District Court Judge Kimberly Wanker has sentenced Michael Wilson to life in prison with parole eligibility after 10 years for murder plus an additional 8-20 years for use of a deadly weapon in the July 2018 killing of his mother, Dawn Liebig. Both sentences will run consecutive to each other. In effect, it is an 18 years-to-life sentence.
“This was a truly heinous crime and we hope that this sentence helps with the closure process and pays respect to the memory of Ms. Liebig,” District Attorney Chris Arabia said. “Because Wilson was 17 at the time of the murder, he could not be sentenced to life without parole under any circumstances under Nevada law even though my office prosecuted him as an adult. Given that limitation, we believe that this was a just outcome. He will serve life unless the Parole Board someday releases him.”
Wilson and his co-defendant and half-brother, Dakota Saldivar, also 17 at the time of the murder, fatally stabbed and bludgeoned their mother, Ms. Liebig. They then buried Ms. Liebig in a shallow grave not far from the home they had all shared.
This matter will conclude when District Judge Wanker sentences co-defendant Saldivar, which will be at a date to be determined soon, in Department 1 of the Pahrump District Court. “We will be asking that Saldivar’s sentence be identical to the one imposed on Wilson,”District Attorney Arabia said.
