He never knew the name of the woman he killed all those years ago, back in Arizona. Then Matthew Gibson started getting mysterious messages, at least some bearing the name, "Anita Townshed." So, according to police, in June the 55-year-old drove from his North Carolina home all the way to Arizona, where he walked into the Winslow, Arizona, police department and confessed. The thing is, as the Charlotte Observer newspaper noted in breaking the story Monday, the name of Gibson's victim wasn't Anita. It was Barbara Brown. And police didn't know anything about Gibson. "I think because he recently found religion he was starting to feel guilty and wanted to do the right thing," said his attorney, Ron Gilleo.
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North Carolina man drove to Arizona this summer to confess in 17-year-old case, police say
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Matthew Gibson got messages he thought were related to the death, police say
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But police didn't know anything about him
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"He could have gotten away with this," detective says
According to the Charlotte Observer, Gibson told police he had met @placeholder one night and the two went back to his trailer.