Pair convicted of La Quinta murder
James Oudin and Wesley Gibbs, Jr., were found guilty of first degree murder and a special, circumstance of murder for financial gainin the killing of 70-year-old Judy Munson.
Her body was found in her La Quinta home on June 11, 2011, a day after her death. Investigators initially thought she had slipped and fallen.
The jury reached a decision after two days of deliberations. The conviction comes as a relief to those close to Munson. “Now that the verdict’s in and the jury’s reached its verdict, it’s just a big relief,” said Gary Graversen,Munson’s neighbor. “We can move on with our lives and there’s justice for Judy.”
Son Jason Oudin said he believed the police missed something in their investigation.
“You know, they haven’t really done an investigation on anybody but someone they think had the motive of inheriting a lot of money,” said Oudin.
Munson owned two successful cleaning businesses. However, Jason Oudin says, his father would not have received the money. Instead, it would have been put into a trust. Oudin doesn’t believe that’s enough for a motive for murder.
“I wouldn’t kill my brother or sister for a house, it doesn’t make sense.”
A detective testified Munson died after being hit in the head with a hammer–a weapon they never found. Oudin says his father is innocent, and police should look elsewhere for another suspect.
“My aunt was married to someone a long time ago,” said Oudin. “They recently started dating five years ago. He’s been married 30 years in the meantime. To me, there’s a lot of jealous wives out there that don’t like their husbands cheating.”
The case could wrap up as early as this week, and Jason Oudin is hopeful about the outcome.
“In the trial, it seems like certain things have come out, and it’s looking positive for us,” he said.
One of the things that came out worked against Oudin, it was the work of a dog. “Inga is a bloodhound who was able to track Gibb’s truck into a police station and sit before him and paw him and say this is guy I smell,” said Maggie O’Miller, Munson’s friend.”They got the smell from Judy’s shirt.”
Both men face life in prison without the possibility of parole when they return for sentencing on June 29.
