Anthony Kirkland

Anthony Wayne Kirkland (born September 13, 1968) 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.

Early life Kirkland was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 13, 1968, to Carol Yvonne Kirkland, an unwed 17-year-old mother. His birth certificate lists his biological father as Donald Pettijohn. When Kirkland was 18, his mother married Clarence Spencer. His defense attorneys have claimed that he experienced physical and mental abuse during his childhood.

1987 killing

On May 20, 1987, Kirkland raped and murdered his girlfriend, Leola Douglas, after she refused to have sex with him. Kirkland pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison.

Kirkland obtained his GED and an associate degree in prison. However, he had multiple infractions in prison. Between 1998 and 2003, Kirkland was placed in solitary confinement 21 times for "disciplinary control." In the last nine months of his time in prison, he was sent to solitary four times for breaking the rules or fighting other inmates. Kirkland was paroled in 2004, having served 16 years of his sentence.

20062009 murders

From May 4, 2006, through March 7, 2009, Kirkland murdered four females (two women and two teenagers), three of them by strangulation. In each case, he had burned his victim's body to conceal evidence of rape. Kirkland was arrested near the scene of his last murder victim in possession of her watch and iPod. Mary Jo Newton, age 45, murdered June 14, 2006;

The court sentenced Kirkland to death for the aggravated murder of Esme Kenney (while committing or attempting to commit rape) and for the aggravated murder of Casonya Crawford (while committing or attempting to commit a robbery). The court also sentenced Kirkland to 70 years to life for the murders of Mary Jo Newton and Kimya Rolison.

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, Kirkland's most recent attorneys, successfully requested 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's recommendation and sentenced Kirkland to death. Kirkland is presently incarcerated at Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown, Ohio.