Court refuses new trial in Webster County murder case

A man in an Iowa prison for the murder of a pregnant woman has lost his bid for a new trial.Michelle Gibson’s body was found in rural Webster County on March 30, 1998, and Randy Zaabel was later convicted of her murder. Zaabel had asked for a new trial based on new evidence — testimony that another person who was “high on drugs” and covered in blood the night of Gibson’s death bragged to someone that he had participated in the murder of the pregnant woman. The Court of Appeals has ruled the “new” evidence does little more than prove Zaabel may have had an accomplice. The judges said “overwhelming” evidence was presented at Zaabel’s trial linking him to the murder.