Anthony Kirkland: The Cincinnati Serial Killer
Overview
Anthony Wayne Kirkland is an American serial killer whose crimes terrorized the Cincinnati, Ohio, area across two distinct periods separated by approximately sixteen years in prison. His known killings began in 1987, when he murdered a woman inside his Walnut Hills residence, and continued after his release with the deaths of four additional victims between 2006 and 2009. His victims included two adult women and two young teenage girls.
Kirkland repeatedly attacked vulnerable females, killed them during or after violent confrontations, and attempted to destroy evidence by setting their bodies on fire. Three of the four victims killed during his later series were strangled. Another was stabbed in the neck. Burning the remains became a recurring feature of his crimes, with bodies or portions of victims’ clothing deliberately ignited and abandoned in isolated areas around Cincinnati.
His final victim, 13-year-old Esme Kenney, was killed while jogging near a reservoir on March 7, 2009. Police found Kirkland nearby carrying the girl’s watch and personalized iPod. The discovery led to his arrest and eventually connected him to several previously unresolved murders.
The Murder of Leola Douglas
Kirkland committed his first known killing on May 20, 1987, when he was 18 years old. The victim was his girlfriend, 27-year-old Leola Douglas. The attack took place at Kirkland’s residence in the Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati.
During an argument, Kirkland assaulted Douglas and then set her on fire. Her severely burned body was discovered near the top of a stairway leading into the residence. Authorities initially charged Kirkland with murder and arson, but he ultimately pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and aggravated arson.
Kirkland received a lengthy prison sentence and served approximately sixteen years. He was released from prison in September 2003 and was discharged from parole in 2004. Despite the extreme violence of the Douglas killing, Kirkland eventually returned to the Cincinnati community, where his next known series of murders began in 2006.
The Disappearance and Murder of Casonya Crawford
Fourteen-year-old Casonya “Sharee” Crawford left her grandmother’s home late on May 3, 2006. She carried a book bag, gym shoes and a cellular telephone. Her grandmother initially believed that she intended to stay with her mother.
Around midnight, Casonya visited a friend but was told that the friend was already in bed. She then began walking back toward her grandmother’s home while speaking with her boyfriend on the telephone. The call suddenly ended during an argument, and repeated attempts to contact her afterward were unsuccessful. When she failed to appear at school the following morning, her family reported her missing.
Kirkland later admitted encountering Casonya near a bridge over Interstate 71. According to his confession, an argument developed after he offered her money. He grabbed her, and she attempted to defend herself by striking him with her knee. Kirkland then strangled her.
He carried Casonya’s body into a wooded area near Victory Parkway and used lighter fluid to burn it. Afterward, he moved the remains down a hillside and concealed them beneath discarded tires. City workers discovered the heavily burned and decomposed body on May 9, 2006. Dental records were required to identify her.
The Murder of Mary Jo Newton
Mary Jo Newton, 45, was killed on June 14, 2006. Kirkland knew Newton and acknowledged that they had previously spent time together. On the day of her death, he picked her up in Cincinnati’s College Hill area. They stopped for alcohol and food before continuing to drive around the city.
Kirkland told detectives that an argument began while they were inside his vehicle. He moved behind Newton and strangled her. He then drove to an isolated dead-end street in the Avondale area and discarded her body.
Using fuel that he carried in his vehicle, Kirkland set Newton’s remains on fire. Her still-smoking body was discovered on June 15, 2006, approximately 35 feet from the end of the street. One of her feet had become separated from the body and was located dozens of feet away. Testing indicated that an accelerant such as lighter fluid or paint thinner had been used.
The extensive fire damage prevented the medical examiner from determining Newton’s precise cause of death. Investigators established that she was already dead when the fire was started. Dental records eventually confirmed her identity.
The Murder of Kimya Rolison
Kimya Rolison, 25, was killed on December 22, 2006. Kirkland encountered her along Reading Road and drove away with her in his vehicle. During the drive, an argument developed between them.
Kirkland admitted that he stopped the vehicle, took a knife belonging to Rolison and stabbed her in the throat. He transported her body to a wooded location near Pulte Street in Cincinnati, where he placed the remains on a bed of wood, sprayed them with lighter fluid and attempted to burn them.
Rolison’s skeletal remains were not discovered until the spring of 2008. They were scattered throughout a wooded area, and the hands and feet were missing. An examination revealed a sharp-force injury to the neck and evidence that portions of the body had been exposed to fire.
For nearly a year, investigators were unable to identify the remains. After Kirkland’s 2009 arrest, he confessed to killing a woman he knew as “Kim” and provided details about an encounter with a Cincinnati police officer on the night of the murder. Records showed that an officer had checked Rolison’s California driver’s license on December 22, 2006. Her family confirmed that she was missing, and dental records established that the unidentified remains belonged to her.
The Murder of Esme Kenney
On the afternoon of March 7, 2009, 13-year-old Esme Kenney left her home for a jog near the Winton Woods reservoir area. She carried an iPod and wore a purple wristwatch. When she failed to return, her mother contacted emergency services and reported her missing.
Police officers and canine units searched abandoned buildings and wooded areas near the reservoir. During the search, officers found Anthony Kirkland sitting beneath trees in the woods. Knives were visible in one of his pockets. When officers searched him, they discovered a purple watch and an iPod engraved with Esme’s name.
Kirkland initially gave officers a false name and claimed that he had merely found the items. He later admitted encountering Esme near the reservoir but repeatedly changed his explanation of what had happened. He first claimed that she had accidentally collided with him and that he had struck her but left her alive. He later invented a story involving another man before finally admitting greater responsibility.
Esme’s body was found in the woods during the early morning hours of March 8. She had been strangled with a ligature. Her body and clothing showed evidence that Kirkland had attempted to use fire to destroy evidence. Investigators also recovered physical evidence connecting Kirkland directly to the attack.
Kirkland eventually admitted chasing Esme into the woods, beating her and strangling her. He described remaining near her body for an extended period before attempting to burn her clothing and parts of her body. Instead of successfully escaping, he fell asleep in the woods, where police found him carrying Esme’s belongings.
Confirmed Victims
- Leola Douglas, 27 — Killed on May 20, 1987, at Kirkland’s residence in the Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. She was assaulted and set on fire. Kirkland pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and aggravated arson.
- Casonya “Sharee” Crawford, 14 — Killed on May 4, 2006, after disappearing while walking through Cincinnati. Kirkland strangled her, burned her body and concealed the remains beneath tires in a wooded area near Victory Parkway.
- Mary Jo Newton, 45 — Killed on June 14, 2006, after traveling with Kirkland through Cincinnati. He confessed to strangling her in his vehicle and burning her body near a dead-end street in Avondale.
- Kimya Rolison, 25 — Killed on December 22, 2006, after Kirkland picked her up near Reading Road. He stabbed her in the neck and burned her body in a wooded area near Pulte Street in Cincinnati.
- Esme Kenney, 13 — Killed on March 7, 2009, while jogging near a reservoir in the Winton Hills area of Cincinnati. She was assaulted, strangled and partially burned. Kirkland was found nearby with her watch and iPod.
Confessions and Investigation
Police had questioned Kirkland in March 2007 concerning the deaths of Casonya Crawford and Mary Jo Newton. At that time, he admitted knowing Newton but denied involvement in her death. Investigators lacked the physical evidence, eyewitness testimony or admissions needed to charge him.
The murder of Esme Kenney changed the direction of the investigation. Kirkland’s possession of her property, his location near her body and the physical evidence recovered after his arrest gave detectives a strong case. During a series of lengthy interviews, he provided changing stories before confessing to the murders of Newton, Crawford, Kenney and an unidentified woman later confirmed to be Kimya Rolison.
His descriptions included details that had not been publicly released. Information about Rolison’s encounter with a police officer allowed investigators to search official records and finally identify her remains. Kirkland’s confessions also revealed the repeated pattern of transporting victims to isolated locations, killing them during confrontations and using fire in an effort to destroy evidence.
Trial and Sentencing
Kirkland was indicted in March 2009 on numerous charges, including aggravated murder, murder, attempted rape, aggravated robbery and gross abuse of a corpse. At the beginning of his 2010 trial, he pleaded guilty to murdering Mary Jo Newton and Kimya Rolison and to abusing their bodies.
The jury then considered the charges involving Casonya Crawford and Esme Kenney. On March 12, 2010, Kirkland was convicted on all remaining counts, including aggravated murder and the accompanying death-penalty specifications.
On March 31, 2010, the court imposed death sentences for the aggravated murders of Casonya Crawford and Esme Kenney. Kirkland also received combined prison sentences totaling 70 years to life for the murders of Mary Jo Newton and Kimya Rolison.
His death sentences went through years of appeals and additional court proceedings. Although one stage of the case resulted in a new sentencing hearing, the death sentences were imposed again and later upheld by the Supreme Court of Ohio.
Pattern and Legacy of the Crimes
Kirkland’s crimes were marked by repeated violence against women and girls whom he believed he could overpower. He targeted victims ranging in age from 13 to 45. Some were encountered on the street or while traveling through Cincinnati, while Esme Kenney was attacked during an ordinary afternoon jog near her home.
Fire was central to Kirkland’s efforts to conceal his crimes. Each of the five known victims was burned or subjected to an attempted burning. The destruction complicated identification, eliminated possible biological evidence and, in several cases, prevented medical examiners from conclusively determining the precise circumstances of death.
The case also raised troubling questions about Kirkland’s release following the 1987 killing and about missed opportunities to stop him. Police questioned him in connection with the 2006 murders but did not yet possess sufficient evidence to make an arrest. He remained free until the murder of Esme Kenney in March 2009 provided the evidence that exposed the full extent of his crimes.
Anthony Kirkland was ultimately held responsible for five killings committed over more than two decades. His victims are remembered not merely as names connected to a notorious criminal case, but as individuals whose lives were taken through calculated acts of violence and whose families endured years of grief, uncertainty and court proceedings.
