Elijah Wood

Elijah Green Wood (1878 – July 14, 1913) was an American murderer and accused serial killer. Convicted, sentenced to death and executed for killing a woman in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1912, he was posthumously accused by another death row inmate for three additional murders committed in 1910. Due to the fact he was already dead, Wood was never prosecuted for them and the three murders officially remain unsolved. Murder of Alice Turner On November 28, 1912, a black woman named Alice Turner was shot and killed near the Frazier Pike in Little Rock in an apparent robbery. Initially, police arrested preacher W. A. Pearson on suspicion of being the killer, as it was determined that his shotgun had been used in the murder - however, Pearson convinced the authorities that it had been stolen from him and was then released. On December 3, Wood, a laborer who worked at a nearby sawmill, was arrested for the murder after officers concluded that he had sold the murder weapon at a pawn shop. His wife Sarah was briefly detained on suspicion of harboring a fugitive, but was released after she promised to help the officers locate the stolen money. After extensive questioning, Wood confessed that he had killed Turner because he wanted to steal a $10 bill she had shown to him, and that he had stolen $75 after killing her. He claimed that he alone was responsible, and that his brother James – who had been arrested as an accomplice – had nothing to do with the case. As a result of this confession, James Wood was released, while Elijah was charged with first-degree murder and ordered to stand trial on January 9, 1913. Trial and execution Soon after his trial began, Wood recanted his confession and claimed that he had nothing to do with Turner's murder. His claims were not believed, and he was swiftly tried, convicted and sentenced to death. All of his appeals were denied, and he was scheduled to be hanged on July 14, 1913.