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Alvie
Copeland KILES
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics:
Parricide - Shemaeah’s body was never found
Number of victims: 3
Date of murders:
February 9,
1989
Date of birth:
May 21,
1961
Victims profile: His girlfriend, Valerie
Gunnell, and her two daughters, 9-month-old Lecresha and 5-year-old
Shemaeah
Method of murder:
Beating with a bumper jack
Location: Yuma County, Arizona, USA
Status: Sentenced to death on June 13, 2006
INMATE 058243 KILES ALVIE, C
Kiles lived in Yuma with his girlfriend, Valerie
Gunnell, and her two daughters, 9-month-old Lecresha and 5-year-old
Shemaeah.
On February 9, 1989, Kiles used a bumper jack to
bludgeon Valerie to death in their home. He then killed the two children
because they started “screaming and hollering” as he killed their mother.
Kiles bragged about the murders to an acquaintance
and took him on a tour of the murder scene, during which Kiles stepped
on Valerie’s head.
Lecresha’s body was later found floating in a canal
in Mexico, but Shemaeah’s body was never found.
PROCEEDINGS
Presiding Judge: Hon. Douglas W. Keddi
Hon. Kirby Kongable (resentencing)
Prosecutor: Phillip Hall & Thomas Varela
Dave Powell (retrial and resentencing) and Desi Rubalcaba (retrial)
Defense Counsel: Treasure Van Druemmel & Greg Clark (retrial and
resentencing)
Start of Trial: December 5, 1989
July 8, 2000 (retrial)
Verdict: December 15, 1989
July 20, 2000 (retrial)
Sentencing: March 28, 1990
June 13, 2006 (resentencing)
Aggravating Circumstances (applicable to both
murder victims)
Prior conviction for a serious offense
Especially heinous, cruel or depraved
Multiple homicides
Age of Victim (over 70)
PUBLISHED OPINIONS
State v. Kiles, 175 Ariz. 358, 857 P.2d 1212 (1993).
[Direct Appeal pending before the Arizona Supreme Court]
