Mental evaluation granted for Gibson

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June 26, 2012

Mental evaluation granted for Gibson

Murder trial pushed back to February for man accused of killing three women

By CHRIS MORRIS chris.morris@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Tue Jun 26, 2012, 01:53 PM EDT

NEW ALBANY — William Clyde Gibson III will no longer be allowed to speak to law enforcement officers until a mental evaluation is complete.

Gibson and his attorney, George Streib, were granted the evaluation and protective order by Floyd County Superior Court No. 1 Judge Susan Orth on Tuesday morning. Streib also asked for a continuance, which was granted.

Gibson’s murder trial was originally scheduled for August, but will be rescheduled until February. A trial date will likely be set at another conference at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in Superior Court.

Gibson, 54, is accused of murdering 75-year-old Christine Whitis, of Clarksville, 45-year-old Karen Hodella, and Stephanie Kirk, 35, of Charlestown, who was found buried in Gibson’s backyard in the 800 block of Woodbourne Drive in New Albany on April 27. Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson announced last month that he will seek the death penalty in the murders of Whitis and Kirk. All three cases will be tried separately, he said.

Whitis was found strangled in Gibson’s garage April 19, and Kirk, who had been missing since March 25, was found buried in his backyard eight days later. Hodella was found murdered near the Ohio River in January 2003. She had been missing since October 2002.

“To seek the death penalty is a decision not to be taken lightly,” Henderson said at a previous press conference. “But the nature of these crimes, what we have accused Mr. Gibson of here, if these two crimes are not cause for the death penalty, then I don’t know what could be considered.”

Henderson called the acts he thinks Gibson committed an “outrageous disregard for human life.”

Gibson is being held without bond in the Floyd County Jail. Neither Henderson or Streib talked to the media following Tuesday’s hearing.