The Defense Lawyers Meet With a Victim’s Mother

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Episode 3 of “The Last 12 Weeks,” a podcast from The Marshall Project, Serial Productions and The New York Times, follows David Wood’s lawyers as they make their final push to stop his execution.

With six weeks left before the execution date, the lawyers need to exhaust every avenue for their client — which means getting in the middle of some messy human dramas, with complicated stakes all their own.

The lawyers drop in on a long-forgotten alternate suspect at a nursing home, make repeated attempts to reach a key witness on his deathbed, and visit one of their toughest critics: the mother of one of the Desert Killer’s victims.

Fulton, a White woman with blonde hair, sits on a gray couch next to picture frames holding photos that show her daughter Desiree, a young White girl.

A photo shows a grave plaque on the ground that reads, “Desiree Autumn Wheatley 1971-1987.” Placed on top of the grave are a small American flag and a bouquet of pink flowers. Grass surrounds the grave.

A photo shows a White man standing on a bridge in winter. He is wearing a cowboy hat and a beige vest over a red-and-black jacket.

A photo shows a White woman with long curly hair, wearing a floral long-sleeved shirt. She is sitting at a desk in an office, with a bookshelf behind her and a window to her left.

Marcia Fulton, left, is the mother of Desiree Wheatley (pictured in framed photographs), who was murdered along with five other girls and young women in 1987. Ruben R Ramirez/USA Today Network, via Imagn

Desiree Wheatley was murdered along with five other girls and young women in 1987. David Wood was sent to death row for the crimes. Paul Ratje for The New York Times

George Hall claims police wanted him to say that Wood confessed to six murders while they were in prison together. Arin Yoon for The Marshall Project

Naomi Fenwick is one of Wood’s lawyers. Wood’s defense team has sought to build their case in part on the lack of physical evidence. Desiree Rios for The New York Times

The Defense Lawyers Approach a Victim’s Mother

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The Defense Lawyers Approach a Victim’s Mother

Our reporting has real impact on the criminal justice system

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