Execution set for convicted cop killer in Alabama; defense argues inmate was present, but didn’t pull trigger

Published 11:47 am Monday, March 2, 2020

The State of Alabama has scheduled the execution of convicted killer Nathaniel Woods.

Barring any kind of last-minute court action or a stay from the governor, Woods will be killed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. on March 5, at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama.

Woods, 44, was convicted of the 2004 murders of three Birmingham, Alabama, police officers: Harley Alfred Chisholm III, Carlos Winston “Curly” Owen and Charles Robert Bennett.

Woods’ death sentence has come into question by several groups because he was reportedly not the actual trigger man in the murders. His accomplice, Kerry Spencer, remains on death row as well. Each was convicted of four counts of capital murder. They received one count for each officer’s death and an additional count for killing them while committing another crime.

Woods and Spencer were reportedly drug dealers operating from the house where the three officers were killed. Woods’ attorneys have recently argued that the case has been mishandled and that police misconduct led to the killings.