Kenneth Glad
A judge has stopped South Carolina from executing a prisoner for now, finding that his schizophrenia prevents him from understanding why he faces death. Wood remains under a death sentence, but the ruling bars the state from carrying it out unless a higher court reverses it or he is later found competent.
John Richard Wood, 59, has spent more than two decades on death row for the 2000 killing of South Carolina State Trooper Eric Nicholson.
According to the South Carolina Daily Gazette, Judge Grace Knie ruled that Wood is not competent to be executed after three mental health experts reached the same conclusion. They included one psychiatrist for prosecutors and two experts for Wood’s defense.
The experts said Wood cannot communicate rationally with his lawyers or understand his crime, sentence and the reason the state seeks to execute him.
Delusions cited
The newspaper, citing court testimony, reports that Wood’s schizophrenia has shaped a delusional view of his case and punishment.
Wood believes he is immortal, has already “died three times on death row” and would return to life if executed, according to the testimony described by the outlet.
He also believes South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has already pardoned him.
Experts said his delusions extend to the original prosecution. Court testimony described Wood as believing officers were “trying to frame him for a brutal rape” and that figures in the courtroom were agents of “Beloved Kevin Rudolph,” a deity in his belief system.
State review
Wood was convicted after Nicholson was shot during a traffic stop in Greenville County in December 2000.
Reports by the New York Post say that Wood later fired at pursuing officers before being arrested after hijacking a truck.
Knie’s ruling now goes to the South Carolina Supreme Court, which can uphold or reverse the competency finding.
Wood is the first South Carolina death row prisoner found incompetent for execution since the state resumed executions in September 2024 after a 13-year pause.
Seven executions have been carried out since then, including three by firing squad, according to the South Carolina Daily Gazette.
The issue before the state Supreme Court is narrower: Whether South Carolina may execute him while experts say he cannot rationally understand why.
Sources: South Carolina Daily Gazette, New York Post
