(Le Mars) — Attorneys for the state and the defense offered their closing comments this morning for the Thomas Bibler murder trial. Bibler is accused of stabbing to death his sister Shannon Bogh on June 11, 2016. Plymouth County Attorney Darin Raymond is prosecuting the case.
Raymond presented a series of overhead slides showing everyone in the courtroom the timeline of Thomas Bibler’s whereabouts, and his attitude, during the day of question leading up to his arrest at his apartment. Raymond again presented testimony evidence from Lisa Bogh, the victim’s mother-in-law, and from Phil Bogh, the victim’s husband, who both were at the scene when the stabbing
incident had occurred. Lisa Bogh says she saw her daughter-in-law come into the home from watering flowers outside, holding her chest, and saying “I’m going to die.” When Lisa asked what had happened, the response from Shannon was, “Tom stabbed me.” Plymouth County Attorney Raymond indicated that
there was only one Tom at the scene, and that was Thomas Bibler. Raymond reminded the court of Phil Bogh’s testimony saying he saw Bibler come to his home when Phil was retrieving mail. Phil greeted Bibler, and Bibler responded to the greeting. Phil Bogh says he saw Bibler go to his sister.
Moments later, Phil Bogh says he heard Shannon scream, and saw Bibler give a motion as though he was folding up a pocket knife. He noticed Bibler rush to his pickup truck and drive away in a hurried manner. Raymond reminded the court that law enforcement officers had located several knives in Bibler’s apartment, one which was a black-colored pocket knife was located in the night stand drawer near Bibler’s bed. Police had testified saying the pocket knife was wet, as if someone had just washed it. Raymond again presented evidence indicating Shannon Bogh’s blood was located on the window of Bibler’s pickup truck. Raymond says an employee at Lally’s Eastside
Restaurant also testified to seeing Bibler have a black pocket knife the same night of the stabbing, just about a half hour before the stabbing incident when Bibler was working at Lally’s. Raymond also countered the defense position claiming Bibler had swallowed an Ambian medicated capsule earlier in the evening, and therefore Bibler had blacked out, and doesn’t recall the incident. Raymond says it wasn’t until several months after
Bibler was in jail, that he ever mentioned anything about taking Ambian.
Raymond also said there was no evidence of the medication of Ambian in Bibler’s blood or urine when tested at the Plymouth County jail. Raymond says according to a doctor’s testimony, Ambian is a fast-acting medication,
and if Bibler had taken the medication when he said he did, he would have been affected by the side-effects, including black-outs, much earlier in the evening. Raymond says Bibler in his testimony says he remembers specifically taking the
Ambian, but couldn’t say if he had taken any other medication during the night of June 11th, 2016. Raymond says there is no evidence of anyone seeing Bibler taking Ambian, and that Bibler has never made any request for Ambian while he has been held in custody at the Plymouth County Jail, and there was no prescription for Bibler to have Ambian. Raymond called it
“self-serving” testimony. The Defense, lead by Sioux City Attorney Billy Oyadare countered Raymond by saying there was nobody that saw Bibler have a knife. Oyadare says the police were looking in the wrong direction. The
defense council says it was Phil, Shannon’s husband, who could have murdered his wife. Oyadare says the police never acquired any DNA evidence from Phil Bogh. Oyadare says the state has failed to prove their case, and he asked Judge Neary to drop all charges. Throughout today’s trial, Bibler sat still and motionless and appeared as though he was writing notes. The verdict is
now in the hands of Judge Jeff Neary. Neary did not give a date as to when he would render a verdict.
