Man Convicted in Murder of Former Wife : Trial: Ex-Marine is found guilty of lesser crime in death of daughter in 1993 shooting.

A decorated former Marine was convicted of first-degree murder Tuesday in the 1993 shooting death of his former wife, but the jury determined he did not intend to kill his 5-year-old daughter slain in the attack.

By finding Jeffrey Steven Gibson, 34, guilty of the lesser crime of manslaughter in the girl’s death, the jury spared him what would have been a certain sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole.

Gibson, a Camp Pendleton Marine decorated for valor during the Persian Gulf War, still faces a maximum sentence of about 50 years to life in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 29 by Orange County Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey.

The jury deliberated about 12 hours before finding Gibson guilty of first-degree murder in the May 29, 1993, shooting of Kristina (Tina) Gibson, 26. But in a move that surprised even Gibson’s defense lawyer, jurors rejected a second murder charge and found Gibson guilty of voluntary manslaughter in connection with the death of his daughter, Amber Dawn Gibson.

Gibson also was found guilty of attempted manslaughter for wounding Wendy L. Johnson, with whom Tina and Amber Gibson shared a San Clemente apartment.

“We’re relieved,” said Gibson’s court-appointed attorney, Stephen J. Biskar. “He doesn’t have to live with the knowledge that the jury felt he planned to kill his daughter.”

Tina Gibson’s parents were visibly upset with the decision. The mother, Odile Pullin, stared open-mouthed in astonishment as the verdicts were read and then appeared to mouth words angrily. Pullin and Tina Gibson’s stepfather, Vern Pullin, left the courthouse without comment. Johnson also declined to comment.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Patrick K. Donahue said he was disappointed by the verdict, adding that he and Tina Gibson’s parents hoped Gibson would face a life term without possibility of parole.

“I think he should go away for a long time,” Donahue said.

Gibson testified during the trial that he left an all-day keg party on base and went to the San Clemente apartment that Tina Gibson and Amber Gibson shared with Johnson, then 32, and her son. Gibson, whose blood-alcohol level was later found to be nearly triple the legal limit for driving, said he remembered “bits and pieces” as he shot Johnson and then tracked Tina Gibson to her bedroom before opening fire on her. He testified that he fired again and “everything turned white.”

Gibson said he drove to a Mission Viejo gas station and telephoned his mother to confess.

Tina Gibson and Amber died from shots from a .45-caliber pistol and Johnson was wounded in the chest. Johnson’s 8-year-old son was not hurt.

Biskar had argued in favor of second-degree murder convictions for both slayings, saying the attack was an unplanned outburst influenced by Gibson’s volcanic temper, his military training and the emotional toll of growing up in an abusive family.

The shootings took place only 17 days after the Gibsons’ divorce became final. The two were married six years.

Jurors said Gibson’s two days on the witness stand convinced them that he struggled since childhood to control his temper and was remorseful over the killings, especially of Amber.

Jurors said they surmised that Gibson began realizing he and Tina Gibson would never reunite and hopped in his truck with a gun after the two talked by telephone on the night of the slayings.

“It was a buildup over a period of three to four weeks,” said juror Denise McKeown of Orange. “Something was said in that conversation that pushed him over the edge.”

Jurors said the evidence led them to conclude that while Gibson planned to kill Tina Gibson that night, he had no intention of harming his daughter.

“Amber--she was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said juror Mike Gardner of Anaheim. “He was a bomb.”