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Anthony 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.
Biography
Kirkland experienced physical and mental abuse as a child, his lawyers claim.
On May 20, 1987, Kirkland killed his girlfriend, Leola Douglas, and set her body on fire, allegedly after subjecting her to months of physical abuse. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served 16 years in prison. He was paroled in 2004.
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 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 (while committing or attempting to commit a 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.
Kirkland is presently incarcerated at Chillicothe Correctional Institution in Ohio, where fellow serial killer Shawn Grate is also sitting on death row.