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Deborah Gustin was murdered in January 1977. The man who admitted to killing her, Mark Wells, died Sept. 18, 2013, while serving his sentence for Gustin's death.
September 25, 2013 5:06 pm • By Jenny Michael
Mark Wellls pleaded guilty to the murder of Deborah Gustin in 1977. He died Sept. 18, 2013, of natural causes. He remained in custody from the time of his arrest in Gustin's murder until his death.
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A man convicted in 1977 of murdering a Bismarck woman has died while serving his sentence.
Mark Wells, 58, died of natural causes at a Bismarck hospital on Sept. 18, Tim Tausend, spokesman for the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, confirmed on Wednesday.
Wells, originally from South Dakota, pleaded guilty in May 1977 to the Jan. 23, 1977, murder of Deborah Gustin. Wells long sought release for the crime but served more than 36 years before his death last week.
The murder charge against Wells was a Class A felony, carrying a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison, but then-Burleigh County District Judge Gerald Glaser found Wells to be a “dangerous special offender” and sentenced him to life in prison. The status held up under numerous appeals to the North Dakota Supreme Court and a writ to the U.S. Supreme Court, which was denied.
Gustin, 24, was reported missing on Jan. 24, 1977, after she didn’t show up for work at the Public Service Commission, where she was a secretary. Within days, the search for Gustin spread nationwide. Police believed she had been taken by force from her apartment building, and a stolen credit card they believed had been used to jimmy open her door was linked to a purse found in southwestern North Dakota.
Gustin’s car was located in Flagstaff, Ariz., a few days after her disappearance, and Wells was arrested there on Jan. 27, 1977. Gustin’s body was found in an abandoned mine in the Terry Peak area of South Dakota’s Black Hills on Jan. 30, 1977. A medical examiner ruled that Gustin died of strangulation.
Coworkers and friends of Gustin described her to Tribune reporters in 1977 as “just a great person,” a hard worker who enjoyed arts and crafts, played softball, bowled and volunteered with the Big Sister program. Gustin graduated from St. Mary’s Central High School in 1970, then went to Bismarck Junior College for two years for an associate of arts degree.
Gustin’s brother, Dwight, said Wednesday he didn’t have any comment about Wells’ death or about his sister’s murder.
“It’s been a lot of years,” he said.
When Wells pleaded guilty, he gave details about his crime. Wells said Gustin came home to find him attempting to break into her apartment at approximately 11:30 p.m. Jan. 23, 1977. He admitted to hitting her, taking her inside and raping her. Wells claimed Gustin suffocated in a plastic bag while he drove around in her car, but witnesses for prosecutors said a cloth was found around Gustin’s neck and she had been strangled.
Wells said he drove Gustin’s body to South Dakota, where he dumped it in the abandoned mine shaft.
Wells testified that he did not know Gustin, and he admitted to breaking into her apartment two months before the murder. Police records showed Gustin had reported a burglary at her home over the Thanksgiving weekend in 1976. At a hearing to determine whether Wells was a dangerous special offender, two women testified that Wells entered their homes in the year prior to the murder and asked them to perform sexual acts.
The state Parole Board reduced Wells’ sentence over the years from life in prison to 98 years, then to 97 years. Gustin’s family steadfastly opposed Wells’ attempts to be freed, and he never was released.
Wells in 1987 became the first prisoner in North Dakota to marry while incarcerated following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing such unions. The couple later divorced.
Reach Jenny Michael at 701-250-8225 or jenny.michael@bismarcktribune.com.
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1952 - 1977 (24 years)
