Bobby Woods

Bobby Wayne Woods, 44, was executed by lethal injection on 3 December 2009 in Huntsville, Texas for the abduction and murder of his ex-girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter.

In the early morning hours of 30 April 1997, Woods, then 31, went to the home of his ex-girlfriend, Schwana Patterson, 35, in Granbury, which is in Hood County, southwest of Fort Worth. Patterson had kicked Woods out a few days earlier. Her two children, 11-year-old Sarah and 9-year-old Cody - were sleeping inside. Woods crawled through an open window into the children's bedroom. He grabbed Sarah's foot and began beating her chest, then sexually molested her. Woods then forced both children to leave through the window in their nightclothes, put them in his car, and drove to a cemetery. There, he beat and stomped Cody on the head and strangled him. With Cody unconscious, Woods then drove away with Sarah. Cody later awoke, crawled over a fence, and attracted the attention of a horseback rider, who called the police.

Based on Cody's statement, police found Woods and asked him where Sarah was, hoping to find her alive. Woods answered, "You will not find her alive. I cut her throat." He then led them to her body. She was clothed in an inside-out shirt, a sports bra, and a pair of shorts, without underwear. Her throat had been deeply cut, severing her larynx and several major blood vessels. The cause of her death was extreme blood loss.

Cody had surgery to remove skull fragments from his brain.

The physical evidence against Woods included his semen on Sarah's blanket, a pair of her panties on his car's floorboard, and a trash bag containing a large butcher knife - covered with Sarah's blood - and a pawn ticket bearing Woods' signature and address for items from the Pattersons' home. Woods also had scratches on his face and arms at the time of his arrest. He and Sarah also shared the same sexually transmitted disease - the human papilloma virus (HPV).

Woods gave two statements to police. He admitted to having sexual contact with Sarah before leaving the house. He said that after Cody fell unconscious in the cemetery, Sarah started screaming. He took her away in the car, where she continued to yell, and said that she would tell the police he hit Cody. Woods said that he attempted to quiet the girl by holding a knife to her throat, but she "jerked real hard", and the knife cut her.

At Woods' trial, which was moved because of news coverage to Llano County, northwest of Austin, Cody testified that he awoke to his sister's screams. On the way to the cemetery, he noticed a black-handled knife in the back seat of the car. At the cemetery, Woods asked him whether his mother was seeing anyone else.

Testifying in his own defense, Woods stated that while talking with Cody in the cemetery about his mother, he "popped" him in the head "pretty hard" with the palm of his hand about three times. Cody fell back, hit his head on a fence post, and fell unconscious. He then put Sarah in the car and began driving back to his house, where his cousin, Jody Milton, lived with him, because Milton "would know what to do." Milton then drove off with Sarah. The next day, Milton told Woods he thought the girl was dead, and took him to her body.

Jody Milton hanged himself a few days after the murder.

Woods denied that he told the police, "I cut her throat". He testified that he told them, "Her throat's been cut". He stated he had trouble reading some words and that his signed, typewritten statements did not accurately reflect what he told the police.

On cross-examination, the prosecutor challenged Woods' claim that he could not read very well by confronting him with the fact that he had checked out over a hundred books while awaiting trial in the Hood County jail. "I asked for books so I could see if I could find any I can read," Woods answered.

Woods had no prior criminal record.

Sarah's diary was admitted into evidence at Woods' punishment hearing. Two months before her murder, she wrote, "Dear Diary. Guess what? Bobby moved out and we are so, so, so, so happy." In another entry, she wrote, "I don't like Cody, and I hate Bobby." She also wrote that she contracted HPV from him.

A jury convicted Woods of capital murder in May 1998 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in 2000. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied, including a series of appeals claiming that he was ineligible for execution because of mental retardation.

Woods was also convicted of the attempted capital murder of Cody Patterson and was given a life sentence for that crime.

Sources differ on whether the children's mother, Schwana Cletus Patterson, was home when they were taken. According to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' summary of Woods' case, she was not. According to newspaper reports, however, prosecutors alleged that she was home and heard her children screaming, but failed to help them. She was arrested and charged with serious injury to a child by omission - a first-degree felony. A jury convicted her in September 1998 and sentenced her to 23 years in prison. On appeal in August 2001, her conviction was reduced to a second-degree felony, and her sentence was reduced to 8 years in prison. She was paroled in March 2005, and was released from parole supervision upon the expiration of her sentence in September 2006.

Woods' original execution date in January 2008 was stayed because of a temporary nationwide moratorium on lethal injections while the U.S. Supreme Court was considering the constitutionality of the procedure. He also avoided a second scheduled execution date in October 2008 when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed to a stay so his mental competency could be evaluated again.

In preparation for Woods' trial, the defense had hired a psychologist, Pita, who interviewed Woods and administered several tests designed to measure mental retardation, mental illness, and competency to stand trial. Woods scored 70 on the IQ test. On a test called Street Survival Skills Questionnaire (SSSQ), which measures a person's ability to function independently, Woods scored a 95. Pita also gave Woods a test called Competence Assessment for Standing Trial for Defendants with Mental Retardation (CAST*MR). On that test, where defendants who score 54% or lower are presumed to be incompetent to stand trial, and 74% or lower are presumed to be mentally retarded, Wood scored 100 percent. Based on his evaluation, Pita concluded that Woods was not mentally retarded and was competent to stand trial.

At Woods' trial, the defense called a different psychologist, Landrum. Landrum did not interview Woods or administer any tests, but he was given a copy of Pita's report. Landrum also reviewed Woods' handwriting samples, jail records, work history, and a statement from Woods' grandmother. Based on these records, Landrum testified that Woods "is, and always has been, always will be, a mentally retarded person."

In a hearing before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in October 2009, both sides again presented their arguments and additional tests and expert testimony regarding Woods' intelligence. The appeals court decided, in an 8-1 vote, that the additional evidence presented before them supported the trial court's finding that Woods was not retarded.

In an interview from death row prior to his scheduled execution date in October 2008, Woods said he did not plan to harm the children. "I took the kids out, and we were horsing around," he said. "We went walking around graveyards, horsing around by a fence. Cody jumped on my back and hit a fence post." After that, Woods said, "I guess I panicked." He still blamed Sarah's murder on his cousin.

Woods' execution was delayed for about half an hour while the U.S. Supreme Court considered and rejected a final appeal from his lawyers claiming that he was mentally retarded and that his previous lawyers' work was faulty.

At his execution, when the warden asked Woods if he had a final statement, he lifted his head from the gurney and said, "Bye. I'm ready." The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m.