Man Convicted of Murdering Ex-Girlfriend

An Orange County Superior Court jury took less than two days to find a Tustin man, who in a jealous rage fatally shot his estranged girlfriend, guilty of second-degree murder Wednesday.

Kirkland O’Hara, 38, sat expressionless as the guilty verdict was announced, while family members of his victim, 34-year-old Dawn Hill, broke into tears and sobs.

“I’m very pleased. I just thank God it’s over,” said a tearful Elouise Waddell, Dawn Hill’s mother, of Houston, who attended the monthlong trial. “I lost a son 20 years ago in an accident, but this is the most difficult thing I’ve ever gone through.”

In July 1995, a spurned O’Hara shot Hill after an argument in an upstairs bathroom. Then, in an apparent suicide attempt, O’Hara turned the gun on himself, sustaining a wound to the roof of his mouth. The shooting occurred while Hill’s 8-year-old son, Travis, watched television downstairs.

Prosecutors said Hill’s murder was triggered by a combination of O’Hara’s inability to cope with the end of his two-year relationship with Hill and the knowledge that she was again seeing her ex-husband. Prosecutors painted O’Hara as unstable and prone to rage.

Damaging testimony from four women who were previously involved with O’Hara contributed to the guilty verdict, said jurors, who asked not to be identified.

Some jurors said O’Hara’s testimony that he couldn’t recall events was not believable and helped seal his fate.

“His credibility was a big, big factor in the jury room,” said one juror.