Naman Shrestha
Mindy Morgenstern was a bright 22-year-old college student residing in an off-campus apartment in North Dakota. When her life was cut short in September 2006, the community of the quaint college town was shaken to its core. After chasing leads they found at the crime scene, the authorities were led straight to Moe Gibbs, a 34-year-old local corrections officer who also happened to be her neighbor. Upon closer look, the detectives uncovered his shady past. The entire case is covered in a detailed manner in the episode titled ‘Who Killed Mindy Morgenstern?’ of NBC’s ‘Dateline,’ which also features personal accounts from Mindy’s loved ones and the officials linked to the case and investigation.
Moe Gibbs’ DNA Was Found on Mindy Morgenstern’s Remains
Born in 1972, Moe Maurice Gibbs was leading a seemingly normal life with his then-wife, Christina Judd, who was pregnant with their child. At the time, Moe Gibbs worked as a corrections officer at the Barnes County Jail and lived in the same apartment building as Mindy Morgenstern, a 22-year-old Valley City State University student. On the fateful day of September 13, 2006, Moe ran into Mindy while she was trying to carry a laundry basket and a few other things into her apartment. When he offered to help, she agreed and let him inside. Moe then allegedly tried to sexually assault the college student. As per reports, when she fought back, he strangled her and inflicted deep cuts to her neck, killing her inside her apartment. Before fleeing the scene, he tried to clean the crime scene and eliminate evidence with Pine-Sol.
When Mindy’s best friend, Toni Baumann, could not get in touch with her on the same evening, she and another one of their mutual friends, Danielle, drove down to her apartment. When they entered her unlocked apartment, they found their friend, Mindy, dead on the floor. As the authorities jumped on the case and began the investigation, they focused on several potential suspects, Moe Gibbs being one of them. The detectives found DNA under Mindy’s nails and sent them to the crime lab for processing. When it matched with the 35-year-old corrections officer, the police brought him in for questioning.
Moe Gibbs Was Also Involved in Multiple Sexual Assault Cases
Before that, they dug deep into the suspect’s history and learned that his legal name before 2005 had been Glen Dale Morgan Jr. He had a pretty lengthy rap sheet, which included a five-year prison term for a drive-by shooting. While serving in the Navy from 1990 to 1999, he was also convicted of attempted premeditated murder and served his sentence at Fort Leavenworth prison between 1994 and 1998. During his interview, he admitted that he was in Mindy’s apartment that fateful day, but claimed that he only helped her carry a heavy laundry basket. For his alibi, he told the detectives that he was at home after his shift at the jail was over, spent time with his pregnant wife, and placed some packed boxes in the car as he and his wife were moving out soon.
While interrogating him, they noticed a few healing scratches on his hand. Repeatedly denying his involvement in the crime, he told the detectives that “he could care less about DNA” when confronted about finding his DNA under Mindy’s nails. He claimed, “If I did it, I would take responsibility for it, but I know I didn’t do it.” As for the scratches on his hand, he told them that he had scratched himself while moving boxes and by his stepdaughter’s car seat, claiming that his wife could also verify it. About a week after the murder, despite his claims of innocence, the detectives arrested and charged him with the murder of Mindy Morgenstern on the grounds of sufficient incriminating evidence against him.
After his arrest, various female inmates from the local jail opened up about how Moe had sexually assaulted them while he was on duty. Apart from that, a 2004 Fargo rape case against him also surfaced, putting him in more trouble. Eventually, he was charged with one count of first-degree murder in connection with Mindy’s death, six counts of sexual assault for his actions at the jail, and one count of sexual assault for the rape in Fargo.
Moe Gibbs is Currently Incarcerated at a North Dakota Prison Facility
Although Moe Gibbs pleaded guilty in the rape and sexual assault cases, he decided to take his chances in court when it came to the murder charge against him. In July 2007, his first trial commenced. While the prosecution focused on the DNA evidence found against the defendant, the defence claimed that the DNA was a mere touch transfer from when he helped her with her laundry. The prosecution also called a few witnesses to the stand, including Christina Judd, Moe’s ex-wife, who had divorced him after his arrest, and a fellow inmate named Jeremy Leopold. However, it ended up as a mistrial as the jury was deadlocked on whether Moe was guilty or not. A few months later, he stood trial for the second time on October 22, 2007.
This time around, the prosecution was better prepared and also presented other evidence against him, including the fact that he had stopped texting right before the murder and resumed right after it. Once again, they called Christina Judd and Jeremy Leopold to the stand. The former claimed that on the fateful day, she had asked him to bring her a beverage around 12:30 pm, but he didn’t bring her anything until 1 pm. Although she couldn’t smell Pine-Sol on him, she noticed its smell in the apartment building. Her testimony also contradicted Moe’s statements about the day when he helped out Mindy with her laundry basket and the day he got his hands scratched. Meanwhile, Jeremy testified that he had heard Moe confess to killing Mindy.
After nearly a month of testimony and 27 hours of deliberations, the jury reached a final verdict. On November 20, 2007, Moe was convicted of Mindy Morgenstern’s murder. By that time, he was engaged to a woman named Amy, who was also present in the courtroom. The judge sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Mindy’s mother, Eunice Morganstern, took the stand and addressed her daughter’s killer, saying, “Mr. Gibbs, I forgive you publicly here. I also want you to know that I won’t forget what you did to Mindy.” As of today, Moe Maurice Gibbs is serving his life sentence at North Dakota State Penitentiary in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Read More: Where is Mindy Morgenstern’s Family Now?
