A habitual criminal noted for his increasingly violent streaks and his handlebar moustache, Gibson has claimed responsibility for upwards of 30 additional murders across multiple states, none of which have been confirmed.

During his deployment, he was awarded badges for marksmanship and hand grenade usage, but at this time, he developed an addiction to drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and LSD, which he often mixed with alcohol.

[3] After his release, he married an artist in June 1980, but after he was diagnosed with infertility, Gibson intensified his drug usage, supposedly smoking upwards of 20 marijuana joints a day.

In an ensuing high-speed chase, he eventually crashed into another vehicle, from which the other driver had eight ribs broken, and Gibson suffered injuries that required numerous stitches on his head.

The examining psychologist, J. Robert Noonan, concluded that Gibson had an IQ of 79 and refused to take responsibility for his actions, which he blamed on his alcoholism, but did not suffer from any mental illnesses that impaired his judgment.

[2] Due to this, he was found competent to stand trial and accepted an Alford plea, for which he was sentenced to seven years imprisonment at the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in La Grange.

[4] During his imprisonment, where he was ordered to attend a sex offender rehabilitation program, Gibson refused to admit responsibility for his crime and was thus deemed ineligible to participate.

While he was considered an obedient inmate who rarely caused trouble, even earning an associate degree in art from the Lindsey Wilson College, several psychiatric assessments concluded that Gibson had poor judgment and often experienced conflicting feelings of loneliness and losing control.

[4] On October 10, 2002, Gibson was out drinking at a bar in Jeffersonville when he met 44-year-old Karen Sue Hodella, a beautician from Port Orange, Florida, who was visiting a boyfriend of hers at the time.

Angered by the accusations, Gibson punched Hodella in the face, then took out a pocket knife and stabbed her multiple times in the throat before driving around and dumping her body in Clarksville.

[4] While Gibson complained of frequent headaches, stomachaches, insomnia and hypochondriasis, Howerton and the prison's mental therapist concluded that he suffered from mild anxiety and had indications of anti-social behavior, but was otherwise sane.

In May 2003, Gibson sued the prison authorities, claiming that they had improperly denied him access to Seroquel and for housing him in squalid conditions, but the suit was thrown out by a federal judge, who considered it baseless.

[4] During that time, he found a job at C&C Hardwood Flooring in Borden, where he was described as a diligent worker, and was regarded positively by friends and neighbors for attending the local non-denominational "Power of the Cross" church, making papier-mâché figures and for helping his sick mother - on the other hand, patrons of the bars he frequented considered him strange, and on at least a few occasions, he had asked out women to visit his home, to varying success.

On the following day, one of Gibson's sisters went to their mother's house to settle the division of the family estate, and after checking the garage and finding Whitis' body, she immediately notified the police.

[15] In spite of the guilty plea, prosecutors pushed for another death sentence, aiming to prove aggravating factors during the commission of Kirk's murder.