David Wood indicted in desert deaths

Ramon Renteria reported today that David Leonard Wood , who was convicted of killing 6 six young women in 1992, has been scheduled to die at the state prison in Huntsville.

Convicted rapist now in state prison

By Gary Scharrer
El Paso Times

Convicted rapist David Leonard Wood was indicted Friday in he murders of six girls and women whose bodies were found almost three years ago in shallow graves scattered around the Northeast El Paso desert.

The desert bodies case had horrified El Pasoans and frustrated police since the first two bodies were found in September 1987, although officers considered Wood, 33, a prime suspect almost from the beginning.

Wood – serving a 50-year sentence in a state prison at Huntsville for a 1987 rape near where the six bodies were found – could face the death penalty if convicted. He was charged with capital murder in a six-count indictment returned by an El Paso County grand jury.

“Unless he gets the chair, I won’t be satisfied,” said Hope Frausto, whose daughter, Angelica Frausto, was among the desert bodies victims.

El Paso District Attorney Steve Simmons, who plans personally to prosecute Wood, would not discuss evidence. Nor would he characterize the strength of his case, except to say: “We don’t take any case to the grand jury unless we have the sufficient elements to prove the case.”

The grim discoveries in the desert began when El Paso Water Utilities workers stumbled across the first two bodies Sept. 4, 1987. The other graves were found during the next few months, as police and volunteers searched the area on foot and in helicopters.

Wood, who has maintained his innocence, filed a $20.5 million lawsuit against El Paso police this year, contending he had been harrassed by detectives investigating the desert bodies case.

Wood, was arrested Oct. 23, 1987, after police saw a pickup truck matching the description of one used by a man who had picked up a prostitute two months earlier and raped her in the same area of desert where the bodies had been found. It was that rape, which occurred before the first of the bodies was found, for which Wood was convicted in March 1978.

Police originally had considered Wood a possible suspect in the desert deaths because of a history of sex offenses, but they would not confirm that publicly. He had been paroled in January 1987 after serving seven years for raping a 19-year-old and a 13-year-old in 1980.

The years of waiting for the slayings to be solved have been agonizing for the victims’ families.

Marcia Wheatley’s 15 year old daughter, Desiree, disappeared June 2, 1987.

“This is what I’ve been working for, is to get the one responsible indicted,” she said. “This is step one. It has been 3 years, one month and 11 days.”

Desiree’s body was found in one of the desert graves Oct. 29. 1987.

Wheatley since has dedicated her life to keeping the investigation moving forward.

“I couldn’t say, ‘OK, she’s dead. That’s it.’ I had too make sure the one responsible wouldn’t be about to do it again to somebody else, and that’s what I’ve been fighting for,” Wheatley said.

“I never gave up hope. Hope was all that I had. It’s hard to give up the only thing that you have going for you.”

The indictment alleges that Wood used “the same scheme and course of conduct” to kill:

Ivy Susanna Williams, 23, May 30, 1987.

Desiree Wheatley, 15, June 2, 1987.

Karen Baker, 20, June 5, 1987.

Angelica Frausto, 17, Aug. 8, 1987.

Rosa Maria Casio, 24, Aug. 12, 2987.

Dawn Marie Smith, 14, Aug. 28. 1987.

The indictment lists a cause of death only for Williams. The grand jury alleged that Wood killed her by stabbing her “with a sharp instrument.”

In the five other cases, death was attributed to “some manner and by some means, instrument or weapon unknown …”

Comments

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Hi friends, I like this information: David Wood indicted in desert deaths, is very interesting, I really enjoyed this topic!

[Beatrice]

Can you tell me more about Ivy's death? I know she was stabbed but I do not know how many times. Was she raped too? I have been told that she still had her close on. Any further information you could give would be greatly appreciated.

[WitchHunt]

Do any of you know how corrupt El Paso police are and they will make up stuff about a person? DNA evidence has cleared David Wood. David Leonard Wood is innocent.

[Trish Long]

David Wood has not been cleared by DNA evidence.

[Trish Long]

Beatrice, Ivy did still have her clothes on and intact. There were four long rip marks on the back of her jacket.

[jessica chavez]

my mom was karen baker all i know about my mom was that when she was murdered that she was pregnet and i have the otopsey report and they said her skull was badley broken ans multipul bones in her body were broken i never got to meet her she was kidnapped 20 days befor my first birthday

[Trish Long]

Jessica, I'll email you.

[jessica chavez]

ok do you have my e-mail address

[WitchHunt]

David Wood has been cleared by DNA. He gave several samples of DNA and found NOT to be linked to any of the murders. No fingerprints, no weapon, NOTHING. No physical evidence. Wood is innocent

[Trish Long]

There was no DNA to compare his sample to. That doesn't mean he was cleared by DNA. There was no physical evidence other than the orange fibers found in the vacuum bag left in a closet at the house Wood and his girlfriend rented and on a coat hanger at Wood’s sister’s house with one of Wood’s shirts hanging on it and also on Desiree’s t-shirt and grave site. They were determined to be the same size, shape, color, polymer composition and dye composition. He was also seen with all six of the victims and at least one of the missing girls.

[WitchHunt]

If there was no DNA to compare too then why even bother running DNA tests. DUH!!! David Wood was cleared by DNA. David Leonard Wood is INNOCENT!!!

[WitchHunt]

Forensic scientists outside of El Paso said the orange fibers were suspect in the abnormally large numbers found and it did not comply with scientific standards implying someone pulled a Mark Furhman and planted those fibers.

Also, why did the detective laugh on camera when he said he has dreams of when he found Desiree's body. Is it funny??

David Wood is INNOCENT

[WitchHunt]

A study on serial killings by experts have found that most of the time (62%) the killer did NOT know the victim. So what Trish Long says that Wood knew the victims most likely made him NOT the murderer.

http://www.uplink.com.au/lawlibrary/Documents/Docs/Doc58.html

Free David Leonard Wood

[Trish Long]

That leaves 38% of the time that they did know their victims. By the way I didn't say he knew the victims I said he was seen with the victims.

[WitchHunt]

and alot of people claim to see the Tooth Fairy.

[woodworking books on cutting boards]

David Wood has not been cleared by DNA evidence.

[WitchHunt]

David Leonard Wood has been cleared by DNA evidence.

[jessica baker]

my mom was karen baker..i think david wood is innocent.if they think he did it why havent they killed him yet.he has been in jail for seventeen years.the cops just picked him because he was an easy target from his past history..so why would they go look for the real killer when they can just put him in jail instead of getting off there asses and doing there job..

he is innocent or i think so i miss my mom dearly everytime i look at my girls (her grandkids)but i dont think david did this

[Beatrice Yaxley]

This is Beatrice again. Could you please contact me I have a few more questions.

[michelle]

what's creepy to me is that he lived in a a house tha i used to live in and i heard that he was known to practice devil worshipping... when i lived there, i sometimes thought i heard a noise that couldn't be explained or saw a shadow that couldn't be explained...

[[email protected]]

Dear WitchHunt, I honestly don't care about this DNA evidence.. He was already a SERIAL RAPIST before this, so INNOCENT is not a word I would use to describe him. Why don't you go ask his rape victims (one of them 13 yrs old) if he's innocent? He has a huge rapsheet involving sex offenses. He is scum.