Man convicted in 1992 Spokane Valley murder
Published 2:31 pm Thursday, July 19, 2012
SPOKANE — A Spokane judge has convicted a man of murdering a furniture store owner 20 years ago in a case that went unsolved until DNA from a fake beard led to an arrest.
Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen convicted Patrick Kevin Gibson on Wednesday of first-degree murder in the Nov. 7, 1992, shooting death of Brian Cole.
The now-60-year-old Gibson was arrested last year in Western Washington after investigators found his DNA on a piece of fake beard left behind at the crime scene.
Prosecutors said Gibson killed Cole during a robbery at Cole’s store.
