William Clyde Gibson

Timeline

• October 26, 2013 — A jury in New Albany found William Clyde Gibson guilty of the murder of Christine Whitis.
• November 26, 2013 — Floyd Superior Judge Susan Orth sentenced William Clyde Gibson to death; a tentative execution date of Nov. 26, 2014 was set.
• September 24, 2012 — Two specialists told a Floyd County judge they believed William Clyde Gibson was competent to stand trial; reports were sealed in Gibson’s criminal file.
• April 19, 2012 — Christine Whitis’s body was found in the Gibson family garage.
• April 17, 2014 — A Floyd County judge sentenced William Clyde Gibson to 65 years in prison for the October 2002 murder of Karen Sue Hodella.
• March 20, 2014 — William Clyde Gibson changed his plea to guilty in his second capital murder case, admitting he killed Karen Hodella in October 2002.
• June 3, 2014 — William Clyde Gibson pleaded guilty in a third murder case, abruptly ending jury selection for the capital trial in the slaying of Stephanie Kirk.
• August 15, 2014 — Floyd Superior Judge Susan Orth set a death sentence for William Clyde Gibson in the murder of Stephanie Kirk; an execution date was set for Aug. 15, 2015.
• April 17, 2012 — Gibson was sentenced to death on November 26, 2013 (status includes later sentencing events for other cases).

Background

William Clyde Gibson was a triple-murder suspect accused in three killings: Christine Whitis (75) of Clarksville, Stephanie Kirk (35) of Charlestown, and Karen Hodella (44) of Port Orange, Florida. Christine Whitis was a family friend of Gibson’s mother. Karen Hodella was a Florida beautician. Stephanie Kirk’s body was found buried in Gibson’s backyard.

Gibson was incarcerated after his arrest and was held at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. Floyd County Judge Susan Orth granted a protective order prohibiting Gibson from having contact with law enforcement, the media and the public until he underwent a mental evaluation and a competency hearing. Gibson also wrote in a letter to a newspaper that he was guilty of the killings and willing to admit it in court.

The offence

Murder of Christine Whitis

Christine Whitis was strangled and her body was left in Gibson’s garage in New Albany. Police testimony and forensic testimony included that Gibson strangled Whitis and broke her ribs and lower spine, and that a breast was cut off with a kitchen knife. The jury heard that Whitis’s back had been broken.

Dr. Amy Burrows-Beckham, the forensic pathologist at the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s office, testified that hemorrhages in Whitis’s neck muscles and fractures of a bone in her neck showed she had been strangled. She testified that Whitis likely died about 24 hours before Gibson’s sister found her body in the Gibson family garage on April 19, 2012. She pointed out photos illustrating swelling, scrapes and bruises on Whitis’s face, and cuts, scrapes, bruises and what she believed was a bite mark on Whitis’s genital area. She testified that those latter injuries could only have been caused by sexual assault and were likely caused while Whitis was alive.

Dr. Burrows-Beckham testified that she had seen open wounds where a breast had been amputated, and that the injury could have been caused by a sharp object such as a knife either as Whitis was dying or after she died. She testified that Whitis’s lower spine was fractured and that fractured ribs could only be caused by great force. She testified that swelling on Whitis’s scalp indicated blunt force, possibly from Whitis’s head hitting the concrete floor of the garage.

Investigators said Gibson’s actions included strangling and sexually assaulting Whitis, after which Whitis was tortured, bound with duct tape, and mutilated.

Murder of Stephanie Kirk

Stephanie Kirk (35), of Charlestown, was reported missing and later found buried in Gibson’s backyard days after Gibson’s arrest in Christine Whitis’s death. Police said both Kirk and Whitis had been sexually assaulted after they were killed. Kirk’s body was discovered after police dug up Gibson’s yard to recover her remains.

At sentencing, Judge Susan Orth detailed Gibson’s confession about how Kirk died after Gibson put his “hands in front of her throat” to strangle her, according to his own confession.

Murder of Karen Hodella

Karen Hodella (44) was murdered in October 2002. Hodella’s body was found in Clarksville near the Ohio River in early 2003. Gibson admitted fatally stabbing Hodella multiple times. Police said Gibson carried Hodella’s body in his pickup before dumping it beside the Ohio River. Gibson’s plea in relation to this case resulted in a 65-year prison sentence.

Investigation

Police tracked down Gibson at the wheel of Whitis’s van at Walmart on Grant Line Road in New Albany, a half mile from the crime scene. Investigators also dug up Gibson’s yard to recover Kirk’s body after Whitis’s corpse had been discovered.

Maj. Keith Whitlow, with the New Albany Police Department, said police were trying to track Gibson’s timeline at least for the last decade and to identify employment and travels that could place him elsewhere besides New Albany, Indiana. He also stated that if there were any more victims out there, police could discover them.

Investigators were seen at Gibson’s home using technology to scan what could possibly be located underground and searching inside his home. Items including a couch and end tables were loaded into a storage trailer parked in the driveway. An officer kept watch on the property until recently, and following an unexpected event when citizens crossed police tape to take a closer look, police said they would re-evaluate and possibly put someone out there to keep an eye out.

The FBI helped by connecting the department to a databank on missing persons and recovered remains. Police also addressed rumor that Gibson might be connected to Lauren Spierer, describing it as purely “media speculation.”

Arrest

Gibson was arrested in April 2012. At that time, he was charged in connection with the murders of Christine Whitis (75), Stephanie Kirk (35), and Karen Hodella (44). Kirk’s body was unearthed in Gibson’s backyard. Hodella was stabbed to death in 2002, and her body was found near the Ohio River in Clarksville.

Trial

Whitis capital murder trial

A 12-person jury and five alternates from Dearborn County were sequestered in New Albany. The trial was expected to last two to three weeks.

For the death penalty to be imposed under Indiana law, prosecutors argued that at least one aggravating circumstance occurred during the killing. In the Whitis case, prosecutors argued aggravating circumstances including dismemberment and sexual assault. The defense sought dismissal of dismemberment as a possible aggravating circumstance, arguing it was not well defined under state law and that case law mainly dealt with murders where body parts were removed for disposal.

Steven Owen told Floyd Circuit Judge Susan Orth that evidence would show Gibson cut off one of Whitis’s breasts and intended to dispose of at least some of her body parts, based on where her body was found near a chain saw and a roll of plastic bags. He said the facts would show Gibson tried to cut off her other breast.

The judge denied the defense’s motion to dismiss dismemberment as a possible aggravating circumstance and also denied motions to exclude autopsy photos and “gruesome and gory depictions of the crime scene,” with jurors expected to hear and see graphic details.

During testimony, Gibson’s sister found Whitis’s body dumped beside garbage bags inside the Gibson garage and called police. Prosecutors called witnesses including Dr. Amy Burrows-Beckham, Robert Getrost, two Hooters waitresses, and Mike Whitis. Mike Whitis, the only child of the murder victim, was shown the victim’s purse and asked to confirm it was hers.

The jury deliberated for 17 minutes and returned a guilty verdict on October 26, 2013.

The defense called only one witness, Detective Ken Fudge with the New Albany Police Department, questioned about garbage bags, chainsaw and other tools in Gibson’s garage where family found Whitis’s body. The defense attempted to discredit the state’s belief Gibson had plans of disposing of Whitis’s body.

Before deliberations concluded, the defense and prosecution argued what charges the jury should consider, including whether voluntary manslaughter should be added. The defense argued that Gibson testified he “flipped out” or similar and that he flew into a blind rage when Whitis stopped his sexual advances. Judge Susan Orth denied the voluntary manslaughter charge.

Competency for trial

Two specialists told Judge Susan Orth they believed William Clyde Gibson was competent to stand trial. Psychologist Heather Henderson-Galligan submitted a report that agreed with a psychiatrist’s findings. Reports by both Henderson-Galligan and psychiatrist Steven Shelton were sealed in Gibson’s criminal file, though an online court docket showed both reached the same conclusion.

Orth granted a request from Gibson’s public defenders for a protective order intended to prevent Gibson from incriminating himself while he pursued mental evaluation and a competency hearing.

Sentencing

On November 26, 2013, Judge Susan Orth sentenced William Clyde Gibson to death and set a tentative execution date of Nov. 26, 2014 for his execution.

On April 17, 2014, a Floyd County judge sentenced 56-year-old William Clyde Gibson III to 65 years in prison for the October 2002 murder of Karen Sue Hodella. Gibson pleaded guilty to killing the Port Orange, Florida woman.

On August 15, 2014, Judge Susan Orth sentenced William Clyde Gibson to death for the murder of Stephanie Kirk, whose body was buried in Gibson’s New Albany, Indiana backyard. Gibson gave short, one-word answers to Orth’s questions and turned in his chair as Orth detailed the brutal murder and how Kirk died after Gibson put his “hands in front of her throat” to strangle her, according to his own confession.

Death was the “only appropriate sentence,” as stated in Orth’s nearly 30-page sentencing order.

At sentencing in the case involving Kirk, defense attorney Patrick Biggs cited Gibson’s history of alcoholism and bipolar disorder and his “remorseful” confession. Prosecutor Keith Henderson said the judge did not see remorse and cited a tattoo Gibson received in prison: “Death Row X3,” printed in large letters across the back of his head.

“Death Row X3,” printed in large letters across the back of his head.

Henderson said: “We can’t make someone be sorry.” Henderson said: “But what we can do is hold them accountable, and that’s what we did.”

Orth set Gibson’s initial execution date for Kirk’s murder as Aug. 15, 2015. Orth had previously set a tentative execution date of Nov. 26 for Gibson in the Whitis murder, though both dates could change because of automatic appeals.

Appeals

Death penalty cases went directly to the Indiana Supreme Court for review. Two additional appeals involving post-conviction review and federal habeas corpus review of constitutional rights were provided unless a defendant forgo them. Automatic appeals were described as affecting execution dates.

Outcome

William Clyde Gibson received death sentences for the murders of Christine Whitis and Stephanie Kirk, with a 65-year prison sentence for the murder of Karen Hodella.

Other details

Plea changes and related proceedings

Twice convicted murderer William Clyde Gibson pleaded guilty to a third murder in the slaying of Stephanie Kirk, abruptly ending jury selection for his capital trial in that case. The plea came after Gibson, his defense lawyers, prosecutors and Floyd Superior Judge Susan Orth and staff members spent 12 hours Monday in an Evansville courtroom choosing jurors for Gibson’s trial that was supposed to start June 16. Instead, Gibson told his lawyers early Tuesday he wanted to plead guilty, waving his right to trial by jury. Orth was to hear evidence July 28 before deciding on penalty and sentence.

Convicted killer William Clyde Gibson changed the plea from not guilty to guilty in his second of three capital cases and admitted to having killed Karen Hodella in October 2002. He was scheduled to be formally sentenced next month to the maximum non-death-penalty term in Indiana, 65 years. Henderson said the judge already ordered that Gibson not be given haircuts between then and June, the start of the third case’s trial, due to concern that the tattoo could prejudice a jury. The Department stated it did not have a photo of the new tattoo and that if an inmate was found to have gotten a new one while in custody, he got a conduct violation, with potential loss of privileges including any good time credits.

Gibson’s request for a fast and speedy trial indicated the court likely needed to schedule a date within the next six months for his second trial in Kirk’s death.

Statements and quotes

Gibson told Judge Susan Orth after she announced his execution date: “I deserve what I’m getting. It ain’t no big deal.” He asked that the court dispense quickly with his next two murder trials and told Orth: “It’s my right.”

In a letter to a Courier-Journal reporter from the Floyd County jail, Gibson said he would accept the death penalty in the slayings because “after all I am guilty.” The judge imposed a protective order prohibiting the defendant from having contact with law enforcement and the media to prevent him from incriminating himself.

Gibson said during the Whitis sentencing that he thought getting death was fair: “I deserve what I’m getting. It ain’t no big deal.” Henderson said he was satisfied that seeking death in the two cases was the right thing to do.

At sentencing in the Kirk case, Orth appeared to choke up as she said: “Mr. Gibson, may God have mercy on your soul.”

Tony Kirk, the father of victim Stephanie Kirk, said at the sentencing: “I’m just glad it’s over.” He said: “There was a little weight lifted. I’ve been waiting two years to hear that.”

When discussing the sentencing after the proceeding, Henderson said: “the judge didn’t see it,” and also: “We can’t make someone be sorry,” and “But what we can do is hold them accountable, and that’s what we did.”

George Streib described the defense’s position regarding dismemberment and its relevance to aggravating circumstances during trial proceedings.

Victims and ages

• Christine Whitis was 75.
• Stephanie Kirk was 35.
• Karen Hodella was 44.
• Gibson was described as 54 or 55 in various proceedings and as 56 at sentencing for Hodella and later for the capital sentencing context.