Monday, 18 Nov 2024

What happened to Nathaniel Woods? – The Sun

NATHANIEL Woods languished on death row before he was executed in Alabama in a case that shocked America and the world.

So who is the man who Kim Kardashian pleaded to free and what was he convicted of?

Who was Nathaniel Woods?

The 43-year-old was controversially executed for the murder of three police officers.

Woods, who sold crack cocaine to ‘100-150 customers per day’, was wanted for a domestic assault.

Officers Carlos Owen, 58, Harley A. Chisolm, 40, and Charles R. Bennett, 33, entered a house in Birmingham in June of 2004 to serve a warrant for the assault.

But after they entered, another man in the house- Kerry Spencer – opened fire with a high-powered rifle.

The officers died from multiple gun shots.

What happened to Nathaniel Woods?

Woods was put on trial for the murders the following year.

The prosecution said he was the bait who lured officers deeper in the apartment and had bragged about the murders, including in song lyrics and art.

However, Woods said he had told officers Owen and Chisholm he was surrendering and it was after they entered that Kerry Spencer opened fire with a high-powered rifle.

Spencer, who is himself on death row, confessed to the killings.

After a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on Wood’s sentence, a judge sentenced him to death.

Many public figures and defenders called the execution to be halted.

They questioned his culpability and his representation at trial.

Wood’s co-defendant Kerry Spencer also said Woods was innocent.

A growing number of supporters argued that there was no evidence showing Woods had plotted to ambush the officers.

Prosecutors portrayed Woods as someone who hated the police.

Attorneys for Woods filed a second petition to the high court, again asking for a stay of execution and a review of the case.

Alabama is the only state that allows a defendant to be condemned without a unanimous jury decision in capital punishment cases.

Woods was ultimately put to death at 9:01 p.m. CST following a lethal injection at the state prison in Atmore.

He had no last words but appeared to arrange his hands in a sign of his Islamic faith.

Family members of the slain officers gave statements to the media after the execution.

Greg Owen, the son of officer Owen, said his father was also a grandfather who only wanted to protect people in the city where e grew up.

“Instead of going home that day, he was ambushed, murdered and died on the floor of a filthy drug house,” Greg Owen wrote.

What has Kim Kardashian said about the case?

Kim Kardashian described the decision to lift the stay of execution as “a tragic example of injustice in the system”.

She said: “Nate will die for a crime another man confessed to and says Nate had nothing to do with. My heart and prayers are with Nate and his family and all the advocates who worked tirelessly to save his life.”

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In recent years Kardashian has campaigning against what she sees as miscarriages of justice and has lobbied Donald Trump directly.

Recently, the celebrity helped to free former sex slave Cyntoia Brown who served 12 years in prison for killing a man who paid her for sex when she was just 16 years old.

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