NASSAU, Fla. — Sheriff Bill Leeper of Nassau County says he does not believe that the murder of 34-year-old Joleen Cummings was Kimberly Kessler's first kill.
Kessler was found guilty of murdering Cummings Thursday after testimony that spanned most of the week. Cummings was reported missing in May 2018 and her body has never been found.
Following the guilty verdict, Leeper stood alongside Cummings' tearful family and made several comments about the case.
"I don't believe this is her first murder," Leeper said. "I don't at all. She's evil. She's evil in the flesh and as soon as she's sentenced, I want her out of our jail because we are fed up with her crap. It's the state's problem from now on."
Kessler was brought into the courtroom Thursday and given the opportunity to participate as the verdict was read, but she refused to participate and was removed from the courtroom as the verdict was read.
Her sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 27 at 1:30 p.m.
Kessler’s mental competency has been a theme throughout pre-trial proceedings.
At one point, emaciated from self-starvation, Kessler sat in an anti-suicide smock staring at the camera during a hearing and screamed “f**k you” at the judge.
Jail officials also informed the court she’d regularly strip naked and spread feces on the window of her observation cell.
Despite the outbursts, and her perilous health condition -- having dropped from an intake weight of 196 to a low of 74 – Circuit Judge James Daniel found her mentally competent to stand trial.