By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-05 22:11:04 | Updated at 2026-08-06 03:10:10
5 hours ago
A deranged son beat his adoring nurse mother to death in their brand new Florida home and went on a hit-and-run rampage covered in her blood — just a week after she bailed him out of jail, officials said.
Gibson Nash, 21, allegedly strangled and beat his mother, Margaret Dufour, to death in their home in Eagle Creek, where she had moved in a “last-ditch effort” to help her mentally ill son get better care, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd announced in a press conference on Wednesday.
“It’s one of the most personally violent murders we’ve seen in a very long time,” Judd told reporters.
Nash, who suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, allegedly strangled Dufour, 56, and “stomped her into a bloody puddle in the middle of the floor,” on July 21st, according to the sheriff.
Deputies uncovered the disturbing scene after responding to three hit-and-run crashes that morning, in which Nash stole his mother’s 2022 BMW, police said.
Nash rammed into multiple cars and refused to stop, then got into one last accident by speeding over the center line and colliding with another vehicle.
Emergency responders brought Nash to the hospital, but were suspicious when they observed that his hands and shoes were covered in blood despite the crash not involving injuries that would cause him to bleed, Judd said.
Doctors at the hospital learned that Nash had attempted to overdose on Tylenol and was experiencing liver failure.
After discovering the car was registered to Dufour — a registered nurse who just landed a new job at a local hospital — police arrived at her home in the afternoon and discovered her dead in her home office.
Investigators then uncovered several disturbing details about the mother-son relationship, including that Dufour had just driven to Knoxville, Tenn., to bail Nash out of jail on July 14.
The son allegedly threatened her with a knife over not letting him play Xbox in late April, police said.
Just weeks before, on April 6, Dufour called 911 after locking herself in a smoke shop bathroom to tell police in Knoxville that Nash had threatened her with a knife and assaulted her.
Charges against Nash for the alleged vile threats were dropped in Knoxville, according to the sheriff.
Dufour moved to Eagle Creek in the month before her brutal death to try to get Nash better mental health care, Judd said.
“She had a new house. She had a new job. She was a wonderful lady. She was a great mother. She would not give up on him even after he threatened to kill her and pulled knives on her and hit her and attacked her,” Judd said at the press conference.
Polk County authorities had recently been to the home to settle a dispute with a moving company that tried to upcharge the hardworking mother and actually “helped her move the boxes” into her brand-new Sunshine State property, Judd recalled.
The blood found all over Nash later came back as a DNA match for Dufour, and the alleged killer son was covered in bruises from the sheer force of beating his mother, cops said.
Gibson was extubated on Monday after his liver showed signs of improvement, and charged with first-degree murder in Dufour’s death, WFLA reported.
He is in custody in the hospital and will be transferred to Polk County Jail after his release.
