Retired detective refutes Wood appeal
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Retired El Paso Police Department detective John Guerrero was part of what became known the "Desert Deaths" task force organized in 1987 to at first investigate the disappearances - and then the murders - of girls and young women in northeast El Paso that year.
"This girl is missing. That girl is missing. This girl is missing," Guerrero said. "And then, of course, it all it all kind of came together and we realized that we had a bunch of girls that were missing all about the same age."
The victims ranged in age from their early 20s to as young as 14 years old. Their bodies were later found in the desert between Dyer and McCombs.
Guerrero says that talking with witnesses started to develop "common denominators" of the description of a suspect - with some naming David Leonard Wood directly. Wood would later be convicted of the murders of six El Paso girls and women and sentenced to death in 1992. A Texas appeals court put a stay on his most recent execution date this week.
"Like every other case that I ever had anything to do with," Guerrero said, "professionally, legally, and more importantly, to arrest the right person. There was no doubt in my mind, or any of us that worked those cases that he is the killer. None whatsoever. None."
The investigation closed in on Wood after witnesses who were the last to see some of the victims alive identified him in photo lineups. Guerrero says it fit an escalating pattern of behavior. Wood previously served two sentences for indecency and sexual assault of minors, and was paroled in January of 1987 from the latest.
"He gets out of prison. Little girls start disappearing," Guerrero said. "He's arrested. No more little girls are disappearing... He was identified. We showed six packs of him. He was identified by the kids. He was identified by the people that took the stand."
Guerrero says the investigation followed the evidence - and says of the idea of 'jailhouse snitch' testimony being enticed to fit a suspect:
"For anybody to think that we would railroad this guy," Guerrero said. "It's just ludicrous."
According to Guerrero, the process of getting testimony from inmates usually starts with outreach from their attorneys. Bringing them out of prison to be interviewed would take multiple layers of approval - which would leave a paper trail.
"You just don't go take two guys out of the jail just because on a whim," Guerrero said.
Guerrero never personally spoke with James Sweeney and Randy Wells, who testified that Woods spoke about the crimes while they were incarcerated together. But he says the men have never recanted their statements under oath - and questions why it has taken nearly 40 years for this to come up now if the evidence existed.
"It's salvaging and grasping at straws to save his life," Guerrero said. "I guess I don't blame him, but, you know, that's that's not for me to decide. We presented a case to the (district attorney) that solidified that he was the person that did it. And up until the day that I leave this world, no doubt in my mind that he kidnapped those girls."
