Defense portrays murderer as victim of parental abuse

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Convicted murderer Mark Gibbs was portrayed by his defense as the victim of abuse at a daylong resentencing hearing Friday at the Union County Courthouse.

Social worker Melissa Mahabir testified for the defense. She said Gibbs told her his father was violent with him and his mother.

"By the time he was 17, he just wanted it to end," she told the court.

Gibbs has spent nearly three decades behind bars for killing his parents Jan. 6, 1992.

Gibbs was 17 when he shot his parents in their rural home near Reynoldsville, Illinois.

His father, Richard Gibbs, died at the scene from a single gunshot wound to the head. His mother, Betty Gibbs, was shot twice in the head with the same .22-caliber pistol, which was later found in a creek.

Betty Gibbs was transported to Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau where she died days later.

Mark Gibbs was sentenced to life in prison. He is being held at the maximum security prison in Pontiac, Illinois.

He could end up with a lesser sentence because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision in 2012 found mandatory life sentences for juveniles without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional.

The high court said such punishment violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

Two years later, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously held the U.S. Supreme Court's decision applied retroactively to sentences imposed before 2012.

The decision prompted the resentencing hearing for Gibbs.

Gibbs has been in the state prison system since February 1995 after pleading guilty to killing his parents.

Mahabir, who co-authored a mitigation report for the defense team. said the report was based on 14 interviews with Gibbs earlier this year and several family members.

The defense, led by attorney J. Damian Ortiz, sought to portray Richard Gibbs as both violent and a drunk.

Testimony showed Richard Gibbs had been arrested twice on drunk-driving charges.

"Mark remembers being hit when he brought home poor grades," Mahabir said.

But many of Richard Gibbs' family members testified he was a good father who spoiled Mark.

They said they never saw any signs of abuse.

Prosecution witness Bradley Pender, a first cousin of the defendant, said he never saw any bruises on Mark Gibbs or other evidence of abuse.

Pender said he never saw his uncle drunk.

Gary Gibbs, Richard's brother, said Mark Gibbs called him to report the shootings.

Gibbs said he rushed over to the house and found his brother dead and Betty Gibbs "laying there gasping for breath."

Other family members testified Mark Gibbs showed no remorse.

State appellate prosecutor David Robinson said Gibbs was 20 years old when he finally pleaded guilty to the crimes over the objections of his trial attorney.

Robinson said Gibbs pleaded guilty knowing he would receive life in prison.

Robinson said prior to the shootings, Gibbs told two girls he planned to kill his parents and run away.

At Friday's hearing, a number of family members urged Judge Jeff Farris to resentence Gibbs to life in prison.

But three relatives of Betty Gibbs urged the judge to set Mark Gibbs free.

They stated Richard Gibbs was physically abusive

Donna Gibbs said it wasn't just Mark who was abused. She said her sister, Betty, suffered abuse too.

She said Mark Gibbs suffered emotionally. "As a child, Mark was starved for affection," she said.

At the end of hours of testimony, Farris, the judge, continued the case to Nov. 22 when both the prosecution and defense are expected to wrap up their arguments.

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