A decade-old Glendale murder case closed with the death penalty for the killer of a church volunteer. Gustin Ray Woodman Jr., now 34, has been sentenced to the gallows, said the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
On a fateful day in 2014, 72-year-old Mark Woodruff was discovered slain in his vehicle – a car that idled unassumingly in his driveway. A single gunshot wound marked his head, a silent testament to Woodruff's final moments as he returned home from his altruistic labors at a local parish. The Glendale Police Department unearthed a clue pointing to a second gunshot through the car door, with only one 9MM shell casing as evidence, as per the FOX 10 Phoenix report.
Woodman Jr. was stopped by police merely two days post the incident, his vehicle surreptitiously housing a .9mm handgun. An ensuing examination found a spent 9MM casing jammed in the weapon, which the city’s forensic unit linked directly to Woodruff's murder. The suspect, following his apprehension, confessed to pinpointing Woodruff at a gas station and resolved then to tail and rob him, information obtained from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office suggests.
After a trial run last October, Woodman found himself on the losing end of a verdict that pronounced him guilty of first-degree murder, among other charges. "Earlier this week, Woodman was sentenced to death for the first-degree murder charge and sentenced to an additional 15.75 years in prison for the remaining charges," as per an announcement by the County Attorney's Office. Reflecting on a tenure of investigative persistence and legal pursuit, County Attorney Rachel Mitchell imparted her sentiments: "I commend our prosecutors and the Glendale Police Department Homicide Unit for their work over the last ten years finding justice for this victim. I hope this sentence can bring some semblance of closure to the Woodruff family and the community of faith he loved so much."
