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Serial killer, William Clyde Gibson III was born on October 10, 1957. He is currently on Death Row for the violent crimes he committed in 2002 and 2012 in which he sexually assaulted and murdered two women. For the murder of another victim in 2002, Gibson was sentenced to 65 years behind bars. He is thought to have been responsible for over thirty other murders across multiple states, none of which have been confirmed by law enforcement as of yet.
Early life
William Clyde Gibson III is an interesting character. He was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, the youngest of four children. From a very early age, Gibson displayed odd behavior which manifested itself as having trouble speaking to others, struggling at school, and preferring to stay at home with his mother. All would appear well until he became large enough to defend himself – however, he started bullying other children and continued fighting them, as well as getting into trouble for not following directions and staying out of class. In addition, Gibson started drinking at age 13, and was he was arrested for stealing a motorbike later that year.
William Clyde Gibson ultimately drop out of school and move into committing petty crimes that included drunk driving. Gibson later joined the Army where he was awarded badges in marksmanship and hand grenade usage. While in deployment he began to experience troubles with addiction to drugs such as heroin, cocaine, LSD. In 1979 he was sentenced to a year of imprisonment for stealing a vehicle which prompted his military discharge. He unsuccessfully tried to kill himself while in prison. Gibson married an artist in June 1980 upon his release but was diagnosed with infertility. This led him to intensify his drug usage.
Murders
Karen Sue Hodella (found dead on January 7, 2003)
William Clyde Gibson met Karen Sue Hodella, a 44-year-old beautician, on October 10, 2002, at a local bar. The pair spent time at the local bars then proceeded to an apartment complex in New Albany where they had an altercation over medication. Hodella accused Gibson of stealing some pills, an accusation that made Gibson became angrier and punched her in the face. He then pulled out his pocketknife and stabbed her in the throat multiple times before driving away and dumping her body on the side of Clarksville. A badly decomposed body was found on January 7, 2003, which turned out to be that of 44-year-old Karen Sue Hodella. Thumbprints from a previous arrest were used to identify her.
Three weeks after killing Hodella, Gibson was arrested for drink-driving. He was treated for withdrawal symptoms and suffered from headaches, insomnia, and stomach aches. The prison psychiatrist believed that Gibson suffered from mild anxiety and anti-social tendencies. In May 2003 he sued the authorities for improper access to Seroquel and for housing him in squalid conditions, but the case was thrown out by a federal judge.
Stephanie Marie Kirk ( March 24, 2012)
William Clyde Gibson’s mother died on January 18, 2012, with some neighbors suspecting that this greatly impacted Gibson’s psyche. On March 24, 2012, William Clyde Gibson traveled to the Uptown Bar in New Albany where he met 35-year-old Stephanie Marie Kirk, a woman whom he intended to take out on a motorcycle ride. The pair spent the day using drugs and having sex. When evening rolled around they both went back to Gibson’s residence, where they argued over some pills that had been missing earlier in the day. In anger, Gibson proceeded to sexually assault her and then strangle her to death after raping her, breaking multiple bones in the process before burying her body in his backyard.
Christine Whitis ( April 18, 2012)
When a 75-year old family friend stopped by to visit William Clyde Gibson on April 18th of 2012, she was met with more than she expected. Not only did he rape her before strangling her to death, but he proceeded to mutilate her body by cutting off one of her breasts. Then, he left the corpse on the garage floor among garbage bags.
Arrest, trials, and imprisonment
A day after Christine’s murder, one of Gibson’s sisters went over to the house to settle their mother’s estate. She immediately discovered Whitis’ body when she checked the garage and then promptly alerted the police. Gibson was arrested for drunk driving in Whitis’ car later that day, and five days later he was formally charged with her murder. Gibson also confessed to killing Hodella a few days later and he willingly led authorities to where he had buried her body. The authorities dug up her body on April 27. Prosecutors are moving forward with seeking his death sentence for all three killings. It wasn’t long before he was formally charged for her murder too which occurred on May 23. Prosecutors sought the death penalty for the three murders.
On October 25, 2013, William Clyde Gibson was convicted of first-degree murder and received the death penalty. At his sentencing the following month, Gibson was subsequently handed a death sentence. In regards to his upcoming murder trials, he changed his plea and waived his right to a speedy trial, choosing instead to plead guilty to Hodella’s murder and was sentenced to 65 years in prison.
At Gibson’s final murder trial in the death of Stephanie Kirk, he unexpectedly pleaded guilty again, and yet, even after pleading guilty, prosecutors pushed for a death sentence and aimed to prove aggravating factors during the commission of Kirk’s murder and so on August 15th, 2014, William Clyde Gibson was given a new death sentence by Superior Court Judge Orth.
