Gibson: Little comment during murder sentencing

• William Clyde Gibson III was sentenced to 65 years in prison for the 2002 murder of Karen Sue Hodella
• Hodella's family did not appear at the sentencing in Floyd Superior Court

William Clyde Gibson III, the New Albany man accused of brutally slaying three women, was sentenced Thursday to 65 years in prison for the October 2002 murder of Karen Sue Hodella.

Gibson pleaded guilty in March to murdering Hodella, 44, whose decomposed body was found in early 2003 in Clarksville near the Ohio River, reversing his intention to pursue three speedy murder trials.

Hodella's family did not appear at the sentencing in Floyd Superior Court, and none of her relatives, a sister, daughters and an elderly mother,sent letters to be read in court, as a few had indicated they intended to. Gibson made no comment except to answer "yes, ma'am" politely when Judge Susan Orth asked if he'd read and understood his pre-sentence investigation report.

Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson said afterward that he didn't know what motivated Gibson to enter a guilty plea in the Hodella matter even though he'd insisted last fall after a first capital murder conviction that he wanted "no deals" in his two remaining murder cases, including a capital case set for this summer.

Henderson said that like many murder victims' families, Hodella's loved ones asked whether prosecutors could query Gibson in court over the question that will forever haunt them — why did he do it?

They come for answers and "they want remorse. They want an apology, and I always tell victims' families, I can't guarantee any of that," Henderson said, adding that the state pledges to hold the defendant accountable.

Gibson was arrested in April 2012 after police discovered the strangled, mutilated body of 75-year-old Clarksville resident Christine Whitis, a family friend, in his garage. They later dug up the body of Stephanie Kirk, 35, who disappeared March 25, 2012, in Gibson's yard. Henderson filed death penalty cases in both women's deaths.

Hodella's murder had remained a mystery for nearly a decade, but after Gibson's arrest, he admitted to investigators that he'd also fatally stabbed Hodella, a Florida beautician he met in a bar.

Gibson was sentenced to die for Whitis' murder last October after a two-week trial.

A capital murder trial in Kirk's slaying is set for June 16.Henderson said the length of time and other circumstances in Hodella's case persuaded him not to pursue capital murder in that case.

Hodella, who lived near Daytona Beach, had been in Southern Indiana for less than a week when she called her family in early October 2002 and asked them to buy her a bus ticket so she could come home the next day.

Family members told The Courier-Journal after Gibson's arrest that Hodella had been visiting a boyfriend, but they'd been fighting and she wanted to return home.

In a final conversation with relatives, Hodella told them that a "nice man" was buying her drinks at a bar. They never heard from her again — only to learn three months later that police had found her body by matching her thumbprint through an FBI database.

After the killing on Oct. 10, 2002 — Gibson's 45th birthday — he had a tattoo inscribed on his lower right arm with the date, along with a picture of a knife.

Another tattoo — "death row x 3" — was first seen etched in dark ink on the back of Gibson's shaved head during the plea hearing last month. The new tattoo prompted an internal review of where and when the inscription was put on Gibson's head because of concerns the message could taint jurors during jury selection or other court appearances.

Orth ordered Gibson kept in Floyd County, rather than returned to Michigan City, and that he is to receive no haircuts to help cover the inscription. At the close of Thursday's hearing, defense lawyers had Gibson swivel in his black office chair to allow Orth to check on the progress.

Part of the tattoo could be seen beneath tufts of Gibson's salt-and-pepper colored hair. The judge said "ok," seemingly satisfied the growth should help obscure the message in time for Kirk jury selection in Evansville starting June 2.

Reporter Grace Schneider can be reached at 812-949-4040. Follow her on Twitter @gesinfk.