5 chilling details about the murder of Mindy Morgenstern ahead of Dateline on NBC

The upcoming Dateline episode airing on May 16 revisits the 2006 killing of Mindy Morgenstern, a 22-year-old college student from Valley City, North Dakota. On the afternoon of September 13, 2006, Mindy Morgenstern’s friends Toni Baumann and Danielle Holmstrom found her unresponsive in her off-campus apartment after she failed to answer calls.

Investigators later reported that she had been strangled with a belt and stabbed, with traces of Pine-Sol used to mask evidence. The autopsy cited asphyxia and neck wounds as the cause of death.

Authorities initially questioned multiple individuals, including people close to Mindy Morgenstern, but DNA found beneath her fingernails eventually led them to Moe Maurice Gibbs, a neighbor and corrections officer with a criminal history.

Following a mistrial, Gibbs was convicted of first-degree murder in 2007 and sentenced to life without parole. Dateline will feature interviews with Mindy’s family and investigators as they recount the case's disturbing timeline.

5 chilling details of the murder of Mindy Morgenstern explored

As Dateline prepares to re-examine the 2006 murder of Mindy Morgenstern, renewed attention is being drawn to the disturbing facts of the case that shocked Valley City, North Dakota. Mindy, a 22-year-old senior at Valley City State University, was discovered dead in her off-campus apartment on September 13, 2006.

The crime, which initially puzzled law enforcement, eventually led to the arrest and conviction of her neighbour, Moe Maurice Gibbs, a local corrections officer. The upcoming Dateline episode revisits the events and key evidence that helped identify the perpetrator and secure a conviction.

Below are five chilling aspects of the case.

1) She was strangled and stabbed, then doused in Pine-Sol

According to court testimony cited by the Oxygen report dated March 4, 2022, Mindy Morgenstern's body was found near the entrance of her apartment with a belt tightly wrapped around her neck and a broken knife stuck in her throat.

Investigators also discovered that Pine-Sol, a disinfectant cleaner, had been poured over her fully clothed body in an apparent effort to destroy forensic evidence. An autopsy later confirmed the cause of death as a combination of asphyxiation and incised neck wounds, with no signs of sexual assault.

2) The killer lived in the same apartment building

Initially, police interviewed multiple individuals, including acquaintances and past partners. But within a week, DNA retrieved from beneath Mindy Morgenstern’s fingernails was matched to Moe Gibbs, a neighbor who worked at the Barnes County Jail.

The Sun reported on February 10, 2023, that the same DNA was also linked to a 2004 unsolved sexual assault case in Fargo. Gibbs, who had legally changed his name from Glen Dale Morgan Jr., had a hidden criminal past, including a conviction for attempted premeditated murder in a military court.

3) Moe Gibbs maintained an alibi that didn’t hold up

Gibbs told police he had been home packing with his pregnant wife during the timeframe of the murder. However, during trial proceedings, his ex-wife testified that she had texted him at 12:33 pm asking him to bring her a beverage, but he did not return until around 1 pm and returned without any beverage. Prosecutors argued that this time gap aligned with the estimated time of death.

4) Multiple women accused Gibbs of sexual assault

Following his arrest, several women came forward alleging Gibbs had assaulted them while he worked at the jail. He was ultimately charged with six counts of sexual assault for incidents at the facility, in addition to a separate count tied to the 2004 Fargo case. According to Oxygen, he pleaded guilty in those cases before standing trial for Mindy’s murder.

5) Gibbs allegedly confessed to a fellow inmate

During the second trial, prosecutors introduced testimony from Jeremy Leopold, an inmate who shared a jail pod with Gibbs. As cited in The Jamestown Press report dated July 5, 2007, Leopold claimed Gibbs had remarked, "I’d do it again" upon seeing a news segment about his case.

The first trial ended in a hung jury, but in the second, Gibbs was found guilty on November 20, 2007, and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

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