Anthony Kirkland is an American serial killer. Between 2006 and 2009, Kirkland murdered two women and two girls in the Cincinnati area, following a 16-year prison term for the 1987 killing of his girlfriend.
1987 killing
On May 20, 1987, Kirkland killed his girlfriend, Leola Douglas, and set her body on fire. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served 16 years in prison. He was paroled in 2004.
20062009 murders
From May 4, 2006, through March 7, 2009, Kirkland murdered four females, three of them by strangulation. In each case, he had burned his victim's body in an attempt to conceal evidence of rape. Kirkland was arrested near the scene of his last murder victim in possession of her watch and iPod.
On the morning of his trial, Kirkland voluntarily entered a plea of guilty to the murder and abuse-of-a-corpse charges relating to Mary Jo Newton and Kimya Rolison. On March 12, 2010, the jury found Kirkland guilty on all the remaining counts, including all the death-penalty specifications. The jury recommended a sentence of death. On March 31, 2010, he was sentenced to death. The court sentenced Kirkland to death for the aggravated murder of Esme Kenney and for the aggravated murder of Casonya Crawford. The court also sentenced Kirkland to 70-years-to-life for the murders of Mary Jo Newton and Kimya Rolison. Kirkland is presently incarcerated at Chillicothe Correctional Institution in Ohio.
Appeals
On May 13, 2014, the Supreme Court of Ohio upheld Kirkland's conviction and death sentence. On October 16, 2014, the Supreme Court of Ohio granted a motion by Kirkland for a stay of execution. On April 6, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Kirkland's appeal. In May 2016, the Supreme Court of Ohio granted a motion for a new sentencing hearing for Kirkland. On November 9, 2017, Perry Ancona and Norm Aubin, the most recent attorneys for Kirkland, successfully made a request to Judge Patrick Dinkelacker of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas that they be removed from the case. According to them and prosecutor Mark Piepmeier, an attorney with the state public defender's office who is not Kirkland's attorney of record has been discussing the case and his sentencing with him. Kirkland’s resentencing hearing began with opening statements on July 25, 2018. On August 6, 2018, the jury recommended that Kirkland should be sentenced to death. On August 28, 2018 a Hamilton County judge agreed with the jury and sentenced Kirkland to death.
