A 23-year-old man who is accused of stabbing a Dodgeville woman to death before taking her body to Nebraska was found not competent to stand trial on Friday.
Gavin Thompson is facing life in prison if convicted of first-degree homicide. In addition, he is charged with burglary, taking a vehicle without consent and hiding a corpse.
Thompson appeared before Circuit Court Judge Craig Day, who found that Thompson currently lacks competency but will likely regain competency.
According to the criminal complaint:
Dodgeville Police took a report on July 15 from a family member of 67-year-old Dorinda Segebrecht when the family member reported signs of a disturbance at her house, and after Segebrecht failed to show up for a planned outing and stopped responding to text messages that morning.
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Her car gone, but the family found a blood-stained sandal on the porch, there was blood on the floor, and her glasses were on the floor and damaged.
Investigators also noted signs of a struggle in the home, blood on the couch in the living room and signs that a body may have been dragged from the house.
Officers were able to recover video of a person of interest, with a detective identifying him as Thompson after making contact with him a month earlier during a motorist assist call.
The victim’s vehicle was entered as stolen and was tracked traveling to Illinois and Iowa before finally ending in Nebraska.
Nebraska State Patrol located the vehicle on Highway 80 on July 16. The driver failed to yield and fled at a high speed. The vehicle eventually crashed into a deep ravine near the median of I-80 before the driver fled on foot.
Segebrecht’s body was found on the floorboard of her vehicle. There was also a black-handled knife, green latex rubber gloves, and a blood-soaked shirt.
Thompson was located about four hours after the crash by the Nebraska law enforcement while walking along the highway.
Thompson told investigators that he had obtained the keys for the vehicle from an unknown person in Dodgeville and did not know who owned the vehicle. He did not have a specific definition.
He eventually admitted to going to the victim’s house because it appeared to be a calm place and that he was in need of money and a car. He admitted stabbing her in the house, according to complaint, and that he had entered the house without being invited.
Law enforcement also say Thompson admitted to dragging her body to the car and attempting to clean the residence, along with taking a few hundred dollars.
The criminal complaint says he acknowledged fearing legal consequences, stating, “yeah, that was a thought,” and said that part of his effort to clean the scene was to avoid trouble. He stated that someone who goes into a house and stabs someone should get “jail time” and admitted that he thought about that.
The Nebraska Medical Examiner’s Office lists the cause of death as “sharp force injuries to the head, neck, torso, and extremities," according to the complaint.
Additional hearings will be scheduled in the case as needed.
