LINCOLN, Ne. -- Today, Sebastian Dunbar, 32, was sentenced to life in prison plus 48-50 years of imprisonment for the Dec.17, 2023, murder of his girlfriend, Molly Gruber, 35, in Superior, Neb.

Dunbar, armed with a rifle, shot through the front door of their residence, killing Gruber. The couple’s child, a then two-year-old, was home during the incident. Law enforcement officers with the Superior Police Department and Nuckolls County Sheriff’s Office responded to the incident and immediately arrested Dunbar.

The case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol and prosecuted by the Nuckolls County Attorney’s Office and the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.

On June 23, 2025, a jury trial began in Nuckolls County District Court. Over the course of six days, the jury heard testimony from 19 witnesses and received 375 exhibits. It was determined Molly Gruber was strangled prior to her death by gunshot wound.

On June 30, 2025, Dunbar was convicted by the Nuckolls County jury of the following charges: First-Degree Murder, Use of a Firearm to Commit a Felony, Negligent Child Abuse, and Assault by Strangulation. Dunbar was sentenced by District Court Judge Morgan R. Farquhar.