CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – A motion filed by the defense team for one of the men accused of kidnapping and killing Zachary Malinowski will delay the accused killer’s trial.
Court rosters originally listed the trial for Javon Gibbs to begin Sept. 4. That trial will not happen on Monday, according to Robert Kittle with the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office. Kittle says there was a motion that was granted that affects the state’s ability to try the case.
“The State intends to file a notice to appeal to the South Carolina Court of Appeals,” says Kittle. While that appeal is pending, however, there will be no trial. Kittel could not elaborate on the details of the motion filed by the defense.
Gibbs was charged with murder and kidnapping after Malinowski went missing in 2013. A relative found the burnt remains of his car in the woods in September of 2013 but his body has still not been found.
The Malinowski case is not the only case for which Gibbs faces charges. Police say while Gibbs was out on bond for the Malinowski murder and kidnapping, he killed Laquan Johnson in September 2016 at a home on Kimberly Drive in Conway.
Christopher Brown is the second man charged with kidnapping and murder in connection to Malinowski’s disappearance. Brown was also arrested in connection to another crime while he was out on bond. The Horry County Police Department says Brown shot a man in the leg after an argument at a Burger King drive-thru in November 2015.
