The Texas man who stuffed his father’s body into a refrigerator and then chained it shut has pleaded guilty and faces prison.
David Michael Gibson, 49, pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence with the intent to impair a human corpse, according to court records. On Wednesday, a judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
During a welfare check, authorities discovered the “badly decomposed” body of Gibson’s father, Daniel Gibson, in the garage refrigerator. An autopsy could not reveal the cause or manner of death.
According to a courtroom report from local ABC affiliate KSAT, the Gibson family lambasted the defendant during the sentencing.
“To disrespect him by putting him in a freezer and not informing anyone—you have no family anymore, you are on your own,” said Matthew Gibson, the victim’s son and suspect’s brother.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar stated that on August 8, 2024, deputies responded to a home in the 7500 block of Rustic Trail and began speaking with a man who identified himself as the person they were looking for.
“But the deputy got the sense it was not him,” Salazar said. “Later on in the day, he was able to get in touch with some family members who said, ‘That voice on that Ring is not our father.'”
The family assisted deputies in entering the home, where David Gibson was discovered. Deputies looked around and noticed a refrigerator in the garage that “appeared suspicious in nature,” Salazar explained. Salazar said it appeared to be chained shut. Salazar reported that when deputies opened the fridge, they discovered human remains.
Family members told San Antonio CBS affiliate KENS that when they opened and slammed the fridge door, they immediately saw a human head. The deputies ordered everyone to leave the house to establish a crime scene.
The victim’s family told police they hadn’t heard from or seen him in months, and there were some “indicators” that David Gibson had been living with the remains for quite some time, Salazar said.
Gibson allegedly cashed checks from his father’s Social Security and military pensions. The victim also didn’t appear to have refilled his prescriptions in a while.
Gibson will have to serve at least five years of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
