On
this date, December 3, 2009, Bobby Wayne Woods was executed by lethal injection
in Texas. He was convicted of the April 30, 1997 rape, kidnapping and murder of
11-year-old Sarah Patterson. I will post information about him from Wikipedia
and other links. Please go to the Unit 1012 Blog to hear from the victim’s
families.
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| Bobby Wayne Woods |
Born
|
October 11, 1965
Livingston, Texas, US |
Died
|
December 3, 2009 (aged 44)
Huntsville, Texas, US |
Cause of death
|
execution
|
Criminal penalty
|
death penalty
|
Conviction(s)
|
murder, kidnapping, and rape (1998)
|
Bobby Wayne Woods (October 11, 1965 – December 3, 2009) was a convicted
American murderer, kidnapper and rapist executed by the state of Texas for the
murder and rape of 11-year old Sarah Patterson in 1997. Woods also received a
40-year sentence for the abduction of Patterson's younger brother, whom he beat
unconscious and left for dead but who survived. On May 28, 1998, Woods was
sentenced to death for Patterson's murder and was executed on December 3, 2009
after a failed appeal based on Woods's low IQ.
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Sarah Patterson
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Biography
A
seventh-grade dropout, Woods was so illiterate that he had to refer to a
spelling list just to write simple notes to his family. He had IQ scores of 80
and 78 during elementary school. His IQ score right before his murder trial was
70, and another in 2002 returned 68. Woods also worked as a short-order cook
and roofer.
On
April 30, 1997, Woods entered the home of his ex-girlfriend Schwana Patterson
through the open window of her children's bedroom; Patterson had expelled Woods
two months earlier. Woods then kidnapped Patterson's two children, 11-year-old
Sarah Patterson and 9-year-old Cody Patterson, and raped Sarah. After driving
to a cemetery, Woods beat and stomped Cody's head, strangled Cody, and
abandoned the boy at the cemetery. Cody notified police, and Woods told police
that Sarah was dead and led the police to her body.
Trial
Because
the Woods case was heavily reported in Dallas-area media, Woods's trial was
held in Llano, Texas. During his trial Woods admitted to kidnapping Patterson's
children and beating Cody Patterson unconscious. A psychologist representing
the defense but who did not evaluate Woods testified that Woods was mentally
retarded and no longer a threat to society. In response, a psychiatrist
representing prosecution testified that Woods was not mentally retarded and
could commit future violent crimes. Woods, a resident of Granbury, Texas, was
sentenced to death on May 28, 1998.
Patterson
was also tried on charges of child neglect and was found guilty on October 14,
1998. She was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Execution
Woods
was scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. on October 23, 2008. However, the Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals delayed the execution after lawyers raised issue that
Woods's IQ would make him ineligible for the death penalty due to the United
States Supreme Court case Atkins v. Virginia. That court ruled 8-1 on
October 7, 2009 that there was insufficient evidence that Woods was retarded.
The Supreme Court of the United States denied Woods's appeal hours before
Woods's final execution day.
Woods
was executed at 6:48 p.m. local time on December 3, 2009 in the Huntsville Unit
state prison. He was the 50th murderer executed in the U.S. in 2009 and 1,186th
since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled capital punishment constitutional in the
1976 case Gregg v. Georgia. In Texas, Woods was the 24th murderer
executed in 2009 and 447th executed since 1976.
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