Mindy Morgenstern was killed on September 13, 2006, in her off-campus apartment in Valley City, North Dakota. Her neighbor, Barnes County corrections officer Moe Gibbs, was convicted of first-degree murder after DNA scraped from beneath her fingernails matched him. He is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole at the North Dakota State Penitentiary.1People. Where Is Mindy Morgenstern Killer Now
Who Mindy Morgenstern Was
Mindy was 22, a senior at Valley City State University majoring in physical education, and a youth basketball coach. She had been adopted as a baby by Larry and Eunice Morgenstern and raised on their farm in New Salem, North Dakota, with three siblings. While in college she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Her mother said she took the diagnosis “in stride.”1People. Where Is Mindy Morgenstern Killer Now
What Happened on September 13, 2006
That afternoon, two of Mindy’s close friends, Toni Baumann and Danielle Holmstrom, came by her apartment hoping she would join them. Baumann tried the door, found it unlocked, and discovered Mindy’s body on the floor.2Oxygen. Dateline: Moe Gibbs Convicted of Killing Mindy Morgenstern
The apartment reeked of Pine-Sol. Someone had tried to clean up. Mindy had been strangled with her own belt and her throat had been slashed with two kitchen knives, both broken in the attack. A state forensic examiner determined the cause of death was an incised wound of the neck combined with asphyxia.3vLex. State v. Gibbs, No. 20070378 Investigators noticed something else: her hands had been wrapped in plastic, apparently to preserve any DNA under her fingernails.2Oxygen. Dateline: Moe Gibbs Convicted of Killing Mindy Morgenstern
How Moe Gibbs Became the Suspect
Detectives worked through the building, talking to neighbors. One of them was Moe Gibbs, a corrections officer at the Barnes County Jail who lived in the same complex. Gibbs said he had been home after his shift and had noticed a strong Pine-Sol smell in the hallway when he returned from lunch. He also said he had been inside Mindy’s apartment before the murder, helping her carry a laundry basket.4Oxygen. Mindy Morgenstern Murdered by Moe Gibbs
The DNA under Mindy’s fingernails ruled out other early suspects, including an ex-boyfriend’s father and a restaurant patron. Within a week it matched Gibbs. The ratio was striking. Scrapings from her left-hand fingernails contained about twice as much of Gibbs’ DNA as Mindy’s own.3vLex. State v. Gibbs, No. 20070378 Both of Gibbs’ hands had scratches consistent with fingernail marks.5The Jamestown Sun. Inmate Testifies in Gibbs Trial
The same DNA profile matched an unsolved 2004 sexual assault in Fargo, where a 22-year-old woman had been raped and threatened with death. The nurse who examined her called it the worst rape she had ever seen. The case had gone cold. It was Gibbs’ voluntary DNA sample in the Morgenstern investigation that finally connected him to it.6Inforum. Gibbs Pleads Not Guilty to ’04 Rape
Who Moe Gibbs Was
Gibbs was born Glen Dale Morgan Jr. In August 2005 he legally changed his name in Cass County District Court, telling the court his father had abandoned him and he no longer wanted the name. In that petition, he claimed he had never been convicted of a felony. He had. In 1993, while in the U.S. Navy, a military court convicted him of attempted premeditated murder; he served five and a half years of a ten-year sentence. He also had a 1993 forgery conviction.7Inforum. Accounts of Gibbs Contrast Sharply
In May 2006, four months before the murder, he was hired as a correctional officer at the Barnes County Correctional Facility. The Valley City Dispatch Center ran criminal record checks on both “Moe Maurice Gibbs” and “Glen Dale Morgan Jr.” across four states: North Dakota, Washington, Texas, and California. All eight searches came back clean in under two minutes. The dispatcher who ran them later said she had never performed a national-level search on a correctional officer candidate. Barnes County Sheriff Randy McClaflin said he had expected a national check and did not learn otherwise until after the murder investigation began.8Inforum. Gibbs Checks Covered 4 States
After Gibbs’ arrest, multiple female inmates said he had sexually assaulted them at the jail between May and September 2006. The assaults ranged from fondling to digital penetration. One inmate said Gibbs assaulted her on the morning of September 13, 2006, hours before Mindy was killed.9Inforum. Gibbs Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Female Inmates Prosecutors argued the jail assaults helped explain the murder, saying Gibbs approached Mindy at their shared apartment building around lunchtime with sexual intent. Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Byers said she “was murdered before something sexual could happen,” but that this was “not inconsistent with why Moe Gibbs approached her in the first place.”10The Dickinson Press. Prosecutors Attempt to Create Sexual Link Regarding Gibbs Case
A Hung Jury, Then a Conviction
Gibbs’ first trial was held in Minot in July 2007 before Southeast Judicial District Judge John Paulson. The state’s case rested largely on the DNA under Mindy’s fingernails; of 21 people tested, only Gibbs matched. The defense argued it was “touch DNA” that could have been transferred innocently from a shared doorknob or from the laundry basket Gibbs said he had helped carry.11The Oklahoman. ND Murder Trial Ends in Jury Deadlock
Judge Paulson had already excluded evidence of the jail assaults and the 2004 Fargo rape, finding it too prejudicial and concluding the crime scene did not support a sexual element.10The Dickinson Press. Prosecutors Attempt to Create Sexual Link Regarding Gibbs Case The jury of seven women and five men deliberated about 23 hours over four days and deadlocked six-to-six. The foreman sent the judge a handwritten note saying jurors’ “deeply held judgments” were “evenly divided.” Paulson declared a mistrial. Juror Terri Beck later said confusion about touch DNA had split the panel, and jurors also struggled with the lack of a clear motive.12Inforum. Juror: Unless New Evidence Emerges, New Trial Pointless
The retrial began October 22, 2007, in Bismarck and ran 11 days. Prosecutors sharpened the DNA case, presenting analysis of the quantity of Gibbs’ DNA under Mindy’s fingernails and arguing it was far too much to have come from casual contact. They also introduced his own digital habits: Gibbs was an active texter and emailer who went silent in the window around the murder and resumed immediately after, a gap that lined up with a period when his pregnant wife was waiting for him to bring her a drink.4Oxygen. Mindy Morgenstern Murdered by Moe Gibbs
Jeremy Leopold, an inmate at the Cass County Jail, testified that on December 13, 2006, he watched a news report about the case with Gibbs and heard Gibbs say, “I’d do it again.” Defense attorneys attacked Leopold’s credibility, pointing to prior convictions for theft, forgery, and providing false information to police. Gibbs’ ex-wife, Christina Judd, also contradicted parts of his account. He had told investigators he was inside Mindy’s apartment three to seven days before the killing; Judd testified he told her it was September 12, the day before. She also disputed his explanation that the scratches on his hands came from moving boxes and a car seat.5The Jamestown Sun. Inmate Testifies in Gibbs Trial
After more than 27 hours of deliberation, the Burleigh County jury found Gibbs guilty of first-degree murder on November 16, 2007.13The Dickinson Press. Gibbs Is Found Guilty of Murder
Sentence and Appeals
Gibbs was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder.14Grand Forks Herald. Gibbs Sentenced to Life Without Parole He then pleaded guilty to seven sexual assault charges: six felony counts involving five female inmates at the Barnes County Jail and one count of gross sexual imposition for the 2004 Fargo rape. Under the plea, prosecutors recommended 12 years for the Fargo rape and 15 years for the jail assaults, to run concurrently with each other.9Inforum. Gibbs Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Female Inmates At sentencing, prosecutor Jonathan Byers said he believed the murder was sexually motivated and noted that Gibbs had admitted to a sexual addiction.15The Philadelphia Inquirer. N.D. Ex-Jailer Who Admitted Assaults Gets Life in Murder
Gibbs appealed twice. On direct appeal to the North Dakota Supreme Court, argued in November 2008, he challenged the sufficiency of the evidence, funding for expert witnesses, prosecution comments on his right not to testify, and the exclusion of a pre-arrest videotaped interview.16DGlobe. Convicted Murderer Gibbs Appealing Case On April 2, 2009, Justice Crothers wrote the opinion affirming the conviction, holding that Gibbs had not preserved the expert-funding issue because he never raised it with the trial court before his motion for a new trial.17vLex. State v. Gibbs, 763 N.W.2d 430 He later filed a federal habeas corpus petition alleging judicial misconduct, an improper police investigation, and ineffective assistance of counsel. U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson dismissed it after a magistrate found Gibbs had not filed within one year of his last appeal.18The Jamestown Sun. Judge Dismisses Man’s Appeal of Conviction in VCSU Student’s Death
Moe Gibbs remains incarcerated at the North Dakota State Penitentiary in Bismarck.1People. Where Is Mindy Morgenstern Killer Now