After years of grief, technology provides one family a glimmer

of hope

For nearly 16 years, Kent Gibbons had been left wondering.

Wondering who killed his young, pregnant wife and why?

As he left for work on the morning of July 18, 1988, Kent Gibbons

saw his wife, Malinda, alive for the last time. When he returned that

evening, he discovered her lifeless body in the couple’s Costa Mesa

apartment.

She had been strangled with his neckties, stabbed in the chest and

sexually assaulted. It was a brutal scene that would be difficult for

anyone to experience. And for 16 years, the identity of the

perpetrator was unknown, and the wondering continued.

Though the answer didn’t come right away, Kent Gibbons, who told a

Daily Pilot reporter that “you never get over the pain,” moved on

with his life and remarried, starting a new family.

In the meantime, Costa Mesa police persevered, vowing to find

Malinda Gibbons’ killer someday.

Maybe now, through the use of DNA evidence, Kent Gibbons’

wondering can be over.

Police announced two weeks ago that they had arrested a Michigan

inmate on suspicion of Malinda Gibbons’ murder.

Jason Michael Balcom, a 34-year-old convict serving time for

kidnapping, robbery and sexual assault, will be tried in the case.

The break came after his DNA information was entered into a

national database early this year and the match came in for the

Malinda Gibbons murder.

Police met with Balcom in prison in Michigan, got another sample

and came back with yet another match.

The former security guard who was employed by the now defunct

Fedco on Harbor Boulevard is scheduled to be extradited to stand

trial for the murder.

For the Gibbons family and the Police Department, the

technological advances that have pointed to this new suspected killer

have a personal meaning.

For society, it’s even more far-reaching. It means that killers

and criminals will have a much harder time escaping justice.

“Modern technology is starting to catch up with the crooks,” said

Costa Mesa Det. Jack Archer, who has worked the Gibbons case since it

was opened 16 years ago.

When the case is finally over, it will be a great day for Archer

and the Gibbons family, and a great day for the residents of Costa

Mesa.

For those in the Costa Mesa Police Department, we extend our

congratulations and thanks for helping a family struck by tragedy.

Here’s hoping modern science and technology will help bring a

sense of justice to many more. Here’s hoping that modern science will

leave fewer people wondering why.