Faith Sustains Slain Woman’s Husband; Hunt for Killer Slows

Kent and Malinda Gibbons had been married 1 1/2 years, but their move from a small town in Utah to California marked the real beginning of their lives together.

Fresh out of the University of Utah, Kent landed a job as an electrical engineer with an Irvine firm, and the couple found an apartment in Costa Mesa. They were excited about California, their new home and the opportunities ahead. They talked about starting a family.

Those dreams died on a day that should have been happy--Kent’s first day at work. He left his wife amid still-unopened moving boxes at 8 a.m. and returned that evening to find her dead. Sometime in between, Malinda, 22, was attacked by an intruder who slipped or forced his way into the ground-floor apartment. She was bound and gagged, sexually assaulted, stabbed in the heart and left to bleed to death.

A year later, Costa Mesa police say they are no closer to catching Malinda’s killer. A $25,000 reward offered by Western Digital Corp., Gibbons’ employer, remains unclaimed.

Gibbons, now 26, said he considered returning to Utah after the tragedy but decided to stay and rebuild his life. He said he has learned to stop blaming himself for Malinda’s death.

“For the longest time, I kept thinking, ‘Maybe if I had been there, I could have prevented this,’ ” he said last week. “Now I’ve gotten to the point where I know there is nothing that can be done to bring Malinda back. I’ve finally been able to accept that and get on with my life.

“I know that even though Malinda has passed beyond this life, she is still alive spiritually. There are times when I feel her with me, when I feel her love.”

Like his wife, Gibbons was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he remains a devout believer. Though he wants to see Malinda’s killer captured, he said he harbors no hatred.

“I want this guy found because I don’t want him doing this to anyone else,” Gibbons said. “In my religion, you have to forgive an individual. This is hard. I don’t know why he did what he did. At first, I

Malinda Gibbons, 22, was attacked by an intruder in her ground-floor apartment in Costa Mesa. She was sexually assaulted, stabbed in the heart and left to bleed to death. Her murder remains unsolved.

would have said, ‘Yes, I want him to suffer.’ But I can’t hold hatred toward him. That would canker my own soul.”

For Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Ron Smith and other detectives who worked on the investigation, Malinda Gibbons’ unsolved murder remains one of the most frustrating crimes they have ever faced.

No weapon was ever recovered, and little physical evidence was found at the scene. There was no sign of forced entry, no evidence of a struggle, no ransacking of the apartment. Malinda’s wedding ring, watch and a calculator--all believed taken by her killer as an afterthought--never surfaced at pawnshops or in burglary arrests.

“We have no active suspect list,” Smith said. “None of the property ever turned up. We’ve checked out every lead, however minor, and all have proved negative. It was all so neat.

“My guess is whoever did this had gone over it in his mind before he acted. It was not just an opportunity that presented itself. Obviously, a psychopath is still on the loose.”

Smith and his fellow detectives took this case to heart. Reports on the crime have been circulated through the FBI to police departments throughout the country, and Costa Mesa police have examined hundreds of far-flung killings in search of similar cases. No suspect and no pattern have emerged.

“We’ll never give up hope on this one,” the veteran officer said. “She didn’t deserve to die. We all empathized; this could have been our wife, our friend, our neighbor. It seemed so senseless.”

Kent Gibbons doesn’t call Costa Mesa police anymore, the old clues have dried up and the detectives have little new information to pass on.

But he has started to look ahead. Gibbons has moved twice since Malinda’s killing, and now feels settled in a south county community. He has been promoted in his job, and believes the tragedy has made him more effective as a missionary.

“I’ve learned a lot in the last year, and I have a lot of hopes for the future,” Gibbons said. “Eventually, I hope to be married again. It’s amazing. I didn’t think I’d ever say that, but I want a family. I want children. I want to progress in my career and to keep learning.”

When he speaks of Malinda, his voice rises warmly and breaks with laughter. Then he remembers, and he returns to a soft, pained tone.

For a year before the couple dated, Gibbons knew Malinda only as a friendly voice on the other end of the phone. He worked at a tire store while attending college, and she was the bank clerk he would call for approval on credit applications. He finally went to the bank to meet her, arranged a date and eight months later they were married.

“Malinda was so good with people,” he recalled. “So kind. She helped me through school, and then we planned to start our family. Obviously, that never happened.

“She was very close to her heavenly Father. It has been a difficult trial to be alone, but I know she is happy. She is still an inspiration in my life. Now I can say, ‘Yes, I’m happy.’ ”