Nevada Man Pleads Guilty To Best Friends Murder:



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Joseph "Joey" Michael Cathey (mug shot VCSO)



A man from Nevada will spend the next eighteen years in prison for the murder of his best friend in May of 2010.
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Joseph Michael Cathey, 24, was originally charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action for the stabbing and shooting death of 24 year-old Dennis C. "DC" Gibbs, however, those charges were amended to second-degree murder yesterday (09-06-11) in exchange for his guilty plea.
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Authorities first thought they were responding to an accident a passerby called in about 8:30 p.m. on May 6, 2010. While police were en route to the accident they "got a call from a mother who said her son just shot some guy out by Richards and we needed to get out there,”  Sheriff Ron Peckman said at the time of the incident.

When authorities arrived at the crime scene they found Gibbs' body in a ditch behind his truck on Route Z and Katy Track Road just east of the Missouri-Kansas border.  He had been shot seven times and stabbed 32.
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According to the probable cause statement, Cathey’s mother, Lucinda Ellis, told dispatchers that her son [Joey Cathey] called his father, David Cathey, and told him that he was a monster and had shot Gibbs and that Gibbs’ mother, Lora (Lori) Gibbs, was with him.

Investigators spoke with Gibbs’ father, Dennis D. Gibbs, who told them that his son and Lori Gibbs had been in a fight earlier in the evening near Fort Scott, Kansas according to the affidavit. The fight was “supposedly over a pickup truck,” and that Lori Gibbs left.

Lori Gibbs and Joey Cathey, who are both from Kansas, had been having an affair for some time, according to sources close to the case.
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Lori Gibbs (mug shot MODOC)

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Dennis D. Gibbs allegedly told investigators that his wife called him, told him about the fight and said “she was going to have D.C. taken care of."

The elder Gibbs later told investigators his son then called him and told him that he had located his mother at Rodney Clark's home in Richards, and that Cathey was with him and they were trying to locate the vehicle his mother had been driving.  The trio ended up at a house in Vernon County where they used methamphetamine.  Lori Gibbs eventually told her son that she had hid the truck at White Cemetery and Joey Cathey and D. C.. Gibbs left to get the vehicle.

It is here where the unknown comes in because Cathey has refused to talk with law enforcers - D. D. Gibbs told investigators that his son called him and began whispering into the phone and then he heard some sort of “unknown commotion” in the background on his son’s end before the phone went dead. Gibbs said he attempted to call his son back several times but got no response.
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No charges have ever been filed against Lora Gibbs in connection to her son's murder, however, in June of 2011 she was sentenced to 3 years in prison for forging her estranged husband's signature to checks that were passed in Vernon County.  She never responded to a letter  prosecutor's sent her asking for her help in her son's murder.
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Vernon County Prosecutor Lynn Ewing

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Vernon County Prosecutor Lynn Ewing says, "There is no amount of years that can compensate for taking a life.  It's the state's belief that 18 years serves justice and meets the needs of the state of Missouri."

UPDATED: Suspect Charged With First-Degree Murder For Gibbs' Murder--Mother Allegedly Says She Had Him Taken Care Of:

Joseph Michael Cathey mug shot

Authorities in Vernon County are trying to piece together what led to the murder of a Nevada man.

Sheriff Ron Peckman says that Joseph Michael Cathey, 23, has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action for allegedly murdering 24 year-old Dennis Gibbs. Gibbs, who had been shot and stabbed several times, was found on Route Z and Katy Road just east of the Missouri-Kansas border at about 8:30 p.m. May 6th.

Peckman says the first call that came in said that there was a truck in a ditch that had been in an accident. While we were on the way to the call, "We got a call from a mother who said her son just shot some guy out by Richards, and we needed to get out there.”

When they got to the scene they found Gibbs' body in the ditch behind his truck...it was riddled with bullet and stab wounds. "An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow to determine the exact number (Gibbs was shot 7 times and stabbed 32.) It appears personal."

Peckman says that authorities caught up with Cathey at a home in Fort Scott, Kansas. He is being held without bail in Kansas on the Vernon County murder warrant. " He's not talking."

Peckman says he doesn't believe Gibbs drove his truck to the crime scene, but would not elaborate on how it got there. "We're in the preliminary stages of the investigation. I won't rule out any additional arrests at this time.

According to the probable cause statement, Cathey’s mother, Lucinda Ellis, told dispatchers for the Vernon County sheriff'soffice that her son [Joseph Cathey] called his father, David Cathey, and told him that he had shot Gibbs and that Gibbs’ mother, Lora (Lori) Gibbs, was with him.

Investigators spoke with Gibbs’ father, Dennis D. Gibbs, who told them that his son and Lori Gibbs had been in a fight earlier in the evening near Fort Scott, according to the affidavit. The fight was “supposedly over drugs,” and that Lori Gibbs left.

Dennis D. Gibbs told investigators that his wife called him, told him about the fight and said “she was going to have (Dennis C. Gibbs, her son) taken care of."

The elder Gibbs later told investigators that his son then called him and told him that he had located his mother at Rodney Clark's home in Richards, and that Cathey was with him and they were trying to locate the vehicle his mother had been driving. The father said the son started whispering into the phone, and the father heard some sort of “unknown commotion” in the background on his son’s end then the phone went dead. The man said he attempted to call his son back several times but never got no response.

"It appears drugs were involved," Peckman said. Gibbs, was charged with distribution or manufacturing of drugs and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia on April 5th in Vernon County. He was scheduled to appear in court on May 13th for an indigency hearing.