Court Rejects Appeal from Texas Killer of 2

A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal from a convicted killer sent to death row for a drug-related double slaying in The Colony more than nine years ago.

The ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals moves 30-year-old Steven Michael Woods Jr. closer to execution. The case involves the deaths of 21-year-old Ronald Whitehead of Dallas and 19-year-old Bethena Brosz of Denton.

The victims were found May 2, 2001, dumped along a golf course road near The Colony. Both were shot in the head and had their throats cut.

Woods argued in his appeal that his trial attorneys were deficient for not fully investigating and presenting mitigating evidence during the punishment phase of his trial in Denton in 2002.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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