{"id":1143,"date":"2026-05-07T05:47:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T05:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/death-row-inmate-who-believes-hes-immortal-avoids-execution-at-last-minute\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T05:47:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T05:47:51","slug":"death-row-inmate-who-believes-hes-immortal-avoids-execution-at-last-minute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/death-row-inmate-who-believes-hes-immortal-avoids-execution-at-last-minute\/","title":{"rendered":"Death row inmate who believes he\u2019s \u2018immortal\u2019 avoids execution at last minute"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_cd6cce\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">The death row inmate has avoided execution due to mental health reasons as he believes he has \u2018wings\u2019 and was gifted immortality to win his \u2018fight\u2019 against the justice system<\/h2>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37121158\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Wood has avoided execution due to being mentally unfit \" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_Screenshot-2026-05-07-at-143538.png\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Wood has avoided execution due to being mentally unfit \" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Wood has avoided execution due to being mentally unfit <cite aria-label=\"Image: South Carolina Department of Corrections\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: South Carolina Department of Corrections)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A death row inmate who believes he is &#8216;immortal&#8217; has avoided execution at the very last minute.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">John Richard Wood, 56, claims he has <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/us-news\/death-row-inmate-terrified-electric-34758889\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">already died<\/a> and been resurrected three times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He was due to be <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/death-row-rappers-british-wife-37116959\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">executed<\/a> after serving more than 25 years for <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/uk-news\/adam-rowson-murder-chef-shrewsbury-37115722\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">killing<\/a> a state trooper in South Carolina, US, but was deemed too mentally ill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">In December 2000, Wood shot and killed Eric Nicholson during a traffic stop. He was arrested after fleeing and shooting at police, hitting another officer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">It was decided by three mental health experts that he isn&#8217;t competent enough to be executed, as he did not understand why he is to be punished.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Wood has schizophrenia and believes he is immortal \u2013 claiming to have already been executed three times. The judge in his case explained that Wood thinks he will be resurrected if the state puts him to death.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-37103463\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37103463\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.51\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Prisoners-on-Texas-Death-Row.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"John Richard Wood has been on death row for years\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">John Richard Wood has been on death row for years<cite aria-label=\"Image: Getty Images\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He also wrongly believes he has already received a pardon from the governor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Wood thought that the courtroom of his 2002 trial was working as an agent of \u2018Beloved Kevin Rudolph\u2019, a deity who he thinks is part of a war to win over control of the planet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The court was told that the killer believes he has \u2018wings\u2019 and was gifted immortality to win his \u2018fight\u2019 against the justice system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">It was agreed by the judge, with the assistance of two psychiatrists and a psychologist that Wood can\u2019t be executed because of his debilitating mental illness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Although Wood understands why he was initially handed the deaths sentence he still feels police were \u2018framing him for brutal rape\u2019.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The judge\u2019s ruling will go to the South Carolina Supreme Court, which could either uphold or overturn the decision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/us-news\/death-row-john-richard-wood-37121152\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The death row inmate has avoided execution due to mental health reasons as he believes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778132872_0_Screenshot-2026-05-07-at-143538.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}