Where this was said
The Desert Killer Case: How El Paso Built Its Case Against David Wood
At 15:01 · chapter starts 13:01
This extended chapter serves as the evidentiary foundation of the series, told largely through the voice of retired Detective John Guerrero. It begins in 1987 when county employees stumbled upon a leg protruding from desert sand — the first of what would become six victims, ranging in age from middle school girls to young women in their twenties. As Guerrero investigated, clues emerged from an unlikely source: middle school kids who described a white man in a beige truck known as 'Skeeter,' who had been hanging around and giving them marijuana and beer. That nickname eventually led police to David Wood, recently released from prison and carrying a long criminal record including sexual crimes against girls as young as 12. The case accelerated when rape survivor Judith Kelling came forward, describing how a man drove her to the desert, tied her up, raped her while ordering her to claim she was 14, and then fled when he heard nearby voices. She identified Wood in a lineup; the attack site was 50 yards from the murder victims' graves. Physical evidence included orange fibers found near a victim's body and in Wood's apartment vacuum. Two jailhouse informants swore Wood confessed to them. The jury took less than 90 minutes. One informant later received $13,000 in reward money; the other had a capital murder charge dropped.
Six bodies found in the El Paso desert, all within months of each other. The only lead: middle school kids talking about a white guy called 'Skeeter' who had just gotten out of prison. That trail leads directly to David Wood.
David Wood had been released from prison less than one month before the first of the six desert murder victims disappeared.
Judith Kelling survived an attack by a man who drove her to the desert, tied her up, and raped her while ordering her to say she was 14. She later identified David Wood in a photo lineup. The site of her attack was 50 yards from where the murder victims were found.
Judith Kelling, who escaped an attack by David Wood, was raped approximately 50 yards from where the murder victims' bodies were found in the desert.
The two star witnesses who testified David Wood confessed to murder didn't walk away empty-handed. One collected $13,000 in reward money; the other had his own capital murder charge dropped. These are the testimonies that put a man on death row.
Court documents show that after David Wood's trial, one of the jailhouse informants who testified against him received $13,000 in reward money.
The second jailhouse informant who testified that David Wood confessed to the murders had his own capital murder charge dropped after the trial.
The jury in David Wood's murder trial needed less than 90 minutes to deliver a death sentence, indicating how overwhelming the evidence appeared to them.
