A Camas man was sentenced Friday to serve 12 1/2 years in prison for shooting his brother and beating his ex-girlfriend during an attacked fueled by methamphetamine-induced paranoia.
Justin Matthew Gibson, 37, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to first-degree assault with a deadly weapon and second-degree assault.
Gibson, who goes by Matthew, “savagely” attacked his younger brother and an ex-girlfriend for fear they were trying to conspire against him and poison him, thinking that was brought on by about a year of methamphetamine use, Deputy Prosecutor Luka Vitasovic said.
Part of Gibson’s sentence includes treatment for substance abuse and mental health problems.
“The conduct, particularly toward the brother, was especially egregious,” Vitasovic said.
Camas police were dispatched at about 1:30 p.m. Aug. 6 to a home where a woman told them her ex-boyfriend had choked her and struck her in the head with a baseball bat. She fled to a neighbor’s home for help before losing consciousness.
After she was treated at a hospital, she told police that she had stopped by Gibson’s home to drop off dog treats. He told her she shouldn’t have come because “today’s the day you are going to die,” according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Superior Court.
Then Gibson grabbed her by the throat, threw her to the ground and punched her in the face. He struck her with a bat, but she was able to flee when Gibson turned his back, according to court records. Gibson chased her, but stopped at the property line.
Investigators discovered evidence of a separate assault at the same home and learned that Gibson had beaten and shot his younger brother, Joseph Levi Gibson, the day before, the affidavit states.
Justin Gibson told police he beat his brother with his fists, feet, a golf club, a stick, a metal bat and a police-issued billy club. He also extinguished a cigar on his arm and a cigarette on his leg, then shot him in the leg with a .22-caliber rifle, according to court documents.
Justin Gibson then drove his brother to the hospital, where he told hospital staff that his brother fell out of a tree. Joseph Gibson suffered multiple broken bones, including a broken femur; significant bruising; internal injuries; burns; and the gunshot wound to the leg, police said.
Justin Gibson told investigators he believes his ex-girlfriend, brother and another roommate were conspiring to have him charged with fraud and were trying to poison him to collect on a life insurance policy, according to court documents. He claimed his brother admitted to putting laundry detergent with bleach in his eggs.
During Friday’s hearing, Justin Gibson’s attorney Shon Bogar told Judge Gregory Gonzales that it wasn’t a typical case.
“He made a very bad choice, he formed delusions and responded … this was a person who snapped,” Bogar said.
Both the ex-girlfriend and Joseph Gibson told Gonzales that they had forgiven Justin Gibson. However, Joseph Gibson asked for a lifetime no-contact order with his brother. The ex-girlfriend asked Gonzales to allow her to maintain contact with Justin Gibson.
“We are still best friends,” she said. “That is my son’s dad in his eyes, and I’d like to allow the healing process to take place.”
