childhood friend, Melodie Schultz, claiming that Gibson had shot another child in the eye with a pellet gun. [12] At his sentencing the following month, Gibson was subsequently handed a death sentence, to which he told the sentencing judge that it was "no big deal" and that he deserved what he was getting. Michelle insisted that Steven had physically abused her and that she feared for her life. Prosecutors have focused on footage taken from Paul Murdaugh's cellphone the night of the murders, including a video taken at the kennels several minutes before the victims were believed to be killed that investigators said has Alex Murdaugh talking in the background. FBI and local authorities caught the kidnappers by tracing the serial numbers on the ransom money; the culprits were a pair of young hoodlumsHarmon Waley and William Dainardwho had first met in the Idaho State Penitentiary and one of their wives. She loved her family, and we love her too, Clayton told Dateline. [6] In his anger, Gibson proceeded to rape and strangle her, sexually assaulted her body, breaking her back in the process and then burying her body in his backyard. On December 6, 1991, Austin, Texas was shell-shocked by a vicious crime. They argued over some prescription medication that Gibson had supposedly stolen. The high-profile family is linked to five deaths, two of which patriarch Alex is on trial over. On June 5, a masked man carrying a revolver forced Christine Lugo, also a mother, into a Dunkin store in Philadelphias Fairhill neighborhood. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. We were terrors., Both Lofreddo and formerDes Moines Register reporterKirsten Scharnberg-Hamptontold "Killer Siblings" McMahan was the outgoing, charismatic (and attractive) older brother, while Kauffman was a quiet, non-athletic kid in their circle that Loffredo described as a "dweeb. Two happened earlier, in January. [15] In spite of the guilty plea, prosecutors pushed for another death sentence, aiming to prove aggravating factors during the commission of Kirk's murder. Smith was found dead just before 4:00 a.m. EDT on July 8, 2015. When they asked, McMahan told them that he'd robbed a bank and two people had been killed. McMahan had borrowed but not yet returned the same friend's .22 caliber handgun. "I did lie to them," he said, and confirmed he was in the video the night of their murders on June 7, 2021. "You've been able to lie quickly and easily and convincingly if you think it'll save your skin for well over a decade. By Olivia Gunn. Gibson was arrested in Philadelphia in February for violating his probation on a Delaware manslaughter conviction. [5] Hodella's badly decomposed body was found on January 7, 2003, and identified via thumbprints from a previous arrest. After seven minutes, Murdaugh hangs up the 911 call saying he needs to call family and, according to cell phone records, calls his brothers Randy and John Marvin, and tries to call Paul's friend Rogan Gibson, with whom Paul was in communication around the time of his death, multiple times. Federal Bureau of Prison records indicate that Kauffman, now 42, remains incarcerated in McCreary Federal Prison in Kentucky. The elder Steven Gibson had been arrested in Nov. 2012 for allegedly assaulting an officer during a DUI stop, but none of the family members had any other significant criminal history. He told Dateline that in 1994, Linda lived with her 4-year-old daughter, Stephanie, not too far from the family. Elsmere police later contacted Philadelphia police, saying the man they were looking for fit the description of a man Philly officers were after in a Fairhill Dunkin store murder. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Wilson then left the meeting. link Angered by the accusations, Gibson punched Hodella in the face, then took out a pocket knife and stabbed her multiple times in the throat before driving around and dumping her body in Clarksville. Murdaugh's testimony rendered the Maggie and Paul elements of the docuseries immediately outdated, as Murdaugh, questioned by lawyer Jim Griffin, attempted to explain away inconsistencies in his story. Linda Gibson and Cody Garrett were found murdered in a field outside of Somerset, Kentucky, on July 7, 1994. While he was considered an obedient inmate who rarely caused trouble, even earning an associate's degree in art from the Lindsey Wilson College, several psychiatric assessments concluded that Gibson had poor judgment and often experienced conflicting feelings of loneliness and losing control. "I never manufactured any alibi in any way shape or form, because I did not and would not hurt my wife and my child.". Two crucial witnesses throughout the trial were Murdaugh housekeeper Blanca Turrubiate-Simpsonand caregiver Mushell "Shelly" Smith, who worked for Murdaugh's parents taking care of his mother, who has dementia. The judge, whom the DOC said was Vivian Medinilla, instead sentenced him to 31 days, time served, in April. Gibsons mother was shot dead in her place of work in Philadelphia. McAbee pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and agreed to testify against Michelle. Wilson had worked with Murdaugh on various cases in which Murdaugh has been accused of misappropriating funds. Authorities in both places asked that he remain jailed, but he was released after a Delaware judge sentenced him to time served. After two jurors tested positive for COVID-19, both sides were worried an outbreak could sicken more jurors and force a mistrial. He rolled out of bed, bundled up warmly, pulled on his boots, and stepped outside with a metal pail. The Pulaski County Sheriffs Department and the Somerset Police Department are conducting the investigation. "But both of them were in bad places and it was really just a recipe for disaster.". "I don't think I was capable of reason and I lied about being out there and I'm so sorry that I did.". As fans of the blockbuster musical "Hamilton" are now acutely aware, Founding Father and architect of the American financial system Alexander Hamilton was mortally wounded in a duel with his. Meanwhile, McAbee and Molina-Pompa attacked Steven as he slept at the house. [4] Despite these diagnostics and his refusal to complete the rehabilitation program, he was deemed unlikely to re-offend. Her motive stemmed from a wish to collect from a $320,000 life insurance policy. Alex Murdaugh, a disgraced South Carolina attorney accused of killing his wife and youngest son, testified in his own defense in his double murder trial -- admitting to jurors that he lied to investigators but denying that he committed the brutal murders. Isn't that true?" Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Young Women in Salt Lake City Fearful of Serial Killer, Barbara Jean Rockys Sisters Speak Out on Reopening Her Case. However, in February, around the time of his mothers death, Philadelphia police arrested him, though they could only find that he was violating probation by being in the city. That was confirmed by a subsequent tip from a local hotel employee who'd seen the boys with two girls at the hotel around the time of the murders. Im with my kids and I just got home and my husbands out in the garage dead!. He did, he said. Kauffman told McMahan he wasn't going to shoot Schultz, too, so McMahan shot her in the back of her head, then in her forehead, and took her car. In the following month, Eric McAbee, Michelle Gibson, Steven Gibson Jr., Alysa Gibson, and Karen Molina-Pompa were all arrested and charged with murder. "I battled that addiction for so many years, I was spending so much money on pills," he said. By the start of the summer, the 22-year-old McMahan was hanging out with 18-year-old Kauffman and his high school -age friends, and both, according to Lofreddo, were doing drugs. Police are investigating whether he is responsible for at least six killings in both states, including that of his mother. Attempts to reach their attorneys were unsuccessful. She was real shy. It's very difficult to review this case, as there, The FBi has been murdering people for years since their, Clearly its hard for some people to understand that although, What is taking so long? [2] Due to this, he was found competent to stand trial and accepted an Alford plea, for which he was sentenced to seven years imprisonment at the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in La Grange. On June 7, 2021, agents with the South . There were .22 caliber shell casings on the floor. But there are only three roads in or out of Gibson, and a search by deputies along those roads found the sedan, abandoned on a gravel road off of one of them. Alex Murdaugh faces about 100 other charges for allegations ranging from money laundering to staging his own death so his surviving son could cash in on his $10 million life insurance policy. They received life sentences in federal court and consecutive life sentences in state court, guaranteeing neither would ever get out of prison. Gibson was released from prison and sent to Level IV Community Corrections custody. In interviews with police, the teenage girls said that they had "partied" with McMahan and Kauffman at the hotel on the night of June 10. Upon his return, he saw Steven Sr. awake and holding his head, so he hit him again. On the following day, one of Gibson's sisters went to their mother's house to settle the division of the family estate, and after checking the garage and finding Whitis' body, she immediately notified the police. Here are seven of the key pieces of information we've learned from the trial so far. Crime News is your destination for true crime stories from around the world, breaking crime news, and information about Oxygen's original true crime shows and documentaries. His colleague John Quinn echoed Barrier's sentiments. Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. 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