Execution Report: James Earhart

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That evening, a man called police to report that he had found Kandy's body in a wooded area a few miles from the Kirtlands' home. The man said that as he was taking his normal evening walk, he noticed a foul smell coming from the woods. At first, he assumed it was a dead animal, but when the smell was still there after several days, he decided to investigate. He saw a pile of rags and cardboard, and noticed a white tennis shoe sticking out. When he moved closer and saw an ankle, he knew he had found the missing girl. Kandy's arms had been tied behind her back with electrical cord, and she had been shot once in the head with a .22-caliber firearm. An autopsy determined that she probably died on 12 May, the day of her disappearance.

At his trial, Earhart claimed that he had never met Kandy Kirtland. He said that at the time he was arrested, when he admitted giving her a ride, he had not slept in several days and was under a form of hypnosis. The defense presented two witnesses who stated that they saw a girl matching the newspaper photos of Kandy in a Bryan shopping mall two days after her disappearance. Prosecutors, however, presented evidence that the blood on the shirt taken from Earhart's car matched Kandy's, and that the bullet fragments taken from the victim's skull had exactly the same metallic composition as the bullets in Earhart's gun. A jury found Earhart guilty of capital murder in May 1988 and sentenced him to death. At his punishment hearing, Earhart's sister and cousin testified that he had once attempted to strangle both of them.

Earhart declined to make a last statement at his execution. He was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 31 January 2008. Typographical errors corrected on 28 May 2015.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Associated Press, Huntsville Item, Front Page Detective 19 May 1988.