EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — A Texas man accused of killing three girls and three women in El Paso in 1992 will be sentenced to death in March 2025, about eight years after losing his final appeal.
According to an Aug. 20 court order, 67-year-old David Leonard Wood is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on March 13, 2025, just over three decades after his first capital crime conviction and eight years after he lost an appeal.
The execution is scheduled to take place sometime after 6 p.m. at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville, the court order states.
Wood, popularly known as the “Desert Serial Killer,” was found guilty in 1992 of murdering three women and three girls in El Paso five years earlier and dumping their bodies in the area now home to the Painted Dunes golf course.
He has maintained his innocence for the past 32 years.
Woods’ victims included:
- Dawn Smith, 14
- Desiree Wheatley, 15
- Angelica Frausto, 17
- Karen Baker, 20
- Ivy Susanna Williams, 23
- Rosa Maria Casio, 24
Meanwhile, Wood was also suspected of being involved in the disappearance of three other girls – 14-year-old Marjorie Knox, 14-year-old Melissa Alaniz and Cheryl Vasquez-Dismukes.
The court order was filed on August 20, exactly 15 years to the day after Wood's first execution date, which was scheduled for August 20, 2009.
He appealed, claiming mental disability, and his appeal was finally granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals one day before his execution.
This claim for compensation for mental disability culminated in an appeal in 2014, which Wood lost.
According to the El Paso Times, the court's order denying the appeal read: “The court held a hearing and made findings of fact and conclusions of law recommending that his motion be denied because the applicant [Wood] has not proven that he is mentally retarded.”
Similarly, the El Paso Times quoted the judges at the time as saying: “This court has reviewed the record regarding [Wood’s] allegations. Based on the court's findings and conclusions and our own review, we deny compensation.”
In 2016, Wood's defense attorney tried a different tactic and suggested that authorities conduct a DNA test on another suspect, Salvador Martinez.
However, detectives reportedly collected DNA samples from Martinez and questioned him before Wood's capital crimes trial in 1992.
RELATED:Convicted murderer's defense team: State should consider other suspects
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