Plea bargain made in teenager’s death

Wednesday, June 2, 2004 | 9:29 a.m.

A plea bargain allowed a drug dealer who killed a 17-year-old girl to get a sentence of 14 to 35 years in prison Tuesday.

Frederick John Giebler, 21, had originally faced a more severe sentence if convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping and burglary charges in connection with the death of Amanda Harkness, but in exchange for a guilty plea, prosecutors lowered the charges to second-degree murder and two counts of burglary.

He was sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison for the second-degree murder charge and 48 to 120 months for the burglarly charge. The sentences are to be served consecutively.

Harkness' body was found April 17, 2001, outside a city storage yard near Warm Springs and McCormick roads by a Henderson employee.

An autopsy revealed the teenager had been shot in the back of the head with a small caliber gun from a close distance.

According to transcripts, Giebler's former girlfriend, Amanda Cordes, told grand jurors that the last time she saw Harkness, the teen was leaving the home with Giebler.

Cordes told police that Giebler was upset with Harkness because she had drugs delivered to the home she shared with Cordes and Giebler's 2-year-old son.

Cordes also said Giebler's face was painted white with black mascara lines running down it, similar to the characters in the "The Crow" movie series. His lips had also been painted black.

In the movies the main character is brought back from the dead by a crow to seek vengeance and does so by killing people.

Cordes testified that Giebler later told her that he made Harkness get out of his car and kneel, according to the transcripts. Giebler told Cordes that he led Harkness to believe he was going to leave her in the desert, but then shot her as he was getting back into his car, Cordes told the grand jury.

Four months after Harkness' death, Giebler was arrested on drug charges. He pleaded guilty Sept. 12 to transporting a controlled substance and was placed in a Drug Court program. He was indicted on the murder charge one week later.

Henderson Police Detective Gerard Collins told grand jurors that Giebler admitted he was angry with Harkness about bringing drugs into Cordes' home.

Giebler denied killing her and said he dropped her off near Sam's Town on Boulder Highway that night, Collins said.