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Show jury Finds Defendant Guilty Of tturde? in 2nd Demee The verdict of guilty of murder "uT the' He was charged with the June 18 second degree was brought by a Moab stabbing death of Leslie Wayne Wigaard, jury October 1 against Charles Lee 25, of Vail, Co. Two charges of rape are "Mite" Gibson, 29, a Bonneville, Ky., still pending against him, and sentencing tnnsient. on the murder conviction will take place at 10 a.m. October 12. A second degree murder conviction carries a sentence of five years to life imprisonment. Sheriff's department officials said Gibson was taken to Price for detention following the trial. He had been held in the Grand County Jail before and during the trial in Seventh District Court. In contention during the trial was a pair of gloves which Gibson claimed he owned, and a knife which belonged to Wigaard. Gibson claimed Wigaard slashed at him with the knife in an argument between the two near the Westwater interchange on 1-70, and that he took the knife and stabbed Wigaard in self defense. A Montrose, Co., physician testified that Wigaard died of a stab wound in the back within no more than 20 minutes after the stabbing. There was another stab wound beneath Wigaard's forearm. A friend of Wigaard's testified that the gloves and knife both belonged to Wigaard and that circumstances were such that Gibson must have stolen them and had both gloves and knife in his possession before the argument and stabbing occurred. Wigaard's girl friend, Patricia Acker-son, Acker-son, 26, Grand Junction, testified that she was raped twice by Gibson after the knifing and before she let him out of the pickup-camper at the Fruita interchange on the freeway, on her way to take Wigaard to Osteopath Hospital in Grand Junction where he was pronounced dead. The knife, which Gibson said he threw out of the truck some 1 Vi miles from the scene of the crime because he said it kept falling down, was found by Moab Police Chief Mel Dalton. The jury, consisting of 5 women and 3 men, was instructed by Judge Edward Sheya, that the only verdict they could find if they found the defendant guilty would be murder in the second degree. The trial began Sept. 30 and concluded Oct. 1 . After receiving instructions, the jury retired to deliberate at about 4:20 p.m. and returned their verdict at 11 1 p.m., having had a dinner break in the . interim. |