Death Row Inmate Who Killed State Trooper Says He’s ‘Immortal’ — and It Helped Halt His Execution

A 59-year-old South Carolina inmate, John Richard Wood, who was guilty of killing a state trooper 25 years ago, cannot receive the death penalty due to reported mental illness. According to reports, he believes he is immortal and lacks the ability to communicate with his lawyers rationally. His mental condition was reportedly verified by three mental health experts, following which capital punishment in his case was blocked.

According to the WSPA, John Richard Wood was found guilty of killing Eric Nicholson, a South Carolina State Trooper, during a traffic stop in Greenville County in December 2000. He was sentenced to death in February 2002.

However, a recent report by South Carolina Daily Gazette notes that three experts — a psychiatrist for the prosecution, along with a psychiatrist and a psychologist with the defense’s legal team — agreed that he didn’t meet the two-part legal standard for being fit to be executed. Thus, Judge Grace Knie reserved Wood’s attorney’s claim, stressing that he cannot be executed due to the debilitating effects of schizophrenia.

“The more I talk, the more crazy I feel in saying these things,” Dr. Amanda Salas, a defense team psychiatrist, was quoted as saying about Wood’s concept of the world.

Nonetheless, Knie’s verdict will be reassessed by the state Supreme Court, which will further decide if the decision should be overturned or upheld. The judge said Wood assumes that he has already died three times on death row and would come back again if executed. The finding was based on testimony from mental health experts presented during a hearing in March.

While Wood understands why he received the capital punishment, he mistakenly believes that the law enforcement officers were “trying to frame him for a brutal r***.”

In addition, the inmate also believes that the judge in his 2002 trial, who is now Chief Justice John Kittredge, and other personnel in the court were acting against him as agents of a figure he calls “Beloved Kevin Rudolph,” whom he sees as part of a struggle for control of the world.

The report suggests that the 59-year-old believes that he has been given wings and cannot die, and that he is meant to prevail in this conflict. While Wood’s death warrant is paused, his original conviction and sentence still remain valid.

Talking about the case’s history, authorities stated that Woods shot the officer five times in 2000 before fleeing. At the time, witnesses followed him as he drove away from the scene. He then entered the parking lot, got into a Jeep, and led police on a chase. During the chase, he opened fire on officers, and one officer was struck in the face by a fragment from a bullet. Police later arrested him after he took control of a truck.

Ever since the state resumed executions in September 2024, he was the first death row inmate in South Carolina to be ruled unfit for the death penalty. The capital punishments started after a 13-year gap caused by difficulties obtaining lethal injection drugs. During that hiatus, the state also approved the firing squad as an alternative method of execution.