Kevin Underwood, Who Planned to Eat Girl He Killed, to Be Executed After Clemency Denied

A man accused of intending to eat a 10-year-old girl he killed was denied clemency by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board on Friday, just days before his scheduled execution.

The three board members present unanimously voted against recommending clemency for Underwood.

Underwood, 44, attended the proceeding. He apologized to the child’s family and said he knows he deserves to die. He is scheduled to be killed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on Thursday.

His legal team argued for clemency, citing childhood trauma, undiagnosed autism disorder, bipolar disorder, PTSD and other mental health conditions.

Officials with the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office said Underwood did not deserve mercy, as evidenced by his plan to kidnap, rape, torture and cannibalize 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin.

“I am pleased the board voted to deny clemency for this deeply evil monster and ensured that justice will be delivered for Jamie Rose Bolin,” Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement. “Jamie’s family has waited 18 excruciating years for justice that finally will be carried out when this murderer is executed.”

The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty detailed the hearing in a statement sent to Newsweek.

“There was much pain in the hearing room today, precipitated by barbaric violence to a 10-year-old girl,” Reverend Don Heath, chair of the coalition, said. “Kevin Underwood acknowledged the pain he caused the Bolin family, his family and everyone affected by the murder. The Bolin family shared their continuing pain.”

Heath said that testimony from Underwood’s psychologist and arguments made by his attorneys showed that “the violence was a result of Underwood’s own isolation and emotional trauma.”

“The vote to deny clemency will only perpetuate and add to the senseless violence,” Heath said.

Underwood confessed to killing and attempting to decapitate Bolin in 2006. Bolin, who was his neighbor, had previously been reported missing and an AMBER Alert was issued.

In the interview with the FBI and Oklahoma officials, Underwood spoke about “how he had recently developed a desire to abduct a person, sexually molest them, eat their flesh, and dispose of their remains,” the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals said in its 2011 opinion upholding his conviction and punishment.

Bolin’s body was later found inside a large plastic container in Underwood’s bedroom closet. A meat tenderizer and skewers were also located at the scene, which police alleged Underwood planned to use for cannibalistic purposes.

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