Kirsten Renee Hatfield was kidnapped from her home in MidWest City, Oklahoma, on May 13, 1997, before experiencing an unfathomable destiny. Anthony Palma, who lived just two homes away, allegedly kidnapped the 8-year-old child before cruelly raping and murdering her to conceal his crimes.
After nearly two decades, DNA testing narrowed down the list of suspects to Palma, who was ultimately captured at the same residence where he’d been staying since kidnapping the small girl. Palma was eventually identified as the victim’s killer in 2015, thanks to blood taken from the victim’s undergarments, which were discovered in her property.
In 2017, the Oklahoma County District Court sentenced Anthony Palma to life in prison with no chance of release, providing justice to the long-suffering family. Despite his conviction, Palma maintained his denial of any role in the rape and death of the girl, refusing to return Kirsten’s remains to her family.
Despite the fact that Palma had the option to appeal his conviction, he never did. But, only one year into his life sentence, the convicted murderer had an interaction with his cellmate that undoubtedly made him regret not taking that risk.
Anthony Palma was discovered cruelly killed by his cellmate Raymond Pillado, who dealt the same terrible destiny to him as he had inflicted on his 8-year-old victim decades before.
Palma was found lying face down on the floor during the prison’s regular Friday night unit inspection, according to investigators. According to the incident report, guards found a person wrapped with a blanket. They saw Palma’s body in a pool of blood when they urged Pillado to remove the blanket.
Officials verified that Pillado was accountable for Palma’s killing but provided no other information on how or why he was killed. Pillado is already serving many life terms for shooting with intent to kill, three charges of first-degree murder, felon in possession of a handgun, and driving while firing a weapon.
Unfortunately, officials had intended to question Palma again in order to learn where he concealed Kirsten’s remains. Sadly, her family is now faced with the possibility that they will never find their child’s body.
Despite the fact that Anthony Palma caused their daughter unspeakable agony and anguish, the Hatfield family has only shown forgiveness and kindness for Palma in the days leading up to his death. In fact, Kirsten’s mom remained hopeful that he would concentrate on repairing his connection with his own daughter and potentially reuniting them with theirs.
Shannon confessed, in a remarkable act of kindness, that she had been writing Palma letters that included prayers for him and his family and begged him to come clean.
Despite the fact that Kirsten’s whole family convinced Anthony Palma that they had forgiven him and believed he would atone for his sins by telling authorities where her body was, the remorseless killer spurned every chance to do the right thing. In the end, he received a comparable punishment to the horrific fate he forced on the innocent kid.
It’s no mystery that even the most heinous criminals find crimes against children particularly repugnant. Even 13 months on the taxpayers’ budget was much too long for Palma.
