In a shocking case from Florida, a man stands accused of murdering his mother just after she relocated to the state in a bid to help him with mental health issues. The tragic incident unfolded shortly after she posted bail for him.
At the center of this heartbreaking scenario is 21-year-old Gibson Nash. Authorities have charged him with first-degree murder following a bewildering chain of events that culminated in the discovery of his mother’s lifeless, bloodied body.
The grim discovery was made by deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, who found 56-year-old nurse Margaret Chu Dufour sprawled on the floor of her Polk County residence. This wasn’t the first time officers had visited the home.
Just a month earlier, deputies had been called to the address to handle a “disturbance” related to her moving company, marking the beginning of a series of unsettling events.
Authorities formally charged Gibson Nash with the first-degree murder of his mother, Margaret Chu Dufour, after he allegedly subjected her to a brutal beating and strangulation in July. (Polk County Sheriff’s Office)
The “movers tried to upcharge her and charge her more money,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a news conference on Aug. 5.
After movers left, his deputies helped her finish moving items into her new home “without fanfare,” Judd said.
“That’s the kind of customer service our deputies do.”
So deputies with the same department were horrified to find her dead on the floor a month later. It was the culmination of a series of puzzling events on the morning of July 21, Judd said.
Just before 7 a.m., her son was involved in multiple traffic crashes while driving her vehicle, a blue BMW SUV, Judd said.
After fleeing the first crash, Nash allegedly hit a slew of other vehicles with the SUV, Judd said. The rampage caused more property damage, additional crashes between other vehicles, and ultimately, injuries to three people, who were treated at a hospital.
Deputies then found Nash unconscious behind the wheel of the SUV covered in blood. That confused deputies, Judd said.
“It was a significant crash, but it was like, ‘Why is he unconscious?’” Judd said.
Deputies tried to sort it out at the scene.
“He’s got blood on his hands, and the paramedic thinks this is not a bloody kind of crash. Where did the blood come from?”
Margaret Chu Dufour, a 56-year-old nurse, was found beaten and strangled inside her Polk County home, authorities said. (Polk County Sheriff’s Office)
Nash was taken to a local hospital with an unknown identity. He was sedated and intubated.
Meanwhile, deputies went to Dufour’s house because it was shown on the vehicle’s registration. She didn’t answer their knock at the door.
They learned that she wasn’t supposed to be at work that day. They saw a broken glass plate near her patio door and a shovel near the side of the house.
Because of the “suspicious circumstances,” they entered the house with a key they found on the front porch, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies then found Dufour “stomped into a bloody puddle in the middle of the floor,” Judd said.
The medical examiner said she died from “blunt force injury from a beating, and from being strangled to death,” Judd said.
“It’s one of the most, personally, violent murders we’ve seen in a very long time,” said the sheriff, who’s been in law enforcement 54 years.
In April, Nash had been arrested twice for allegedly threatening to kill his mother. They both lived in Knoxville, Tennessee, at the time. The first time, Dufour had called 911 after locking the door behind her after entering a smoke shop, leaving him in her vehicle just outside.
She told the 911 operator that her son had “attacked” her the night before and “assaulted” her that morning, Judd said. The only way she could get him to calm down was agreeing to take him to the smoke shop, she said on the call.
Shortly after, Nash was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill her with a knife. Later that month, Nash pulled a knife and threatened to kill her again, this time “over not being able to play on the Xbox,” Judd said.
Margaret Chu Dufour moved into a new home in Eagle Lake, Fla., about a month before she was killed. (Polk County Sheriff’s Office)
Soon after, Dufour moved to Florida. But she returned to Tennessee to bond her son out of jail, Judd said.
Her move south was an attempt to get Nash more mental health treatment, Judd said. Family members told investigators that he’s “bipolar, schizophrenic and maybe autistic.”
While in the hospital after the July traffic crashes in Florida, blood on his clothing was tested and found to be his mother’s, Judd said.
Investigators found “remarkable” bruising on his knuckles and feet “from where he kicked and kicked and stomped and beat his mother,” Judd said.
Nash also was in liver failure from overdosing on Tylenol, Judd said.
Dufour had recently started work as a nurse on the surgery floor at Bartow Regional Medical Center.
Nash’s lawyer, hired by his father, wouldn’t let law enforcement interview him.
“Fortunately for us, he made some omissions without being interviewed,” Judd said.
It was not immediately clear who Nash’s attorney is.
Nash also has been charged with two third-degree felonies for “leaving the scene of a crash involving injury.”
“Gibson Nash needs to remain locked away from the public forever,” Judd said.
He is currently held without bond in a Polk County jail.
“The way he murdered his mother was a mix of pure rage and extreme violence. After killing her, he caused two vehicle crashes on a busy road. He has no respect for others and is a clear threat to society.”