Court upholds southern Indiana man's 2nd death sentence

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Indiana Supreme Court upheld a second death sentence for a southern Indiana man Tuesday, this time for fatally strangling a woman whose body was found buried in his backyard.

The court unanimously ruled the death penalty was appropriate for William Clyde Gibson III, 58, of New Albany, who pleaded guilty in the 2012 slaying of Stephanie Kirk, 35, of Charlestown.

"The record illustrates the gruesome and grotesque nature of Gibson's offense," said the ruling written by Chief Justice Loretta Rush. "He murdered a defenseless woman in a brutal attack."

Kirk's body was discovered after Gibson's arrest in the death of Christine Whitis, 75, a longtime friend of his mother. The Supreme Court last year upheld Gibson's death sentence in that slaying. He also was sentenced to 65 years in prison for the murder of Karen Hodella, 44, of Port Orange, Florida, whose body was found in 2002 near the Ohio River in Clarksville.

Gibson met Kirk at a bar and the two spent the day drinking, smoking marijuana and taking pain pills. They went to his house and had sex, then continued partying until he took some of the woman's drugs and a fight broke out. He strangled Kirk and sexually assaulted her before she died.

"Gibson wears his most heinous crimes as a badge of honor," the ruling said. "While on death row, before being tried for Kirk's murder, Gibson surreptitiously had 'Death Row X 3' tattooed in six-by-eight-inch letters on the back of his shaved head. Committing such a horrifying crime - and then, while awaiting trial, getting a tattoo to glorify it - does not speak well about Gibson's character."

Defense attorney Laura Paul told the court the trial judge should have given greater weight to Gibson's confession since police had not been able to link him to Kirk's disappearance. She argued that Gibson should be sentenced to life in prison.

"Concerning Gibson's cooperation with law enforcement, he claims that without him, Kirk's disappearance would still be unsolved. That might well be true. But it does not diminish that he changed his story several times and manipulated the police for favors," the ruling said.

Paul declined comment on Tuesday's ruling. Another of Gibson's attorneys, Steven Ripstra of Jasper, said he hadn't seen the ruling but that the defense likely would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Indiana has not executed an inmate since Dec. 11, 2009, the longest gap in death sentences in the state since 1994. State officials have said the delay is because cases are still working their way through the courts.