Luke Woodham
Luke Woodham | |
|---|---|
| File:LukeWoodham.jpg | |
| Status | In prison |
| Occupation | Former student |
| Criminal charge | Murder, attempted murder |
| Penalty | Three consecutive life sentences and an additional 120 years |
Luke Woodham (born February 5, 1981) is a convicted American murderer, and a former resident of Pearl, Mississippi, United States. He had instigated a school shooting at Pearl High School on October 1, 1997, which left three people dead, including his own mother, and seven injured. He is currently serving three life sentences with an additional 120 years.
Murder of Mother
On October 1 1997 Woodham, then 16, beat and stabbed his mother, Mary Woodham, to death. At his trial he said he could not remember killing his mother.
October 1: Shooting at Pearl High School
Woodham drove his mother's car to his high school. Wearing a long trenchcoat[citation needed], he made no attempt to hide his rifle. When he entered the school, he walked toward Lydia Dew and shot Dew and Christina Menefee, his former girlfriend. Both girls died. Pearl High School Band director, Jeff Cannon, was standing 5 feet from Dew when she was fatally shot. He went on to wound 7 others before Joel Myrick, the assistant principal, retrieved a .45 pistol from the glove compartment of his truck and subdued Woodham while he was trying to drive off campus. When Myrick asked Woodham of his motive, he replied "Life has wronged me, sir". Woodham had been planning to drive to the Pearl Middle School to continue killing; Myrick's intervention prevented this from happening.
Minutes before he started the shooting, he gave the following message to a friend:
"I am not insane, I am angry. I killed because people like me are mistreated every day. I did this to show society, push us and we will push back. ... All throughout my life, I was ridiculed, always beaten, always hated. Can you, society, truly blame me for what I do? Yes, you will. ... It was not a cry for attention, it was not a cry for help. It was a scream in sheer agony saying that if you can't pry your eyes open, if I can't do it through pacifism, if I can't show you through the displaying of intelligence, then I will do it with a bullet."[1]
Satanism
During the trial, Woodham admitted to being a Satanist, and that he got the idea to commit the murders after his involvement in Satanism. According to Woodham, his friend Grant Boyette invited Woodham to join his Satanic group, known as "the Kroth". He told Woodham that he had "the potential to do something great." Boyette promised that he could either get his ex-girlfriend back or get even through black magic Woodham said.[2]
Charges
Woodham confessed to shooting his classmates; he said that he did not remember killing his mother. He pleaded insanity; the jury rejected the insanity defense and instead found him guilty.
A separate jury in Philadelphia, Mississippi, convicted Woodham of murdering his mother. He was sentenced to life in prison for that crime. Defense attorneys argued in both trials that Woodham was legally insane at the time of the killings.
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (April 2008) |
The short play series "Above the Fold" by Topher Payne includes a play entitled "The Day Luke Woodham Killed All Those People". It was based on interviews the playwright conducted with Woodham's former co-workers at a local pizza parlor. The play was first produced by Process Theatre Company in Atlanta, Georgia in 2008.
References
- ^ Virginia Tech: Is the Scene of the Crime the Cause of the Crime?, 20-04-2007. Ames, Mark. AlterNet.
- ^ CNN - Woodham testifies he was involved in satanism - June 11, 1998