NEWS
Nathaniel Woods executed in Alabama amidst massive outcry
Nathaniel Woods who was convicted as an accomplice in the 2004 killings of three police officers in Alabama shot by another man was executed Thursday evening.
Inmate Nathaniel Woods, 43, was pronounced dead at 9.01pm CST Thursday following a lethal injection at the state prison in Atmore, authorities said. The inmate had no last words before the chemicals began flowing, but appeared to arrange his hands in a sign of his Islamic faith.
Alabama’s first execution of the year came after a last-minute bid to stop it, that included support from the son of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jnr, and others who argued it was unfair to execute a man who did not pull the trigger in the slaying.
The state of Alabama said that Woods was an active participant with the slayings and had bragged about it afterwards in statements, song lyrics and art.
The US Supreme Court issued a temporary stay to consider last-minute appeals and then denied the inmate’s petitions. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey denied a request for clemency.
Woods and Kerry Spencer were convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in the slayings of the three Birmingham officers. The officers’ deaths in a hail of gunfire rocked Alabama’s largest city in 2004. Carlos Owen, Harley A. Chisolm III and Charles R. Bennett died while trying to serve a misdemeanour domestic assault warrant on Woods at a suspected drug house.
Prosecutors said Spencer was the triggerman in the slaying, opening fire on the officers with a high-powered rifle inside the apartment, though Woods was convicted as an accomplice.
Testimony showed the officers approached a small house where Woods and Spencer were believed to deal drugs; at least two other people were also inside. After talking to Woods through a back door, Owen and Chisholm entered. State lawyers wrote in court filings that Woods said he was surrendering to officers and soon after Spencer opened fire with a high-powered rifle. At his 2005 trial, a prosecutor told jurors that Woods was the “bait” and lured officers deeper in the apartment.
Owen, 58, and Chisholm, 40, were found dead in the kitchen just inside a rear door, and Bennett, 33, was fatally shot near the front door. A fourth officer was wounded but survived.
Supporters waged a last-minute appeal to stop the execution as the case drew national attention. Supporters argued that Spencer said he was the sole person responsible for the shootings and that Woods received an unfair trial in 2005.
Woods had no last words after the warden read his death warrant. At one point during the procedure, the inmate jerked his left arm upwards against the restraints of the gurney. His breathing became laboured and then slowed until it was no longer apparent.
No execution date has been set for Spencer, who was convicted before Woods and is on death row.
