In case you missed it…

Stan Tribble was convicted.

Yes, convicted of the first degree murder of his wife, Tracy Gostomski Tribble. Take heed; no physical evidence was found in Stan Tribble’s vehicle nor in the couple’s home that directly tied him to her death. Yet a jury found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

So what convinced the twelve of his guilt?

A missing comforter

Stan’s chilling remark to a friend

Tracy’s fractured face

Stan’s defensive letter to the media
(strikingly reminiscent of Scott Peterson’s letter to volunteers)

Stan’s cell phone data, text messages, and email

and

The testimony of a jailhouse snitch.

Stan Tribble will serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

What would I like to see next?

A billboard similar to the one pictured above (courtesy of Omaha’s KETV-7) to replace the reward poster issued by Progress Energy last week for the murderer of Michelle Fisher Young.

Bad News for Stan

Jury selection has begun in the murder trial of Stan Tribble in Council Bluffs, Iowa, for the 2006 murder of his wife, Tracy Gostomski Tribble. Judge Gordon Abel, yesterday, ruled that past incidents of domestic violence will be allowed in as evidence of a pattern of abuse that eventually ended in Tracy’s death. Additionally, Judge Abel nixed the defense team’s request to present the absurd theory that Tracy committed suicide. Tracy’s body was found in the Missouri River on May 19, sixteen days after Stan Tribble reported her missing. She suffered fracturing blows to the head, and cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation due to suffocation or drowning.

There is more information about Tracy’s murder in previous entries on this blog. And local news organizations in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska, appear to be following it closely.

Stan Tribble Arrested

By the courtesy of a friend, I’ve just learned that Stan Tribble was arrested this morning on charges that he murdered his wife, Tracy Gostomski Tribble. Investigators believe that Tracy was killed sometime between 10:45 on May 2 and the morning of May 3.

Links to articles:

• WOWT
• Des Moines Register
• Cedar Rapids Gazette
• The Daily Nonpareil

Thank you, Friend.

Update: Tracy Gostomski Tribble

Investigators held a press conference this afternoon, announcing the results of Tracy Tribble’s autopsy, and have reclassified her death as a homicide. A few interesting details were revealed.

• Investigators said Gostomski-Tribble died of asphyxiation and that she was either strangled, smothered or she drowned in the Missouri River where she was found.
• “She suffered multiple blunt force injuries, including at least three separate injures to her head, which are inconsistent with an accidental death,” Wilber said.
• Wilber said he believes that Tribble was murdered between 10:45 p.m. on May 2 and the early-morning hours of May 3.
• “We know Tracy was having a phone conversation with her husband’s sister that ended at around 10:45 p.m.,” Wilber said.
• There is a $75,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case. Wilber said that investigators specifically want to talk to someone who saw activity on the Missouri River bridges on the night and early-morning hours of May 2 and 3.

Stan Tribble is still a person of interest in the case. County attorney Matt Wilber would not comment on how cooperative Mr. Tribble has been with the investigation.

Read the full article at KCCI.com or KETV.com.

Tracy Tribble: Resolution?

It’s about time. Three months after Tracy Gostomski Tribble disappeared from her Council Bluffs home, it appears that there is some activity in the case. Her battered body was later found floating in the Missouri River. Complete autopsy results have come in. Police are planning a news conference this afternoon, but will first apprise the family of any new information. As yet, no arrests have been made.

Are you sweating, Stan?

No News Is…what exactly?

You know the old saying, “No news is good news.” As with all colloquialisms, there is generally an exception. Which side of the line does the Tracy Tribble case come down on — rule or exception? Aside from reports of the memorial service and the announcement of a new reward offer, there has been no news regarding Tracy’s death since May 25th, when some of the autopsy findings were released and the Tribble home was again searched for evidence of a crime.

Tracy Gostomski Tribble has been dead for more than a month. Her husband Stan reported her missing on May 3rd after returning home from work to find her gone. Her car was in the driveway, and most of her personal effects were accounted for at the house. Her dog was found wandering in a nearby cemetary without its collar; the cat was also missing. About two and a half weeks later, Tracy’s body was found floating in the Missouri River. There was obvious trauma to her body, including a fracture to the left side of her face and several missing teeth, caused by blunt force trauma inflicted by a fist or some unknown (or perhaps, as yet, unnamed) object. Friends of Tracy have said, and Stan Tribble admits, that the couple fought on the evening of May 2nd. Stan, however, insists that it was strictly a verbal altercation and he never laid a hand on his wife. Past incidents resulting in 911 calls do little to bolster Stan’s claim.

At the time of the autopsy and subsequent search of the home, investigators told the press that they were awaiting a final autopsy report before classifying Tracy’s death. There was more investigative work to be done. Another three weeks have passed, and there’s been not a hint as to resolution of the case. Am I being impatient, or is there such a lack of evidence against Tracy’s killer as to hamper the prosecution of the perpetrator? Are they still awaiting test results? If you’ve read my previous entries about Tracy Tribble, I’m sure you’re aware that I’m more than a little inclined to believe that Stan Tribble is responsible for Tracy’s death. Perhaps, I was naïve to believe that he would be behind bars by now. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Stan Tribble is Stupid

Tracy Tribble was murdered, and Stan Tribble is a stupid, lying murderer. I can say that because it’s only my opinion, of course, and this is my blog, which was specifically created as a place to write down my thoughts and opinions. The Council Bluffs police can’t say it yet, but they will. It’s only a matter of time. And that, too, is just my opinion, but you’ll soon see that it’s true. They’ve already stated that he is their only “person of interest” in the case. They’re waiting on the complete autopsy results before they classify her death. Expect an arrest to be made simultaneously.

Police have executed two search warrants on the Tribble home and vehicles — one on May 11 and another on May 22.

The search warrant also states that police confiscated several pieces of bedding from Stan Tribble’s home, including a waterbed liner that was in the trash and an SUV.

Prior to the first warrant, Stupid Stan was allowing the investigators access to the home and freely answering their questions. Then he hired a lawyer who put a stop to it.

Tracy (Gostomski) Tribble disappeared from her Council Bluffs, Iowa home earlier this month. She was reported missing by her husband Stan on May 3. He claims to have last seen her at 6:30 that morning before leaving for work. When he returned home at about 5:30 pm, Tracy was gone. Her vehicle was in the driveway. Her cell phone and wedding ring were on the counter. Her dog was found wandering in a nearby cemetary without his collar. Friends have reported, and Stan admits, that the couple fought the night before Tracy disappeared. Stan claims that it was merely a verbal altercation, but it’s known that he has physically assaulted Tracy in the past. He currently is facing charges for one prior incident, wherein Tracy called police but then refused to press charges.

Stan claims that his wife mentioned suicide during their argument. [Uh-huh.]

Although Stan claims to have seen Tracy on May 3, police released a description of the clothing she wore on May 2.

Tracy’s body was found in the Missouri River on Friday, May 19. There were obvious injuries. The left side of her face was fractured, and several teeth were knocked out. Blunt force trauma — translated to mean a violent blow from Stan’s fist or some object which he wielded against his wife.

Does Stan expect us to believe that she did that to herself? Her friends certainly don’t.

See what I mean? Stan Tribble is a stupid, lying murderer. No, wait. Make that a stupid, lying, wife-beating murderer.

Considering that Stan is a lying, wife-beating murderer, I’m glad that he’s stupid, too. Actually, I’m not sure one could be a lying, wife-beating murderer without being stupid in the first place. Whatever the case, Tracy was murdered, Stan is stupid, and the Council Bluffs police are not.

Stupid Stan is going down.

Update: 1:15 pm

The Daily Nonpareil has published a few more details from the search warrant:

• Both the dog and the cat were missing from the Tribble residence.
• There were two messages on the answering machine: one from the animal shelter informing the Tribbles that their dog had been found, another from Tracy’s friend, whom she was supposed to have picked up that morning.
• Among the items detectives were looking for in the search were Tracy’s hair, fake fingernails, and teeth.

Officers were also looking for any indication of a struggle in the residence or the vehicles resulting in DNA left behind. Several items were taken from the home during the search, including pillowcases, bedding, a waterbed bladder and lining and one of the vehicles.

7 Updates and a New 1

John Fiocco, Jr.’s parents have hired a lawyer, a private investigator, and Dr. Michael Baden to investigate their son’s death.

Baden said yesterday he has been on the Fiocco case for a few weeks at the request of the deceased 19-year-old TCNJ freshman’s relatives, who live in Mantua, Gloucester County.”The family wants to know why their son died and did anybody do harm to him?” Baden said, adding he has reached “no conclusions at all. We’re just in the process of gathering information.”

 

Good for them.

Lawyers in the Natalee Holloway case were in a New York courtroom yesterday arguing whether to dismiss or move the civil suit filed by her parents. They await a decision from the judge.

The Dorrian brothers, owners of The Falls, were slapped down hard by the State Liquor Authority for their offenses regarding the hiring of Darryl Littlejohn and lying to investigators of the Imette St. Guillen murder.

“He lied. He hedged. He ducked and weaved,” a police source said of Daniel Dorrian. “He did everything he could to avoid helping to find who killed this girl. All because he didn’t want to lose his liquor license. For money and greed.”

They may lose their liquor license. One can only hope. That should be the least of their punishment, in my opinion.

A Russellville detective opens up a little about the Nona Dirksmeyer investigation, defending his department against public criticism. There’s not really any new information in the article, but it’s interesting if you’ve been following the case. I think they did things right.

I hope I’m wrong, but I get the feeling that Tara Grinstead’s family is being taken for a ride by this so-called criminologist, Dr. Maurice Godwin.

Royal Caribbean is fishing with live bait again. Another passenger, Daniel DiPiero, has gone overboard, and, once again, their main concern is public relations. Daniel was drunk. It’s all his own fault, and Royal Caribbean’s hands are clean. Of course. Nevermind that nearly 12-hour gap between the time that a security camera captured Daniel going overboard and the time that the Coast Guard was notified. As you’ll remember, George Smith IV either fell or was pushed overboard during his honeymoon on a Royal Caribbean cruise of the Mediterranean.

Some members of the Peterson jury have their own book coming out this fall. I may read it if the opportunity arises, but I won’t be buying the book. Gloria Allred has made too much money on the case already.

www.tracytribble.com
The family of Tracy Tribble is asking for volunteers to help search for the 35-year-old redhead in western Iowa. She’s been missing from her Council Bluffs home since May 3rd. Or could it be May 2nd? Tracy was reportedly last seen by her husband before he left for work.

Stan Tribble told officers that he last saw Tracy before going to work at 6 a.m. When he returned home at 5:30 p.m., her car was still in the driveway, but she was nowhere to be found.

In addition to her vehicle, Tracy apparently left without her keys, purse, and cell phone. Her wallet, which contains her identification and a debit card, is missing from her purse, but there has been no activity on her account. Her dog was found wandering without its collar in a nearby cemetary. Contrary to the police stance that Stan Tribble is not a suspect, they have released a description of clothing that Tracy was wearing on May 2nd.

A coworker told officers that Tribble, 35, was wearing dark blue pants or jeans, a green sweater and a dark green jacket with a gray fleece lining.

Stan Tribble admits to police that he and Tracy had an argument the night before she disappeared, but denies assaulting her. Police have been called to the Tribble residence on more than one occasion for incidents of domestic violence, and last week filed charges against Stan for an April assault on his wife. Police have stated that so far there is nothing to indicate that Stan Tribble is responsible for his wife’s disappearance, but as the last to see her, he is certainly a person of interest. Police say that Stan has been contacting friends in trying to locate Tracy. Tribble was, at first, cooperative with investigators, submitting to an interview on May 8 and allowing them access to the home at 133 Benton St., but has since hired a lawyer and required a search warrant for further searches of the home. The results of the search warrant executed on May 11 have been sealed, so it isn’t know what, if anything, was found. Friend and former boyfriend Bryon Batchelder told reporters that the couple had had a bad argument the night of May 2 and describes Tracy as distraught afterward. Batchelder has taken a leave of absence from his job in Las Vegas to look for Tracy and doesn’t intend to return until she is found.

Another search is planned for this Saturday, and a $75,000 reward for information as to Tracy’s whereabouts is being offered. Anyone with information is asked to call Council Bluffs police at (712) 328-4764 or the non-emergency number at (712) 328-5737. Tracy’s family has set up a tip-line — (402) 218-1199 — for anyone who may be too intimidated to call police.

Christine Gaines, Tribble’s stepsister, said that the line was established to encourage anyone who might be afraid to call police with information about her sister’s disappearance.

“We hope that this line will open up some opportunities to find new information,” Gaines said.

Police have investigated a couple of tips received by the family, according to Gaines, but no new evidence has turned up.

Gaines also asked that if anyone in the community remembers seeing anything suspicious on rural roads in the last two weeks, to notify authorities.

 

I wonder if that rural road request is just based on a hunch or if it’s the result of something found in searches of the home and both vehicles.