A South Carolina judge ruled that a death row inmate who says he is immortal cannot be executed because he is mentally unfit, according to court filings and local news reports.
Judge Grace Knie found that John Richard Wood, 59, lacks the ability to rationally communicate with his lawyers and does not have a rational, factual understanding of his crimes or the nature of his punishment, the judge said, citing opinions from three mental health experts, according to WSPA and the South Carolina Daily Gazette.
The experts — a psychiatrist for the prosecution and a psychiatrist and psychologist for Wood’s legal team — agreed that he failed the two-pronged legal standard for competence to be executed, the reports said. Knie upheld his attorneys’ claim that the debilitating effects of Wood’s schizophrenia prevent him from facing the death penalty at this time, the news outlets reported.
The judge cited testimony that Wood believes he is immortal, has died three times on death row and will be resurrected if the state carries out an execution. She also noted that Wood believes he already received a pardon from Gov. Henry McMaster, according to the South Carolina Daily Gazette. The experts told the court Wood mistakenly believes law enforcement tried to frame him for a brutal rape and that trial personnel were agents of a deity he calls “Beloved Kevin Rudolph,” the Gazette reported.
Wood was convicted of killing South Carolina State Trooper Eric Nicholson during a traffic stop in Greenville County in December 2000. Authorities said Wood shot Nicholson five times, fired at pursuing officers — striking one officer with a bullet fragment — and was taken into custody after hijacking a truck. He was sentenced to death in February 2002, according to authorities and local reporting. Knie’s ruling must be reviewed by the South Carolina Supreme Court. Local reporting noted Wood is the first inmate found incompetent for execution in the state since executions resumed in September 2024 after a 13-year pause; the state added the firing squad during that hiatus and has carried out seven executions since resumption, including three by firing squad, the Gazette and WSPA reported. Fox News Digital said it reached out to the South Carolina Department of Corrections and Knie’s office for comment.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
