Death row inmate who believes he is immortal will not be executed
A US man who claims to be immortal has been deemed too mentally ill to be executed, after spending over two decades on death row.
John Richard Wood was sentenced to death after killing state trooper Eric Nicholson during a traffic stop during a traffic stop in December 2000 in the state of South Carolina.
He later shot at police officers while attempting to flee and was later arrested after attempting to hijack a truck – later being sentenced to death in 2002.
However, a court has now ruled that he is not mentally fit to face the death penalty.
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According to a report from the South Carolina Daily Gazette, the 59-year-old believes he has already died three times while behind bars and is immortal.
The ruling came after three mental health experts concluded that Wood's schizophrenia diagnosis meant that he was unable to understand why he was being punished.
He cannot 'rationally and factually' understand his crimes
The experts, which included a psychiatrist for the prosecution as well as a psychiatrist and a psychologist with Wood’s team, concluded that Wood could not 'rationally and factually' understand the crimes for which he was sentenced in 2002.
Fox Carolina adds that Wood has been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital four times within the past 10 years.
He is also said to believe that law enforcement were 'trying to frame him for a brutal rape' with his conviction, and that the judge in his trial was conspiring with agents of 'Beloved Kevin Rudolph' – a deity which Wood believes he is fighting to rule the planet.
Wood is also said to believe that he was given wings and immortality in order to win the battle.
It's also stated that Wood is unable to communicate rationally with his attorneys.
The ruling does not overturn Wood's original sentence and will now be put to the South Carolina Supreme Court, which could either uphold or overturn the decision.
Wood is the first person to be found not competent for execution after South Carolina resumed putting people to death in September 2024, following a 13-year pause in executions due to a shortage of lethal injections.
Can a person be declared mentally unfit for execution?
Following a 1986 legal battle, Ford v. Wainwright, the US Supreme Court upheld the rule that a mentally unwell person cannot be executed.
A key part of this ruling stated that prisoners should be competent enough to understand the nature of the crime committed and its subsequent punishment.
Brenna Cooper