Man admits strangling Jackson County roommate to death, stuffing the body in a freezer
A man who strangled his roommate to death and stuffed his body in an unplugged freezer in a home in the Latimer community pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder.
Thomas Stafford, 44, entered the plea to a reduced charge before Judge Kathy King Jackson.
A grand jury had indicted Stafford on a capital murder charge, but District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath said a decision was made to allow him to plead to a reduced charge after a consultation with the victim’s family.
He’s still facing a sentence of life in prison.
In his own words, Stafford simply said he feloniously killed the victim he called a “friend of mine.” He later apologized to the court for what he had done as well as to his family.
After the killing, Stafford said he stole the Cadillac that belonged to 65-year-old Jerry Kirkendall after his March 3, 2017, murder at the home the two shared in the 14900 black of Althea Street.
Stafford sold the car to a cousin in Alabama before he used the victim’s debit card to board a bus to Portland, Oregon. U.S. Marshals tracked Stafford’s moves in Portland and took him into to custody there on March 23, 2017.
The wire used to strangle Kirkendall was found in the car.
In the Jackson County sheriff’s investigation that followed, deputies determined the date of the murder based on surveillance video from a store that showed Kirkendall wearing the same clothes that were on his body at the time of the discovery.
Neighbors then told the Sun Herald that an elderly man, since identified as Kirkendall, had moved in the home about a month before his death and spent a lot of his time working in the yard.
Kirkendall even told neighbors that if they saw him fall over while working in the yard to call an ambulance because he had a heart condition.
Kirkendall, McIlrath said, was described by his family as a caring and loving soul who loved life.
Stafford showed little emotion Tuesday when he entered the guilty plea. During questioning, he told the judge he had been married twice, had four children and had worked in chemical and electrical engineering.
Stafford said he hadn’t worked since 2015.
Stafford has been in jail without bond since his arrest.
He had known Kirkendall for about a month before the murder.
“The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department did an outstanding job investigating the case,” McIlrath said. “I am proud that, together, we were able to get justice for this family.”
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 10:25 AM.
