Man gets 15 years prison in triple stabbing

First Posted: 3/11/2015

VAN WERT — A man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for stabbing three people last year.

Michael Keipper, 25, of Van Wert, was sentenced on the charges of attempted murder and aggravated burglary, both first degree felonies, and two counts of felonious assault, each a second-degree felony.

Judge Charles Steele of Van Wert County Common Pleas Court also ordered Keipper to pay $51,343 to victim Kody Detwiler.

Keipper stabbed Megan A. Gillette, 24, Raenita L. Hibbard, 32, and Kody N. Detwiler, 24, on Oct. 26 inside an apartment at 106 S. Wall St. in Van Wert. Keipper broke into the apartment and stabbed the victims, officials reported.

Detwiler is Gillette’s new boyfriend. Hibbard lived downstairs in the apartment building. Police arrested Keipper at the scene shortly after the incident.

Gillette and Hibbard were not seriously injured and were treated, then released from the hospital. Detwiler was flown by medical helicopter to a hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for treatment and survived.