He never knew the name of the woman he killed all those years ago , back in Arizona . Then Matthew Gibson started getting mysterious messages , at least some bearing the name , `` Anita Townshed . '' So , according to police , in June the 55-year-old drove from his North Carolina home all the way to Arizona , where he walked into the Winslow , Arizona , police department and confessed . The thing is , as the Charlotte Observer newspaper noted in breaking the story Monday , the name of Gibson 's victim was n't Anita . It was Barbara Brown . And police did n't know anything about Gibson . `` I think because he recently found religion he was starting to feel guilty and wanted to do the right thing , '' said his attorney , Ron Gilleo . Gibson had never had any run-ins with the law , not even a traffic ticket , Gilleo said . `` He could have gotten away with this , '' Bullhead City police Detective Mary Garcia said . Instead , he was recently sentenced to more than 10 years in prison . The saga began in 1997 , when police found Brown 's body along the Colorado River in Bullhead City , about 50 miles southeast of Las Vegas . According to the Charlotte Observer , Gibson told police he had met Brown one night and the two went back to his trailer . He found her `` loud and obnoxious , '' the newspaper reported , but she refused to leave . He used a large flashlight to beat her to death , Garcia said , put her body in the trunk of his car and dumped it in a park . He tossed the flashlight on a road heading toward Las Vegas . A few months later , he moved from Bullhead City , according to police . Years of drifting intervened . Drug use , too , although the Observer reported Gibson quit a few years ago . 3 steps to make a murderer confess . Then , this summer , the messages started arriving . He got text messages , police said , and the Observer reported he told authorities he had gotten a telephone call from Walmart telling him Townshed 's prescription was ready . He also got a Walmart advertisement with no return name or address , according to the newspaper . He felt , according to a police report , that he had a `` contract on his head . '' On June 5 , he walked into the Winslow Police Department and said he wanted to confess to a crime , according to the police report . Bullhead City police , alerted by colleagues in Winslow , searched their files and found Brown 's death . 2013 : Florida man allegedly kills wife , posts confession , photo on Facebook . They got a warrant for his arrest . He pleaded guilty to manslaughter last week and was sentenced to 10½ years in prison , Gilleo said . `` I had no intention to take a life , '' the Observer quoted Gibson as saying in a statement to police . `` But it did happen , and I as a man will accept my punishment . '' Gilleo said his client has always said he never wanted to kill Brown . `` He is very remorseful and sorry this all happened . ''
North Carolina man drove to Arizona this summer to confess in 17-year-old case , police say . The teen was found dead of a gunshot wound at his home on July 20 after he told authorities that the shooter had threatened him with a gun and forced him into sex acts. But police did n't know anything about him . `` He could have gotten away with this , '' detective says .