Sentencing Anthony Kirkland to the death sentence in Ohio at the end of August, Hamilton County Common Please Judge, Patrick Dinkelacker, said it was the right thing to do for both legal and theological reasons.
He said, “As a person who morally believes in the sanctity of life, to judge another to determine if the imposition of the death penalty is appropriate is not a duty I take lightly,” he said. “In this great land of America, we live by the rule of law.”
Referencing the recent message from Pope Francis who declared the death penalty was inappropriate under all circumstances, the judge said, “I took an oath to follow the law and I will do that,” he said. “To do otherwise, is morally, legally, philosophically and theologically wrong.”
Kirkland killed three women and two teenage girls in a serial of killings which ended in 2009. He is currently serving life sentences for two of the adult murders but a death sentence for killing 14-year-old Casonya Crawford and 13-year-old Esme Kenney was overturned by the Ohio Supreme Court, prompting the new sentencing hearing
