Opinion ID: 4556341
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Kirkland’s Interrogation

Text: {¶ 16} Detective Witherell interviewed Kirkland on March 8, 2009. During this interview, Kirkland told multiple inconsistent stories. {¶ 17} At first, he claimed to have no idea his arrest was related to the missing girl. Kirkland said that while walking in the woods around the reservoir on the morning of March 7, he found a purple watch and a “pink radio” (Esme’s iPod), which he pocketed. He repeatedly denied having seen anyone jogging near the reservoir, pretended he did not even know the missing girl’s race, and professed surprise when he was told that the watch and “radio” belonged to the missing girl. {¶ 18} After further questioning, Kirkland admitted that he had met Esme at the reservoir. He claimed that he and Esme collided, causing him to drop his beer and lose his temper. He admitted that he had punched and kicked Esme, but claimed he had left her alive. 4 January Term, 2020 {¶ 19} After detectives told Kirkland that Esme’s body had been found, he changed his story again, claiming to have no memory of what had happened. He then admitted that he had chased Esme into the woods. But he continued to claim that he had left her alive. {¶ 20} Then Kirkland changed his story again, claiming he had left Esme alive with an acquaintance he knew only as Pedro. Finally, Kirkland admitted that he had known that Esme was dead and that he had gone back to the reservoir to move her body. He said, “She died because of my hatred.” Still he denied having killed her. {¶ 21} About two hours later, Detective Bill Hilbert questioned Kirkland about Newton and Casonya C. Kirkland confessed to Newton’s murder. According to Kirkland, on the day of the murder, he picked Newton up in the College Hill area. They drove around to various places, ending up in the Eden Park area, where they had an argument. {¶ 22} According to Kirkland, during the argument, Newton struck him, and he then choked her to death. He drove to Avondale, dumped her body at the end of a dead-end street, and set her body on fire, using gasoline as an accelerant. According to Kirkland, he burned the body because “fire purifies” and burning the body was “a proper burial.” {¶ 23} Kirkland also confessed to murdering Casonya. He told Detective Hilbert that he first saw Casonya around 1:00 a.m. on a bridge near Walnut Hills High School. According to Kirkland, Casonya started a conversation with him and he paid her $20 to continue talking to him. But they had an argument, and Casonya threw the money back at him. Angry, Kirkland grabbed Casonya, and she kneed him. He then choked her to death. He carried her body to a wooded area and burned it, using lighter fluid as an accelerant. He then carried her body down a hill and covered it with tires. 5 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO {¶ 24} Kirkland then gave another account of Esme’s murder. He said that he collided with Esme; she was apologetic, but he became enraged and chased her into the woods. When she tripped over a small fence, he caught her and choked her. {¶ 25} At first, Kirkland denied having raped Esme. But he eventually told Hilbert, “[She] said that she would do whatever I wanted, just don’t hurt her.” He had sex with her but was unable to penetrate her completely, so he made her masturbate him. Esme said she would not tell anyone, but Kirkland did not believe her, so he choked her to death. (In a later interview, Kirkland explained that he had strangled her with a rag after failing to kill her with his bare hands.) {¶ 26} Kirkland propped Esme’s body up against a fallen tree branch and, using her clothes as an accelerant, partially burned her body. After staying with the body for a while, he went to find lighter fluid “to perform the [burning] ritual.” He eventually returned to the woods but did not go back to the body; instead, he fell asleep under a tree, and that is where the police found him. {¶ 27} In a third interview, detectives asked Kirkland about an unidentified burned body found in the Pulte Street area. At first, Kirkland claimed he had killed only three victims, but he finally admitted to having killed “one more.” {¶ 28} According to Kirkland, he knew the Pulte Street victim as Kim. She was working as a prostitute when he met her in December 2006. He picked her up in his van and paid her for sex. As they drove along, they began to argue; Kirkland pulled the van over and stabbed her in the throat with her own knife. He laid her body out on a bed of wood, sprayed it with lighter fluid, burned it, and covered it. Some of the information Kirkland provided during his confession enabled police to identify the Pulte Street remains as those of Kimya Rolison.