South Carolina Judge Rules Cop Killer Incompetent for Execution Due to Delusional Schizophrenia

A South Carolina judge ruled that an inmate convicted of killing a state trooper more than 25 years ago cannot be executed. The inmate suffers from a mental illness that makes him believe he is immortal.

John Richard Wood, 59, lacks the ability to rationally communicate with his lawyers. He also does not have a rational and factual understanding of his crimes, why he is being punished or the nature of his punishment. Judge Grace Knie made that finding based on opinions from three mental health experts, according to WSPA and the South Carolina Daily Gazette.

A psychiatrist for the prosecution and a psychiatrist and psychologist for Wood's legal team all agreed that he failed the two-pronged legal standard for competence to be executed. Knie upheld his attorneys' claim that the debilitating effects of his schizophrenia prevent him from facing the death penalty at this time.

The ruling must be reviewed by the state Supreme Court, which could uphold or overturn it.

Wood believes he is immortal, has already died three times on death row and will be resurrected if the state executes him. He also thinks he has received a pardon from South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster. Knie cited testimony from the mental health experts during a March hearing, the South Carolina Daily Gazette reported.

The experts said Wood understands why he received the death sentence. But he believes law enforcement officers were trying to frame him for a brutal rape.

Wood also thinks the judge at his 2002 trial and courtroom personnel worked against him. He sees them as agents of Beloved Kevin Rudolph, a deity he believes is part of a battle to rule the planet. Wood believes he was given wings and immortality to win that fight, according to the South Carolina Daily Gazette.

He is the first inmate on death row in South Carolina found not competent to be put to death since the state restarted executions in September 2024. That came after a 13-year pause caused by trouble obtaining lethal injection drugs. The state added the firing squad as an execution method during the hiatus. Seven executions have occurred since capital punishment resumed, including three men who chose firing squad.

Wood was convicted of killing South Carolina State Trooper Eric Nicholson in December 2000 during a traffic stop in Greenville County. He shot Nicholson five times, authorities said.

During a subsequent pursuit, Wood shot at police and hit one officer in the face with a bullet fragment. He was taken into custody after hijacking a truck.

Wood was sentenced to death in February 2002. He was among death row inmates in line for a death warrant after exhausting regular appeals.

His death warrant is paused, but his original conviction and sentence stand.