CHANUTE — The attorney representing a rural Parsons man has withdrawn from the case and a new attorney has been appointed. The cast change will delay sentencing for the man convicted of second degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Clint W. Nibarger, 34, pleaded guilty to the two high-level felony charges in October in Neosho County District Court. His wife, Kimberly, 48, is still charged with murder in the first degree and conspiracy to commit murder.
The two are accused in the fatal shooting of Dakota Patton. Patton was last seen alive with Nibarger and his then girlfriend on April 25, 2023, at Pete's in Parsons. Patton’s body was found on the south side of 20th Road between Xavier and Wallace roads in Neosho County on May 8, 2023.
Clint Nibarger’s case was set for sentencing in early January. But Jay Witt, Nibarger’s attorney at the time, informed the court that he wasn't ready to proceed with sentencing due to a delay in receiving documents caused by the Thanksgiving holiday and a family emergency.
Witt and Deputy Kansas Attorney General Jessica G. Domme, as well as Judge Daryl Ahlquist, agreed to move the sentencing to Monday, Jan. 27. That has been taken off the court calendar as has a phone conference set this week. Instead, last week, Witt was allowed to withdraw from the case. The next attorney appointed had a conflict. So Ahlquist appointed Forrest Lowry of Ottawa to represent Nibarger.
Witt wrote in his motion to withdraw that the written plea agreement had an expected outcome of Nibarger serving 293 months in prison, or just over 24 years. The presentence investigation report returned with a different criminal history score, which would require Nibarger to serve another six years in prison.
The plea estimated Nibarger’s criminal history score at H, meaning he had two or more misdemeanor convictions. The presentence report showed he has 10 convictions, all misdemeanors. Three of the convictions were considered person crimes (one for battery and two for endangerment). Together, these charges convert to one person felony, which increased his criminal history score to D under Kansas Sentencing Guidelines. This means that instead of facing a standard sentence of 176 months in prison on the murder charge and 117 months on the conspiracy charge, he faces a standard sentence of 253 months on the murder charge and again 117 months on the conspiracy.
Under sentencing law, the second and subsequent convictions are sentenced based on the lowest criminal history score, or I. This is why the conspiracy sentence didn’t change.
Witt wrote that the plea and the expected outcome of 293 months in prison were based on “material representations of the prosecuting attorney.”
Once Nibarger saw the presentence report, “Communications between the defendant and undersigned counsel have significantly deteriorated …; there is no longer a functioning attorney-client relationship and repeated efforts to repair the relationship have failed,” Witt wrote in his motion. The presentence report was filed Nov. 26 with an amended version filed Jan. 2. Witt filed his motion to withdraw Dec. 24.
“Due process principles demand that the defendant have meaningful assistance of counsel before any further proceedings occur in this matter,” Witt wrote.
Nibarger will return to court on Feb. 19 in Erie. Kimberly Nibarger has a motions hearing Jan. 30 in Chanute and a status hearing on Feb. 19 in Erie. Her case is set for jury trial starting March 11 in Erie. Both Nibargers remain in the Neosho County Jail in Erie.
