He believes he has already died three times and been resurrected. He thinks he's immortal, that he can sprout wings, and that a deity named "Beloved Kevin Rudolph" is using him in a cosmic war for Earth. John Richard Wood, 56, has spent over 25 years on South Carolina's death row for murdering a state trooper. Now, three mental health experts and a judge have all agreed: he is too mentally ill to face execution.
In December 2000, Wood pulled a gun on Trooper Eric Nicholson during a routine traffic stop. He opened fire, then fled. During the chase, he shot at police, sending a bullet fragment into another officer. Arrested and later convicted, Wood has spent the last two decades in a cell—convinced his death sentence means nothing because he'll just rise again.
His delusions aren't subtle. He believes the state has already executed him three times on death row—and that he's already received a pardon from the governor. During his 2002 trial, he thought the courtroom was a pawn of a divine being locked in a struggle for control of the planet. He told doctors he has wings and was gifted immortality to "win his fight" against the justice system.
Because of his schizophrenia, Wood cannot grasp why he's being punished. The judge, backed by two psychiatrists and a psychologist, ruled that executing him would be unconstitutional—he doesn't have a rational understanding of his own death. The ruling now heads to the South Carolina Supreme Court, which could spare him or send him to the death chamber.
In a separate case, another man was sentenced to death earlier today for a crime that shocked Texas. Tanner Horner, 34, kidnapped and murdered seven-year-old Athena Strand. He confessed to accidentally hitting her with his FedEx truck, then bundling her into the van and strangling her to keep her quiet.
During the two-week hearing, the courtroom saw video of little Athena alive inside that truck. Horner told her, "Don't scream, or I'll hurt you." It was a terrifying ordeal for a child who never got to grow up. The jury chose execution by lethal injection over life without parole.
Athena's mother, Maitlyn Gandy, spoke after the indictment. Her words cut deep: "Every breath he takes is one my daughter doesn't." Two death penalty cases, two different decisions—one man who can't understand his own death, and another who will face it.
