Texas execution of ‘desert killer,’ on death row for 30 years, blocked by court

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Fraternal Order of Police National Vice President Joe Gamaldi calls out a Texas judge’s decision to set bond for a man who allegedly killed a police officer.

Texas death row inmate David Leonard Wood’s execution, which had been set for this week, was halted by a Texas appeals court on Tuesday.

Wood, 67, has spent nearly 33 years on death row and had been set to die by lethal injection this week over the killings of six girls and young women found buried in the desert near El Paso. The court put Wood’s execution on pause “until further order,” without elaborating in their three-page order.

Six of the nine members of the court made that decision, FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth reported. Judges Mary Lou Keel and Gina Parker disagreed with staying Wood’s execution and Judge Bert Richardson, who had heard all of Wood’s appeals in trial court since 2011, did not participate. 

This was another delay for Wood, who was previously set for execution in 2009 when it was put on hold about 24 hours beforehand over claims he was intellectually disabled and thus ineligible for execution. Those claims were later rejected by a judge, and Wood had been set to die Thursday. 

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Undated photo of David Wood, who has set to be executed this week after spending more than 30 years on death row.  (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via FOX 4)

The 1987 murders remained unsolved for several years until authorities say Wood bragged to a cellmate that he was the so-called “Desert Killer.” The victims’ bodies were found buried in shallow graves in the same desert area northeast of El Paso.

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FILE – Convicted killer David Leonard Wood poses for a photo at death row in Huntsville, Texas, July 15, 2009. (Mike Graczyk, File)

Authorities said Wood gave rides to the victims and then drove them into the desert, where he sexually assaulted and killed them. The victims were Rosa Casio and Ivy Williams, both 23; Karen Baker, 21; Angelica Frausto, 17; Desiree Wheatley, 15; and Dawn Smith, 14.

Two other girls and a young woman were also reported missing but were never found.

Paperwork from David Wood’s prison file. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via FOX 4)

Wood, a repeat convicted sex offender who worked as a mechanic, has long maintained his innocence.

“I did not do it. I am innocent of this case. I’ll fight it,” Wood said in recent documents filed in his appeals.

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Wood’s execution was the second halted in the U.S. on Tuesday after a federal judge stopped Louisiana’s first death row execution using nitrogen gas, which was to take place next week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.