Prosecutors: Gibson broke dead woman's back

William Clyde Gibson III strangled Stephanie Kirk before performing sexually deviant acts on her body — and at some point broke her spine — in his New Albany home, prosecution witnesses testified Monday.

The disturbing details of the March 25, 2012, slaying were recounted by witnesses called to support the prosecution's request that Floyd Superior Judge Susan Orth sentence Gibson to die for killing Kirk, 35, of Charlestown.

Steve Owen, Floyd's chief deputy prosecutor, said after Gibson told police how he'd abused the dead woman's body, he admitted that "I guess I'm really evil."

Kirk's body, clad only in a torn Victoria's Secret bra and a black vest, was found in a hole Gibson had dug near a porch in his backyard.

Kirk's father, Tony Kirk, attended the proceeding with two other relatives, sitting in the courtroom's front row near another victim's kin, Mike Whitis. The group showed little emotion as two former police detectives and a pathologist with the Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office in Louisville testified in graphic detail about what police discovered.

Gibson, 58, has already been sentenced to die for murdering Christine Whitis, 75, of Clarksville, whose mutilated body was found in his garage in April 2012 — after Kirk had gone missing. Gibson also pleaded guilty in March to murdering Florida hair stylist Karen Hodella in 2002.

Prosecutors must prove that Kirk's murder involved at least one of 16 aggravating circumstances listed under the Indiana statute for him to be sentenced to die.

Prosecutors said that they will show Gibson intentionally killed Kirk while committing another criminally deviant act, specifically that he performed oral sex on Kirk and digitally penetrated her by force or under threat of force.

Two other aggravators, Owen said, will focus on the fact that Gibson murdered the two other women and was on probation at the time of the Kirk murder.

Public defenders for Gibson, Patrick Biggs and Andrew Adams are expected to call witnesses starting Tuesday morning.

Gibson caused a stir earlier this year after he appeared in court with a new tattooed inscription on the back of his head referring to the murders: "death row x 3." Because the markings were deemed prejudicial, Orth had ordered Gibson receive no haircuts so that they were covered.

Now that there's no jury trial needed, Gibson's head was again shaved and the tattoo was clearly visible as corrections officers escorted him through the courtroom.

Sgt. Steve Bush, a New Albany patrolman and former detective, testified that Gibson told of spending an evening with Kirk where the two drank in bars, took pills and had consensual sex at his home before heading back out to spend time at area taverns.

Amy Burrows-Beckham, an assistant medical examiner, said autopsy tests showed Kirk had consumed alcohol, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax and cocaine before she died.

Bush said that Gibson told police that when they returned to his house, they began arguing over some pills and he choked her with his hands. Bush added that "he said it was pretty quick."

Bush said he also told of sexually assaulting the body and breaking a vertebrae in Kirk's lower back. Gibson dragged the body into his garage, where it sat for two days before he dug a hole near his back porch — 3 feet, 3 inches deep, Bush said.

New Albany Assistant Police Chief Ken Fudge testified later that Kirk's body was stuffed head first into the hole and twisted to fit.

A crime-scene photo showed Kirk's arm and torso visible after police found the body.

Public defender Patrick Biggs' questions of Burrows-Beckham, Bush and Fudge focused on whether police had evidence of a sexual assault.

Fudge acknowledged under Biggs' cross-examination that investigators had no way of knowing if the front of Kirk's bra was ripped while Kirk was dead or alive.

Burrows-Beckham testified that she had told Biggs during deposition two weeks ago that the cause of death might have been undetermined if Gibson hadn't confessed to the crime. The pathologist also stated that she didn't report in the autopsy that Kirk had been sexually assaulted.

A final prosecution witness, Floyd Probation Officer Clare Banet, testified she'd seen Gibson monthly after she was assigned to supervise him after his release on felony theft charges in September 2009 and was surprised when he was re-arrested for murder. "I never noticed any violent tendencies from him," Banet said.

Reporter Grace Schneider can be reached at 812-949-4040. Follow her on Twitter @gesinfk.