Execution Report: Steven Woods

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A jury convicted Woods of capital murder in August 2002 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in December 2004. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Marcus Scott Rhodes was also charged with capital murder. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. He remains in custody as of this writing.

In interviews and writings from death row, Woods admitted that he was present when Whitehead and Brosz were killed, but he said Rhodes acted alone. He said he and Rhodes were both high on LSD on the night of the killings. As he was lighting a cigarette for Whitehead, Rhodes shot him in the head, then shot Brosz.

On a web site maintained by his friends and family, Woods claimed he was wrongfully convicted and that Rhodes was the "real murderer" of Whitehead and Brosz. "I was set up to take the blame for this crime, so that a rich, well-connected family would not have to deal with negative media and the burdens that come with death row," he wrote.

When a reporter asked Woods about the witnesses who testified to hearing him planning to kill Whitehead and later bragging about it, he answered, "No possible way."

"You're not about to witness an execution; you're about to witness a murder," Woods said from the execution chamber. "I've never killed anybody, never. This whole thing is wrong ... Warden, if you're going to murder someone, go ahead and do it. Pull that trigger." The lethal injection was then started. Woods said he could feel the drug working, then said "Goodbye." He was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 14 September 2011. Minor syntax edit made for clarity on 16 June 2015.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, Associated Press, Dallas Morning News, http://www.savesteven.info.