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Roger Kibbe, 70, talks to Jan David Karowsky, one of his defense attorneys, at San Joaquin County Court in Stockton. Kibbe, the "I-5 Strangler," pleaded guilty Tuesday to raping and murdering six young women who disappeared more than two decades ago. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)
Serial killer makes a deal
Now 70, 'I-5 Strangler' pleads guilty to rape, murder of six women; he will never be released from prison
The "I-5 Strangler" pleaded guilty Tuesday to raping and murdering six young women who disappeared more than two decades ago.
In a raspy but clearly audible voice, the white-haired 70-year-old Roger Reece Kibbe said "guilty" six times as a San Joaquin County judge read each victim's name and the charges.
Roger Kibbe
As part of a plea deal, Kibbe will not face the death penalty but will spend the rest of his life in prison with no possibility of parole. Additionally, he will cooperate with law enforcement, talk to a psychologist, take a polygraph test and possibly lead investigators to crime scenes.
Prosecutors said they agreed to the plea offer in part because Kibbe's age means that he would die in prison before his death penalty appeals ran out.
"This is just an opportunity for him to tell us what he did with his life," Deputy District Attorney Kevin Mayo said after Kibbe was led away in handcuffs. "There are, unfortunately, a lot of unsolved murders of women that somebody killed, whether it was Kibbe or someone else."
The prosecutor noted that there is a gap between the murders to which Kibbe pleaded guilty — one woman was killed in 1977 and the others were all murdered during a seven-month period in 1986.
The victims ranged in age from 17 to 29 and included mothers and students.
Whether Kibbe will be connected to more crimes remains to be seen, but if he is truthful, he will face no further charges. If any falsehood is found before Kibbe's Nov. 5 sentencing by George Abdallah Jr., the deal will be pulled.
Kibbe is currently serving a sentence of 25 years to life in prison after being convicted in 1991 of raping and murdering 17-year-old runaway Darcie Frackenpoole, whose body turned up in El Dorado County.
Miriam Lyell, deputy public defender, left, and Jan David Karowsky, defense attorney, talk about Roger Kibbe pleading guilty to six murders at San Joaquin County Court in Stockton. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)
He was long considered the primary suspect in a number of other murders, and DNA has since linked Kibbe to two of the murders to which he pleaded guilty. Trace evidence, such as fabric from his car's seats, tied him to the other murders, Mayo said.
In 2003, investigators interviewed Kibbe in prison and he admitted to the other killings, his attorneys said.
"By then, he had accepted responsibility," said his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Miriam Lyell.
The victims in Tuesday's pleading were:
As women disappeared two decades ago and their bodies began turning up, the case garnered much public attention and the suspect was dubbed in media accounts as the "I-5 Strangler."
A Lodi mother, Karen Finch, was among the victims investigated in connection with Kibbe, but he was not charged with her death.
Mayo would say only that Kibbe had been a suspect in her killing and didn't comment on other open investigations. Kibbe's second attorney, Sacramento-based Jan David Karowsky, said he doesn't believe Kibbe committed any other murders than the seven of which he has now been convicted.
Because Kibbe was facing the death penalty, he was entitled under California law to have two attorneys. Taxpayers have been footing the entire bill, because Kibbe is a prisoner with no income.
Kibbe was indicted Feb. 26 by a grand jury, and the transcript of that proceeding ran some 1,500 pages, his attorneys said. A multiple-murder death penalty trial, involving numerous witnesses who have since moved, would have been very costly for the county, they said.
"It's a fair resolution to Mr. Kibbe and to the victims' families, who don't have to be traumatized by a trial," Lyell said. "This sentence will insure that he will never be released from custody."
Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.
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Reader Feedback
Galtguy wrote on Sep 30, 2009 9:17 PM:
Personaly, leave me alone with this guy and a boomhandle and you'll have your revenge, oh and btw, he'll say every name of everyone he killed while we play hide the broomhandle. "
T & C wrote on Sep 30, 2009 7:55 PM:
Mrs. S. wrote on Sep 30, 2009 7:05 PM:
I think putting him in general pop. with 20-year-old gangsta thugs would be a good idea, too. "
dogs4you wrote on Sep 30, 2009 3:06 PM:
Gator wrote on Sep 30, 2009 9:43 AM:
Gator wrote on Sep 30, 2009 9:43 AM:
Comments on this story are now closed.