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Park killer gets life

Matthew Jennings confessed to 2014 slaying of young mother

CLOVIS — Ariel Ulibarri was a cheerful mother of two, sister, daughter, aunt and friend who responded to any request with a cheerful, "I'll be there in two-and-a-half."

That's according to those she left behind when Matthew Jennings said he killed her in 2014.

Jennings, 28, was sentenced to life — 30 years before the possibility of parole — by District Judge Drew Tatum on Thursday afternoon in connection with the stabbing on Nov. 9, 2014.

"I struggle finding words for this," Tatum said. "I can't understand how someone could commit such a horrible, evil, terrible act. There was no reason for this. It did not have to happen. Did not have to happen."

The courtroom crowd of about 50 was comprised largely of law enforcement and Ulibarri relatives who wore T-shirts with a picture of Ariel on one side and, "Gone but not forgotten," on the other.

Jennings only spoke to answer direct questions from Tatum regarding the plea deal and his rights.Ulibarri family members did not refer to Jennings by name other than once in a letter from parents Mark Ulibarri and Anna Montano. Their letter read, "Matthew Jennings took from our grandchildren a mother whose world was centered around them."

The parents' letter, read by District Attorney Andrea Reeb, said Ariel, "was the person everybody called when they needed something," and that she never deserved to die at the hands of a stranger while she took her son to Goodwin Lakes Walking Trails Park.

Sister LeAnna Montano said Nov. 9 is a day that will haunt her forever.

"My family has learned in the most horrific way to cherish time with loved ones," Montano said. "Time doesn't heal; time gives you time to cope. And I hope he copes in the worst ways."

Reeb said during the hearing she felt confident she could convict based on a Jennings confession during a competency hearing and a knife found in the park with Ulibarri's DNA on the blade and Jennings' DNA on the handle.

That knife helped lead law enforcement to Jennings, who by that time was already in the Curry County Adult Detention Center on an unrelated probation violation.

Jennings' attorney, Stephen McIlwain, noted during the hearing that the plea deal was taken against his advice.

Asked how confident he was on the chances of acquittal after the hearing, McIlwain said, "I've never felt confident about anything with this field; I think we could have presented a strong insanity case."

Had the case gone to trial, Jennings would have also faced a tampering with evidence charge. If found guilty, he would have served those six years in addition to the punishment for the murder charge.

"I'm just glad we're finally done, with what the family's been through," Reeb said. "It's been a long 2 1/2 years. This was the right result."

 
 
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