CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) -
Should a convicted serial killer who raped and burned his victims live or die?
Jurors in the Anthony Kirkland re-sentencing trial heard arguments from both sides as testimony got underway Wednesday.
Kirkland, 49, was convicted in a 2010 jury trial of the murders of two girls and two women: Esme Kenney, 13, Casonya Crawford, 14, Kimya Rolison, 25 and Mary Jo Newton, 45.
Esme was the last person he killed and it was her brutal rape and killing that finally led to police charging Kirkland with multiple murders to keep him locked up for good.
He was sentenced to life in prison for the women's murders and then sentenced to death for what he did to the girls.
But the Ohio Supreme Court tossed out Kirkland's death sentence and ordered a re-sentencing due to statements made during closing arguments by Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters.
Now, a new trial for the re-sentencing must occur so the decision whether Kirkland lives or dies can be made all over again.
Deters, who is seeking the death penalty, began his opening statement by describing how Kirkland killed and burned his victims. He also raped most of them.
Esme left her home the afternoon of March 7, 2009 to go for a jog around the Winton Hills reservoir.
The seventh grader was never seen alive again after enduring "unimaginable horror," Deters told the jury.
He plans to play them Kirkland's taped 9-hour confession to Cincinnati police and previewed it in his opening remarks to the jury.
"He describes her gagging. He describes her vomiting," Deters recounted. "He describes her digging her little fingers into the ground as she's dying... and he chokes her to death and he completed his final obscenity."
Video testimony also will be played during the two-week trial from Esme's mother, Lisa Kenney, and Kimya's father, Gary Rolison.
Earlier Wednesday morning, jurors went to Winton Hills reservoir to view the path where Kirkland first encountered Esme, who was a seventh-grader at the time, and then the spot where he took her life.
The defense will call medical professionals and Kirkland himself to the stand as they try to convince the jury to spare his life.
While his own lawyer has said Kirkland should never be free again, they contend he was abused as a child, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and repeatedly tried to get medical treatment.
Kirkland's confession to police, which was played during his 2010 murder trial, is expected to be played over two days.
Two veteran and highly regarded Cincinnati police homicide detectives, Keith Witherall and Bill Hilbert, obtained the grisly confession in the hours after Kirkland was taken into custody for Esme's murder.
He told them was walking near the reservoir when she ran into him, court records show,
She was apologetic, which only enraged him. He told police he punched her, called her names and demanded to know her name and what music she was listening to, the records state.
He chased her into the woods, where she tripped over a small fence. He continued to punch her and then choked her.
"I kicked her, punched her in the stomach, and stomped on her," he told them.
Then, Kirkland told investigators he raped her.
She was a virgin, Deters told the jury Wednesday.
She promised Kirkland she wouldn't tell anyone if he would just let her go., Deters recalled.
She tried to connect with him, asking him if he had children.
Her pleas for her life fell on deaf ears.
Kirkland strangled her to death with his bare hands and then a rag, Deters said.
When the girl was dead, Kirkland told police he propped her body up against a tree and stayed for two hours talking to her and apologizing, court records show.
He burned her lower body in what he described to police was a "ritual" and walked off with her iPod and watch, court records show.
Kirkland was spotted in the woods a short time later, sleeping about 100 yards from where Esme was found.
Her belongings were still in his pocket.
They have since been returned to her family.
In all, Kirkland has been convicted now of killing a total of five females.
He served 16 years in prison for the 1987 killing of Leola Douglas after she spurned his sexual advances. He also set her on fire.
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Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters delivers his opening statement (FOX19 NOW)
Jurors in the Anthony Kirkland re-sentencing arrive at Winton Hills reservoir Wednesday. (Photo: FOX19 NOW)
Esme Kenney was 13 when Anthony Kirkland killed her in 2009. (Photo: Provided)
Anthony Kirkland in court earlier this week (Photo: Cincinnati Enquirer)
