Texas Court Halts Execution of David Leonard Wood in "Desert Killer" Case
In a stunning turn of events, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals intervened just days before the scheduled execution of David Leonard Wood, issuing a rare stay of execution. Wood, now 67, has consistently maintained his innocence in the "Desert Killer" case, a series of murders that terrorized El Paso, Texas, in 1987. He was slated to be put to death by lethal injection on Thursday but will remain on death row pending further review by the court.
The court’s order, delivered without explicit reasoning, adds another layer of complexity to a case that has spanned nearly four decades. Wood’s conviction hinged largely on circumstantial evidence, with the absence of any DNA linkage connecting him to the six victims.
Wood, in a recent interview, voiced his frustration and anger at the circumstances surrounding his conviction. "I’m accused of killing six people when an entire police force couldn’t find a single shred of evidence of anything," he said. "How can I not be angry at the corruption that put me here? How can you let people just dump cases on you and not be angry?"
The Texas court’s decision coincides with a similar legal challenge in Louisiana, where a federal judge temporarily blocked the state’s planned nitrogen gas execution, citing potential constitutional violations related to pain and suffering.
The "Desert Killer" Murders: A Haunting Legacy
The case, dubbed the "Desert Killer" by local media, involved the deaths of six young women and girls: Dawn Marie Smith, Desiree Wheatley, Angelica Frausto, Karen Baker, Ivy Susanna Williams, and Rosa Maria Casio. Their remains were discovered in shallow graves in a desolate area northeast of El Paso. While the exact causes of death for all the victims remain undetermined, at least one was confirmed to have been strangled.
In addition to the confirmed victims, police suspected that three other missing girls – Melissa Alaniz, Marjorie Knox, and Cheryl Vasquez-Dismukes – may have also fallen prey to the "Desert Killer," though their bodies were never found.
Circumstantial Evidence and Doubts
The prosecution’s case against Wood was largely built on circumstantial evidence. El Paso Assistant District Attorney Karen Shook argued that the "totality" of the evidence pointed to Wood, emphasizing the signature aspect of the murders – the shallow graves in the isolated desert location.
"It’s clear that the signature aspect of these murders was the shallow graves in this dark, isolated desert area," she told jurors. "It became the private graveyard of the defendant, David Wood."
Key pieces of evidence included testimony from two jailhouse informants who claimed Wood confessed to the killings. A sex worker also testified that Wood raped her in the same desert area and had begun digging her grave before being startled by a noise.
Wood vehemently denied these claims, asserting that the informants and the sex worker were fabricating their stories in exchange for leniency in their own legal cases. His attorneys further alleged that the informants sought financial rewards for their testimony. Court filings also revealed a statement from a man who claimed that El Paso police attempted to coerce him into falsely testifying that Wood had confessed to the murders.
The prosecution also presented testimony from two women who claimed Wood had raped them years prior to the murders. One woman stated she was 13 when Wood raped her under a bridge, while another said she was 12 when Wood lured her with a false pretense and raped her at a construction site.
Other evidence included witness accounts of seeing some of the victims with Wood before their deaths, as well as microscopic orange fibers that prosecutors argued connected one of the victims to Wood’s vacuum cleaner and a blanket in his truck.
Defense Arguments: Weak Evidence and Unanswered Questions
Wood’s attorney, Gregory Wiercioch, has consistently argued that the evidence linking his client to the murders is weak and that the prosecution failed to adequately investigate the case through DNA testing. Wiercioch criticized the fact that only a small fraction of the evidence collected from the crime scenes was ever subjected to DNA analysis.
Of hundreds of items collected, only fingernail scrapings from one victim and bloodstains on the clothing of two others were tested. The results of the fingernail scraping and one of the bloodstain tests were inconclusive. The other bloodstain was determined to belong to a man but could not have been Wood, according to DNA testing obtained by the defense in 2010.
"This is a serial murder case, a case with six victims, and in a serial murder case, I would expect the government, the state, to have a mountain of evidence − direct evidence tying David Wood to these victims, and there’s not," Wiercioch said. "It’s incomprehensible to me how little evidence there is."
Wiercioch questioned the state’s reluctance to conduct further DNA testing, suggesting they may be afraid of what the results would reveal. "If they believe David Wood is the desert serial murderer, then why are they afraid of additional testing? We’ve never tested anything other than those three items out of 135, and one excluded David Wood. That’s very troubling."
Victims’ Families React to Stay of Execution
The news of the stay of execution has elicited mixed reactions from the victims’ families. Jolieen Denise Gonzalez, the sister of 17-year-old victim Angelica Frausto, expressed a sense of fairness in the court’s decision.
"I don’t think he should die for my sister’s murder," Gonzalez said. "I do not believe that I’m going to live to see my sister get justice." She has previously stated that she believed Wood helped plan her sister’s murder but did not carry it out himself.
Marcia Fulton, the mother of 15-year-old victim Desiree Wheatley, expressed disappointment but not surprise at the stay of execution. Fulton had planned to travel to Huntsville to witness Wood’s execution.
"I’m waiting for justice for my daughter because I promised her that at her gravesite. Each time this happens, it breaks my heart again, that I can’t follow through," Fulton said. "Victims have no justice system. Disappointed yes, but it’s not like I am waiting for him to die."
The Texas Attorney General’s Office has not commented on the case. The El Paso District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case, declined to comment due to a conflict of interest.
The future of David Leonard Wood’s case remains uncertain as the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals deliberates. The stay of execution provides a glimmer of hope for Wood and his legal team, who continue to fight for his exoneration. The decision also underscores the complexities and ethical considerations surrounding capital punishment, particularly in cases where the evidence is largely circumstantial and questions of guilt persist.
