TX - Execution stayed for serial killer David Leonard Wood

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Kat

Kat

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I have been watching the updates on the scheduled execution of David Leonard Wood now for over a week (I now live in El Paso and watch on local news).

I did a search for a thread for him but couldn't find one, please merge if I have overlooked anything.

At the link below are a number of links to articles that have been published lately.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_13165252

Execution stayed: David Leonard Wood's mental ability at issue

The execution of convicted serial killer David Leonard Wood was halted by a Texas court on Wednesday, 24 hours before the state was scheduled to give him a lethal injection.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of execution order and requested that hearings be set to determine whether Wood, 52, is mentally retarded...

...Wood was sentenced to death for killing and burying six women in the desert of the Northeast in 1987. He is also suspected of involvement in other murders...
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David L. Wood has denied his involvement in these murders ~ of course.

I have been trying to read backdated articles and there is a question about his possibly being mentally retarded, however, IIRC he has tested in different instances as having normal IQ as well as having below normal IQ (by about two points).

I just wanted to post this here on WS, because I know there are a few regular posters that do follow Serial Killers.
 
Here is the only place I am having problems with this case:

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_13024659

...Except for some orange fibers found where Wheatley was buried, which the court did not allow jurors to consider, there was no physical evidence -- such as weapons, fingerprints, DNA or clothing -- linking Wood to the crimes. But the circumstantial evidence was overwhelming.

The victims knew Wood or had met him through friends, and he was seen with the young women before they disappeared.

Perhaps the most compelling testimony at his trial came from the prostitute Wood had sexually assaulted, and his two former cellmates, Randy Wells and James Carl Sweeney Jr. The prisoners said Wood told them he had killed the women. Wells, in fact, said Wood claimed to have killed 15 women...
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Unless I am missing something, Woods was convicted on the testimony of two cellmates.
That there was no fiber, DNA or other physical evidence to place him at the scene of the crime or to show he commited these murders. I'm not defending him, I'm trying to understand the case against him.
 
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_13320364

Posted: 09/12/2009 12:00:00 AM MDT

...Lawyers for convicted serial killer David Leonard Wood have filed a motion for a judge from outside El Paso to be appointed to hear the case on his mental retardation appeal.

They also asked 171st District Court Judge Bonnie Rangel to recuse herself from the case, and raised the possibility that she or any other judge in El Paso may feel pressured to deny Wood a fair hearing...

...Rangel, who conducted a teleconference status hearing on Friday, said she would consult with another judge to find out whether she could rule on the motion or whether a different judge must do it.

She also scheduled another status hearing for Sept. 25.
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Just posting this for any other members that follow serial murderers. I don't usually.

I don't think that this man has a valid claim in declaring mental retardation. IMHO.

However, the lack of fiber evidence and DNA (if accurate reporting) does bring concerns to my mind, in that although I do support the death penalty, I believe it must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt (to include hard scientific evidence and not just testimony) before the sentence of death should be given.
 
Thank you Kat. I don't usually follow serial killers either. "But the circumstantial evidence was overwhelming" a jury convicted him. Seems to me he's trying to save his own skin thus the mental retardation claim. I think it's a slap in the face to people who are retarded and these can claim they are too. If they can try to hide their crimes then no they aren't retarded IMO. Sorry for rambling on.
 
Thank you for posting this. It's interesting and we'll be discussing the death penalty in my criminal law class next week so this is good reading on the subject as well.
 
wonders said:
Thank you Kat. I don't usually follow serial killers either. "But the circumstantial evidence was overwhelming" a jury convicted him. Seems to me he's trying to save his own skin thus the mental retardation claim. I think it's a slap in the face to people who are retarded and these can claim they are too. If they can try to hide their crimes then no they aren't retarded IMO. Sorry for rambling on.
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Thanks for responding wonders, I didn't read it as rambling :)

I don't have a link to the interview, I'm not sure it's available.

I'm local to this case now. I watched the late news last night and the adult daughter of one of this man's victims was there at the court house for the hearing.

She gave a short statement that touched my heart. She said that even if he dies, which she hopes that his sentence is served out fully...

There is no such thing as closure. That she will have the pain of having her Mother murdered to carry for the rest of her life. I believed her. Bless her heart.
 
Kat said:
Thanks for responding wonders, I didn't read it as rambling :)

I don't have a link to the interview, I'm not sure it's available.

I'm local to this case now. I watched the late news last night and the adult daughter of one of this man's victims was there at the court house for the hearing.

She gave a short statement that touched my heart. She said that even if he dies, which she hopes that his sentence is served out fully...

There is no such thing as closure. That she will have the pain of having her Mother murdered to carry for the rest of her life. I believed her. Bless her heart.
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Hi Kat,

Thank you. ITA with what I bolded. People do live with the pain every day for the rest of their lives. I only hope these people will get justice in this monsters death, I believe it's fitting.
 
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_13345464?source=most_viewed

Posted: 09/16/2009 12:00:00 AM MDT


Ex-cellmate of David Leonard Wood collected $13K reward


...James Carl Sweeney Jr., one of Wood's former cellmates, received $13,000 in 1993, after he filed a lawsuit against county officials and Crime Stoppers of El Paso...

...
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I didn't quote a lot of the article but it is interesting.
 
From February 2016

On Wednesday ABC-7 learned Wood and his attorney are appealing his conviction again, this time requesting additional DNA testing, saying a former friend who rode motorcycles with Wood back in the 1980's should be considered an alternative suspect.

This latest appeal of his death sentence, handed down in 1992, is based on the possibility a DNA test could implicate a man by the name of Sal Martinez in the murders, if a DNA profile of Martinez can be developed and matched to stored evidence in the case.
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http://www.kvia.com/news/wood-requests-more-dna-testing-victims-mother-upset/38176500
 
Does anyone know anything about Sal Martinez who Wood says is the real killer?
 
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