Anthony Kirkland

Background

Anthony Kirkland (born September 13, 1968) was an American serial killer.

In 1987, Kirkland killed his girlfriend Leola Douglas and set her body on fire. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served 16 years in prison.

Kirkland’s murder spree lasted from 2006 until March 7, 2009. During the murders of four females in the Cincinnati area, three victims were children, and three of the four were strangled. He burned each of his victims’ bodies in an attempt to conceal evidence of rape.

Kirkland was convicted of aggravated murder, gross abuse of a corpse, attempted rape and aggravated robbery. On March 31, 2010, the judge sentenced him to death.

Kirkland had previous convictions including voluntary manslaughter and aggravated arson in 1987.

The offence

1987 killing of Leola Douglas

Anthony Kirkland (then 18) choked and beat Leola Douglas, 28, after an argument in his Walnut Hills home. He then doused her with lighter fluid and set her on fire, killing her.

Kirkland was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated arson connected to assaulting Leola Douglas, dousing her with lighter fluid, and setting fire to her while she was alive. Her severely burned body was found at the top of stairs leading into Kirkland’s house in Walnut Hills.

Murders in the Cincinnati area (2006–2009)

Kirkland murdered four females in the Cincinnati area between 2006 and 2009. The victims were:

• Leola Douglas, 27, murdered May 20, 1987
• Casonya Crawford, 15 (also referred to as Casonya “Sharee” Crawford), murdered March, 2006
• Mary Jo Newton, 45, murdered April or May, 2006
• Kimya Rolison, 14, murdered December 22, 2006
• Esme Kenny, 13, murdered March 7, 2009

From December 22, 2006 through March 7, 2009, Kirkland murdered four females, three by strangulation. He burned their bodies in an attempt to conceal evidence of rape.

Investigation

Hamilton County Coroner O’dell Owens said on March 10, 2009 that 13-year-old Esme Kenney was strangled to death and that her killer attempted to sexually assault her and set her body on fire. Owens said:

“She was violently strangled, asphyxiated, by her neck,” he said.
“Probably a piece of cloth or rope was used.”

Owens said there was also an attempt of a sexual assault and then her killer set a fire to try to cover up the crime.

Owens said coroner’s officials found burns on the lower part of her body around her upper thighs. Owens said her clothes were used to start the fire:

“This is a sad case and I hope it comes to a conclusion that will satisfy the citizens of Cincinnati,” Owens said.

When asked if there was evidence Kenney was tortured, Owens said no, but that there was evidence she was “hit or poked.” Owens said:

“The strangulation was certainly very severe, very severe,” he added.

Police and prosecutors treated Kirkland as a suspect in the homicides of Mary Jo Newton and Casonya “Sharee” Crawford as well as Esme Kenney.

Kirkland was arrested near the scene of the murder of 13-year-old Esme Kenny in possession of her watch and iPod.

Authorities said her attacker attempted to sexually assault her, and that her lower part of her body was burned.

Police found Esme’s body at 3:10 a.m. on March 9, 2009, about 100 yards from where they found Kirkland sleeping at 11:30 p.m. the same day.

Arrest

On March 8, 2009 at 3:45 p.m., Esme Kenney, 13, went for a jog near her house in Winton Hills.

At 4:15 p.m., Esme’s parents called police when their daughter was late returning home. Police began looking for her.

At 11:30 p.m., police found Kirkland sleeping against a tree in the woods near Esme’s house. Her watch and iPod were in his pocket, police said.

On March 9, 2009, police found Esme’s body in the woods at 3:10 a.m. She was strangled and the lower part of her body was burned. Authorities said her attacker attempted to sexually assault her. Police arrested Kirkland and charged him with murder.

Kirkland was in jail under a $5.3 million bond.

Trial

Kirkland pleaded not guilty to charges that he killed Kimya Rolison in Avondale in 2006 on June 23, 2009. He entered the plea with his lawyer Norman Aubin entering the plea to charges of murder and gross abuse of a corpse in the death of the 25-year-old.

Judge Charles J. Kubicki Jr. began discussing issues surrounding Kirkland’s trial scheduled for October, including whether the homicide cases could be tried together and whether the jury should hear his statement to police. The defense sought to try each case separately. The prosecution sought to try the cases together.

The defense sought to suppress Kirkland’s statement to police. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters had hinted that Kirkland confessed, and it was said that under Ohio law prosecutors could not discuss confessions.

12 counts and convictions relating to two teenage girls and two women

Kirkland was convicted by a Hamilton County jury of all charges against him in the murders of teens Casonya “Sharee” Crawford and Esme Kenney.

The jury convicted Kirkland of all counts, including aggravated murder, gross abuse of a corpse, aggravated robbery and attempted rape of both Casonya, 14, and Esme, 13.

It was stated that last week when his trial started, he pleaded guilty to murder and other charges in the deaths of Mary Jo Newton, 45, and Kimya Rolison.

Kirkland pleaded not guilty earlier to current charges and remained jailed awaiting an October trial.

Statements and prosecution characterisation

Kirkland remained silent throughout the trial. Members of Esme Kenney’s family asked a judge to sentence serial murderer Anthony Kirkland to death.

Prosecutor Joe Deters described the burning as evidence destruction rather than purification and called Kirkland a monster. Deters called that “a load of garbage”:

“a load of garbage”

Deters also told jurors:

“Sometimes pure evil just exists. Most people can’t get their arms around that,”
and: “I think over the last two weeks, the state has … concluded that’s a fact.”

Chief assistant prosecutor Mark Piepmeier noted that all four bodies were found in areas people treated like garbage dumps and said:

“(In) life, these women are sex objects to Kirkland,”
“After life, they were nothing more than garbage.”

It was reported that Kirkland’s attorneys presented no defense because of the mountain of evidence, including nine hours of statements Kirkland gave to police confessing in detail to each of the four murders.

Deters said:

“Kirkland’s not insane. Kirkland’s not stupid. These guys do exist. They do exist,”
and also told jurors: “Kirkland’s not insane.”

Kirkland’s attorneys said Kirkland would give an unsworn statement in hopes of convincing one juror to spare his life.

Judge Charles Kubicki Jr. told jurors they would resume the case Tuesday and expected jurors to begin deliberations on life or death by Wednesday. The 12 jurors and four alternates would be sequestered until a verdict was reached.

Sentencing

March 31, 2010 death sentences and other terms

On March 31, 2010, Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Charles Kubicki Jr. agreed with the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Kirkland to death. Kubicki gave Kirkland two death sentences, one each for the murders of Casonya “Sharee” Crawford, 14, and Esme Kenney, 13.

The judge also imposed two separate sentences of 70 years to life in prison for Kirkland’s convictions for the murders of Rolison, 25, and Mary Jo Newton, 45.

Relatives’ letters and statements

Aunt Elizabeth Kenney wrote in a March 29 letter to the judge:

“I believe that Anthony Kirkland should be put to death because he is an evil, remorseless, sadistic murderer. No living person is safe,”

She continued:

“He deserves the strongest sentence possible,”

Cousin Nikki Kenney wrote:

“To do anything less would be unjust to all his victims.”

Rolison’s family sought life in prison instead of death. Stepmother Kathy Rolison said:

“We respectfully request that the convicted murderer be sentenced to life in prison.”

It was said Rolison’s stepmother provided no explanation for the request.

Rolison’s family letters submitted to the judge included a letter from cousin Brad Kenney, which included:

“Maybe you … could have sat crying in the dirt where she was killed there with us and watched her mother pull singed pieces of Esme’s hair out of the ground, desperate to preserve these few slim threads linking her daughter to this earth,”

In court, Arlene Lee, Casonya’s grandmother, said:

“Mr. Kirkland. I call you mister. You don’t deserve to be called that,”
and: “What you did to my granddaughter you also did to me. She was part of me.”

Casonya’s aunt, Phyllis Moore, said:

“I have no forgiveness for you. You took a life. You took something special to me and my family,”
and: “They call you a monster. I don’t know what to call you.”

A juror who returned for sentencing warned others:

“This does happen in life and we have to go on with ours,”
and: “I don’t know how to say I’m sorry to the families.”

The juror also said:

“There’s one person I don’t have to fear,”
and: “I went to the sentencing, she said, for closure.”

Appeals

All death sentences were stated as automatically appealed even if the inmate did not want that. It was stated that Kirkland could be on Death Row for years or decades while the appeal was pending.

Outcome

Kirkland was sentenced to death on March 31, 2010, for the murders of Casonya “Sharee” Crawford and Esme Kenney.

It was stated that Kirkland now had been convicted of five deaths.

Aftermath

Kirkland was Ohio’s 162nd Death Row inmate and the 33rd inmate awaiting execution from Hamilton County.

Timeline

• May 20, 1987 — Anthony Kirkland, then 18, chokes and beats Leola Douglas, 28, after an argument in his Walnut Hills home; he douses her with lighter fluid and sets her on fire, killing her; he is convicted of voluntary manslaughter and serves 16 years in prison.
• Sept. 3, 2003 — Released from prison.
• Jan. 25, 2005 — Accused of raping a female neighbor in Evanston at knifepoint; a jury acquits him in October 2005.
• March, 2006 — Casonya Crawford, 15, is murdered.
• April or May, 2006 — Mary Jo Newton, 45, is murdered.
• May 11, 2006 — The burned body of 14-year-old Casonya “Sharee” Crawford is found off Blair Avenue in Avondale.
• June 16, 2006 — The burned body of Mary Jo Newton, 45, is found behind a vacant building in the 700 block of Wehrman Avenue in Avondale.
• 2006 — Kirkland entered a 6-week rehabilitation program after Rolison returned to Cincinnati and entered rehabilitation.
• May 14, 2007 — Kirkland threatens to kill his 18-month-old son during a SWAT standoff at Kirkland’s house at 860 Ridgeway Ave.; he is convicted three months later of two counts of unlawful restraint and sentenced to 115 days in jail.
• Sept. 17, 2007 — The Rev. Walter Bledsoe seeks a restraining order against Kirkland on behalf of members of the Bledsoe family.
• Sept. 26, 2007 — Kirkland solicits sex from his girlfriend’s 13-year-old daughter; he is convicted in March 2008 of importuning and sentenced to one year in prison; the judge designates him a sex offender requiring him to register his address with the sheriff’s office.
• Oct. 20, 2008 — He is released from prison for the importuning case and ordered to spend five years on parole; he enters the Pogue Rehabilitation Center, a halfway house in Over-the-Rhine run by Volunteers of America.
• Feb. 27, 2009 — Kirkland fights with another halfway house resident at 11:30 p.m.; police are called, but Kirkland is not arrested because the other man refuses to press charges; halfway house managers throw Kirkland out after breaking the rules by fighting; they do not notify his parole officer for two days.
• March 1, 2009 — Kirkland is accused of breaking into 860 Ridgeway Ave., hiding in the bathroom and attacking Frederick Hughes with scissors; Hughes suffers at least 10 stab wounds but survives; Kirkland flees; a warrant is issued for his arrest on charges of aggravated burglary and felonious assault.
• March 2, 2009 — Kirkland’s parole officer is notified of his release from the halfway house and begins looking for him.
• March 4, 2009 — A second warrant is issued for Kirkland’s arrest because he failed to register his address with the sheriff after his release from the halfway house.
• March 5, 2009 — Kirkland is accused of threatening Roberta Baldwin, the mother of his child, with a knife; he flees; another warrant is filed on charges of domestic violence, aggravated menacing and violation of a protection order.
• March 8, 2009 — Esme Kenney, 13, goes for a jog at 3:45 p.m. near her house in Winton Hills; at 4:15 p.m., her parents call police; at 11:30 p.m., police find Kirkland sleeping against a tree in the woods near Esme’s house with her watch and iPod in his pocket.
• March 9, 2009 — Police find Esme’s body at 3:10 a.m., about 100 yards from where they found Kirkland sleeping; she is strangled and the lower part of her body is burned; authorities say her attacker attempted to sexually assault her; police arrest Kirkland and charge him with murder.
• March 10, 2009 — Coroner O’dell Owens said Esme Kenney was strangled, her killer attempted to sexually assault her, and her killer set her body on fire.
• June 23, 2009 — Kirkland pleads not guilty to charges that he killed Kimya Rolison in Avondale in 2006.
• March 12, 2010 — Jurors find Anthony Kirkland guilty of all 12 counts, including aggravated murder, gross abuse of a corpse, aggravated robbery and attempted rape of both Casonya, 14, and Esme, 13.
• March 31, 2010 — Judge Charles Kubicki Jr. sentenced Kirkland to death, imposing two death sentences and also imposing two sentences of 70 years to life for other murder convictions.

Other details

Kirkland had been accused and convicted in other matters prior to the death sentence. On March 5, 2009 he was accused of threatening Roberta Baldwin with a knife; on March 1, 2009 he attacked Frederick Hughes with scissors resulting in at least 10 stab wounds with Hughes surviving.

It was stated that Esme’s death included evidence that her attacker attempted to sexually assault her and set her body on fire.

Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher said: “He was cunning,” in March.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said:

“It is our sincere hope that this charge can give some peace to the Rolison family, which as you can imagine have gone through hell wondering what happened to their daughter,”

Deters also said:

“Kirkland needs to be brought to justice for these hideous acts committed against innocent victims,”

Deters also said:

“There could be other victims,”

It was stated that “To date, no concrete information about other cases has surfaced.”

Rolison grew up in Southern California. Her mother, who had suffered for many years with schizophrenia, died when Rolison was 16. Rolison married and followed an older man - a Cincinnati native - to Cincinnati. Rolison was about 21 and gave birth to two children before returning home with her youngest child in 2006.

It was stated that Rolison had an addiction to crack cocaine. Rolison entered a six-week rehabilitation program after leaving the San Diego area and heading back to Cincinnati. She called home often, and then those calls stopped after the program ended.

It was stated that Rolison’s bones surfaced in a year-later event after a Labrador retriever dragged a femur out of the woods near Pulte Street. Police tried with cadaver dogs without success to recover more bones shortly after the find in North Fairmont, and the lumbering family dog led police to more bones. Most bones were recovered, said Terry Daly, a spokesman for the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office.

Court records showed Rolison was arrested twice, once for theft and once for assault stemming from another theft, and she got probation in both cases. She was supposed to go to court in January 2007; when she did not show, a warrant was issued for her arrest.

During the death-penalty case discussion, it was stated that jurors deliberated for 3½ hours before convicting Kirkland and that the trial included 13 days of testimony before convicting Kirkland, with two weeks earlier recommending he be put to death.

Casonya’s grandmother Arlene Lee, and Casonya’s aunt Phyllis Moore, expressed views during sentencing, including statements quoted above.