Kenneth Laird

Case record: Kenneth Laird

Background

Kenneth Laird was a juvenile who was tried as an adult.

The offence

Two weeks before the murder, Kenneth Laird told two friends that he was getting a Toyota 4x4 truck. He also told another friend's mother that he would get a truck "if he had to kill for it."

On September 2, 1992, Laird broke into the home of Wanda Starnes, a night-shift nurse whom he knew owned a 4x4 truck. He spent the night in her home, telephoning his friends, telling them he had moved to a house on Tatum Ranch.

When Wanda returned the next morning, Appellant overpowered her, tied her up, gagged her, and locked her in her bathroom. He then went to sleep in her bed. The next morning, he apparently finished her off by inserting a screwdriver in the knotted ropes encircling her neck and tightening them, then bashed in her skull.

As he drove her to the desert to bury her, her blood dripped out of the truck bed, onto her driveway.

Laird later joked with a friend about having "killed a bitch," and offered to show him the body. He spent the next few days driving around in Wanda's truck, forging checks drawn on her account.

When picked up in connection with another matter, Laird told the police he happened on Wanda's body while bicycling through the desert. He said he took her truck and moved into her house because she would not need them anymore.

Trial

Presiding Judge: Gregory Martin Prosecutor: Noel Levy

Start of Trial: December 13, 1993 Verdict: January 6, 1994

Laird was convicted of murder, kidnapping, burglary, theft, four counts of forgery, and robbery.

Sentencing

Sentencing: April 15, 1994

The court found the following aggravating circumstances: Pecuniary gain; Especially cruel/heinous/depraved.

The court found the following mitigating circumstances: Age of defendant (17).

Laird was sentenced to death and consecutive sentences totaling 97 years.

Appeals

Published opinions: State v. Laird, 186 Ariz. 203, 920 P.2d 769 (1996).

Outcome

December 07: Warrant of Execution — The Arizona Supreme Court issued a Warrant of Execution for inmate KENNETH JEREMY LAIRD, ADC# 107029. Date set is Wednesday, January 17, 2001.

December 20: U.S. District Court — A STAY of EXECUTION was issued for inmate Laird whose execution date was set for Wednesday, January 17, 2001.

High court decision summary (U.S. Supreme Court; Roper v. Simmons, 03-633): On March 1, 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to execute juvenile killers, ending a practice in Arizona and 18 other states. The decision threw out the death sentences of 72 murderers who were under 18 when they committed their crimes and barred states from seeking to execute minors for future crimes. The court held the executions violated the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: "The age of 18 is the point where society draws the line for many purposes between childhood and adulthood. It is, we conclude, the age at which the line for death eligibility ought to rest," and "It is proper that we acknowledge the overwhelming weight of international opinion against the juvenile death penalty, resting in large part on the understanding that the instability and emotional imbalance of young people may often be a factor in the crime." The ruling also stated that "our society views juveniles ... as categorically less culpable than the average criminal."

In a dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia stated: "The court says in so many words that what our people's laws say about the issue does not, in the last analysis, matter: 'In the end our own judgment will be brought to bear on the question of the acceptability of the death penalty,' " and "The court thus proclaims itself sole arbiter of our nation's moral standards,".

William F. Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said: "Today, the court repudiated the misguided idea that the United States can pledge to leave no child behind while simultaneously exiling children to the death chamber," and "Now the U.S. can proudly remove its name from the embarrassing list of human rights violators that includes China, Iran, and Pakistan that still execute juvenile offenders,".

Dianne Clements, president of the Houston-based Justice for All victims' advocacy group, said: "The Supreme Court has opened the door for more innocent people to suffer by 16 and 17 year olds," and "I can't wait for the Supreme Court to have judges more concerned with American values, American statutes and American law than what the Europeans think."

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor filed a separate dissent, stating: "The court's analysis is premised on differences in the aggregate between juveniles and adults, which frequently do not hold true when comparing individuals," and "Chronological age is not an unfailing measure of psychological development, and common experience suggests that many 17-year-olds are more mature than the average young 'adult.' "

Kenneth Laird’s death sentence was commuted to life in prison without parole on March 1, 2005.

Timeline

• September 2, 1992 — Laird broke into Wanda Starnes’s home; he tied and gagged her, locked her in her bathroom, and later killed her and drove her body to the desert to bury her.
• December 13, 1993 — Start of trial.
• January 6, 1994 — Verdict.
• April 15, 1994 — Sentenced to death; consecutive sentences totaling 97 years.
• December 07 — Arizona Supreme Court issued a Warrant of Execution for KENNETH JEREMY LAIRD, ADC# 107029, with a date set for Wednesday, January 17, 2001.
• December 20 — U.S. District Court issued a STAY of EXECUTION with the execution date set for Wednesday, January 17, 2001.
• March 1, 2005 — Laird’s death sentence was commuted to life in prison without parole.

Other details

Laird’s quoted statements included: "killed a bitch," and "if he had to kill for it."