photo by: Contributed

This photo of Regan (Gibbs) Marek was shared by her family after her death.

Thursday marks the two-year anniversary of Regan N. Marek’s death, and in the same week the Douglas County Court began the process of having her husband and alleged killer involuntarily committed.

The man, Chad Joseph Marek, 28, was charged in Douglas County District Court with first-degree murder in 25-year-old Regan’s death on May 16, 2022, in the 2500 block of West Sixth Street. Police said at the time that Marek told a dispatcher that God told him to do it.

photo by: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

Chad Joseph Marek

Marek has spent the last six months in the custody of Larned State Security Hospital in an attempt to restore his competency for trial. Judge Stacey Donovan declared him unfit for trial soon after his arrest, and he waited about 18 months for a bed at the state hospital, as the Journal-World reported. Marek was ordered to spend 90 days at the hospital, but hospital staff recommended another 90 days in January.

On Tuesday, Donovan issued an order that “proceedings for the involuntary commitment of the defendant be commenced” after she received a report from Larned that said Marek is “unlikely to become competent in the foreseeable future.”

The order specifies that the process will be handled by the secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services.

Prior to his arrest Marek could be seen frequently in downtown Lawrence evangelizing with a bullhorn and playing keyboard and guitar. He had posted videos online decrying COVID-19 vaccines as the “spirit of the Anti-Christ” and saying “Wake up Lawrence, they are coming for your children. The LGBTQ agenda is coming for your children.”

Regan’s mother, Kristin Gibbs, said at a news conference shortly after her daughter’s death that Marek had manipulated Regan into a relationship using her religion. Regan, originally from Washington state, was a former goalkeeper for the University of Kansas soccer team.

During his competency hearing in June of 2022, competency evaluator Sara Godinez from Bert Nash, testified that Marek showed signs of “hyperreligiosity” which can be an indicator of several mental or physical illnesses. At a hearing in October of 2023 Marek tore his shirt open and warned of “nuclear destruction” as a punishment from God in the United States for its sins, as the Journal-World reported.

Marek has numerous convictions for domestic battery in Leavenworth County against various relatives but his sentences were always suspended to probation, according to court records.