A LETTER FROM DEATH ROW

USPA NEWS - Jeffrey Lee Wood received a stay of execution on Friday, August 19, 2016, his 42nd Birthday. Jeff did not know that he had been granted the stay, and was 5 days away from being executed by the State of Texas for a crime he did not commit. He spent that day writing a final good-bye to his family.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016, just one day before Jeff Wood was scheduled to be executed, a letter arrived at the home of Daniel and Mitzie Wood. Because Jeff had received a stay of execution, the Wood family was in residence rather than at the Hospitality House in Livingston awaiting the horror of having to witness their son being put to death. This Reporter was fortunate to be on the scene conducting an interview with the Wood's. With tears in his eyes, Daniel Wood, Jeff´s father, handed me the envelope and asked me to please publish the letter he received from his beloved son. I have included photos of the actual letters and envelope. The text of the letter is quoted below.

IF I DIE [by Jeff Wood]
If I am to die before you, let sorrow not control you and turn to hate. Be strong, yet you can be weak and weep when grieving me. For death is a part of life and a true Christian goes on living but in a different place and time. Let the good memories, moments and places shared linger in your mind and heart for ever so long as you breathe. Let the steady intimacy be stored in your memories so that any time you feel sad or think of me you can play it back in your mind so that it brings a smile to your face. I want y´all to be happy and know that I was at Peace like the joyfulness of a sunlit snow or the first unfurling of spring time.

These are not memories that will fade with time but be there as the brightest flowers of spring and bloom. For even storms in your own life or winds and rain of a hurricane can´t take these moments from you. You got to remember of who I am, and was, so when you walk in the woods or go fishing and you feel a breeze, know that it will be me reaching out to you to let you know that I am there with you. Then be still, close your eyes, take a deep breath and Remember and listen of my fading footsteps in your heart, why because I am not gone but merely walk within you until it´s your time to be with me again.

Hey y´all I just wanted to tell y´all that I love ya, No bad thoughts or anything. I appreciate y´all being my dad & mom & teaching me things in life. Look after yourself & the family.
Love Always,
Jeff

These hand written letters show much wear, as if they had been written a long time ago, or like the author struggled deeply to put these, his final thoughts, down on paper as tired and worn as himself. For one minute reflect on the fortitude it must have taken to commit his pen to paper.

These letters show a genuine human being, one who is no better and no worse than any other. To see such poetry from a man who has been locked in solitary confinement in an 8x12 foot cell 23 hours a day, 365 days a year for twenty years, for a crime he didn't commit? It is awe inspiring. Human beings are social animals, we require intimate contact with other human beings for our own sanity. It is a miracle he is in any way coherent despite the privation, acute pain, and illness from malnutrition that he has suffered during his incarceration. Could you imagine being in his shoes yet still be able to see beauty and hope for salvation? Could you find that level of peace in what would have been your final days before your state sanctioned murder? I just don't know. Find out what Jeff's father Daniel Wood had to say about all this later this week.