Craig Wood sits on Missouri’s short list of condemned men. The Springfield man, convicted in the abduction, sexual assault and killing of 10‑year‑old Hailey Owens, is one of eight people the state has sentenced to die. Wood was convicted in November 2017 and was sentenced to death by Greene County Judge Thomas Mountjoy on January 11, 2018. State records and recent reporting show that none of the eight men currently has an execution date.
A recent review of Missouri Department of Corrections records by the Springfield Daily Citizen names Wood among the eight and notes that the department's files document dispositions for 189 people sentenced to death since 1989, including dozens of sentences later changed to life or otherwise resolved. That review lists 56 people whose death sentences were changed to life and a number who died in prison before execution. According to the Springfield Daily Citizen, the paper compiled the counts from DOC records to show how rare actual executions have become relative to historic death‑sentence totals.
Where Condemned Prisoners Are Kept And How Executions Are Carried Out
Missouri does not operate a separate, long‑term death‑row unit. Condemned men are housed at Potosi Correctional Center and are moved into closer custody only if and when an execution warrant is signed. The state’s execution chamber is at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre. Facility information is available on the Missouri Department of Corrections Potosi page and the department’s Missouri Department of Corrections ERDCC page, and researchers have documented that Missouri began “mainstreaming” death‑sentenced inmates into Potosi's general population in the early 1990s.
Judge‑Imposed Sentences And The Legal Fight
Missouri is one of only two states where a judge can impose death when jurors deadlock, a legal quirk that produced judge‑imposed sentences in cases like Wood’s and has drawn sustained criticism. Critics say the so‑called judicial override undercuts the jury's role and increases the danger of irreversible error, and lawmakers advanced bills this year to require unanimity for a death sentence but faced Senate opposition. Reporting by The Marshall Project and coverage of the legislative fight by KCUR trace how those legal questions keep Wood’s case in the headlines.
Numbers, History And What They Mean
The Death Penalty Information Center counts eight people on Missouri’s condemned roster and records that the state executed 285 people between 1810 and 1965 and 102 people since 1976. The organization also notes that Missouri used the gas chamber for much of the 20th century and adopted lethal injection protocols beginning in 1987. Taken together with the Department of Corrections’ disposition records, those figures show that having a death sentence in Missouri often does not mean an imminent execution.
Wood’s case continues to move through appeals and post‑conviction filings, and defense teams have argued, as they did at the Missouri Supreme Court and in earlier filings, that parts of the state’s sentencing scheme raise constitutional concerns. Local reporting and court dockets show both legislative and judicial routes remain possible avenues for change, so cases like Wood’s are likely to recur in coverage as appeals and policy debates proceed. For background on Wood’s sentencing and the legal arguments his attorneys have raised, see Missourinet.
