photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Chad Marek

A man accused of killing his significant other in Lawrence has been convicted of domestic battery against various relatives multiple times in Leavenworth County, but his sentences were always suspended to probation.

The man, Chad Joseph Marek, 27, of Lawrence, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Regan Gibbs, 25, on May 16 at their apartment in the 2500 block of West Sixth Street. Police said that he called 911 after the crime and said that God had told him to do it.

photo by: Contributed

This photo of Regan Gibbs was shared by her family.

After Marek’s arrest, Lawrence Police Chief Rich Lockhart said that Lawrence police had some previous contact with Marek but nothing that would indicate that he might kill someone.

While Marek has little more than an eviction dispute on record in Douglas County from July of 2021, in Leavenworth County he has had 12 cases filed against him with charges including domestic battery and interfering with emergency medical services, among others, according to court records.

Marek’s run-ins with the legal system began as a juvenile, though details about those cases aren’t readily available. His adult history with the legal system began at age 18, when in October 2013 he faced one felony count of criminal threat, one count of interference with medical services and one count of disorderly conduct, according to charging documents from Leavenworth County. The criminal threat was against one Lansing, Kansas, police officer and three Leavenworth County EMS workers. The court’s records do not detail the specifics of this incident.

Marek eventually pleaded no contest to the interference with medical services charge and to disorderly conduct in August of 2014. Leavenworth County Judge Gunnar Sundby sentenced Marek to 30 days in the county jail for each charge, which was suspended to 12 months of probation.

But before that happened, he was accused of other crimes and spent almost four months — from Feb. 7 to June 2, 2014 — at Larned State Hospital to establish mental competency before trial. In January 2014, Marek’s attorney, Benjamin Casad, had filed for the competency hearing, and Marek was eventually declared competent on June 11, 2014.

In the subsequent cases, Marek was charged in December 2013 with one felony count of interfering with law enforcement, felony criminal threat, disorderly conduct, criminal damage, domestic battery and possession of paraphernalia. He pleaded no contest in August 2014 to the felony interference charge and disorderly conduct charge. Sundby sentenced him to 12 months in county jail for the felony and 30 days for disorderly conduct — both sentences suspended to probation to run concurrently with his previous charges.

The criminal threat charge was for a threat against three Lansing police officers, and the domestic battery charge was for unlawful contact with his grandfather. The charging documents list that the criminal damage was to drywall that belonged to his grandfather.

In September 2014, Marek was charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and felony interference with law enforcement. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor interference with law enforcement in October of 2014, and Sundby sentenced him to 12 months in county jail, suspended to probation. The aggravated assault charge lists his grandfather as the victim and a knife as the weapon involved. The documents do not say whether Marek’s grandfather was injured with the knife, though Leavenworth EMS personnel are listed as witnesses. The interference charge was for running from a Lansing police officer.

In February 2014, Marek was charged with domestic battery against his grandfather again, as well as disorderly conduct. He pleaded no contest in August of 2014 to disorderly conduct and was sentenced by Sundby to 30 days in jail, suspended to probation.

In August of 2014, Marek was charged with possession of marijuana and failure to maintain lanes while driving. He pleaded no contest to the possession charge and was sentenced to six months in jail by Sundby, suspended to probation.

In January of 2015, Marek was charged with criminal restraint, intimidation of a witness and battery of a 16-year-old. His relationship to the victim is unclear in the charging documents but it is not indicated that the victim lived with Marek. He pleaded no contest to the battery charge in October 2015, and Sundby sentenced him to six months in jail, suspended to probation. The sentence ran concurrently with his marijuana charge and consecutively to his previous charges.

In May of 2016, Marek was charged with domestic battery against another 16-year-old, a family member. He pleaded no contest to battery in July 2016, and Sundby sentenced him to six months in jail, suspended to probation.

In 2017 Marek was charged in five more cases, which were ultimately consolidated. He faced five counts of domestic battery and one count of criminal damage. Four of the counts were for unlawful physical contact with his father and one count for contact with his mother. The criminal damage is listed in the document as sheet rock owned by his father.

Marek pleaded no contest in February of 2018 to all of the charges, and Judge Tom Dawson sentenced him in July of 2018 to six months in jail on the first charge of domestic battery, 12 months for criminal damage and 12 months for each of the additional domestic battery charges for a total of five and a half years, but all of the jail time was to be served concurrently, and the sentence was suspended to 12 months of probation.

In the years that Marek was on probation, he faced probation revocation numerous times for failure to report to his probation officer, for not attending domestic violence classes and for testing positive for benzodiazepines. The last revocation order in court records was March of 2019 for failure to attend a domestic violence prevention program. His probation was terminated as unsuccessful in September of 2019, by Judge Michael Gibbens, but court records do not indicate whether Marek served jail time after that termination.

Marek is currently being held in the Douglas County Jail on a $1 million bond, and his attorney John Kerns has filed a motion for a competency evaluation. His next court appearance is scheduled for June 14.