4A ❚ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 ❚ USA TODAY NEWS

T

en minutes before Nathaniel Woods was scheduled to be ex-

ecuted for his role in the 2004 murder of three police offi-

cers, the chief of staff to the governor of Alabama received a

desperate phone call from the sister of one of the slain cops.

Her plea: Spare his life.

“He didn’t kill my brother, and he

didn’t kill the other officers, may they

rest in peace,” Kimberly Chisholm Sim-

mons, the sister of murdered officer

Harley Chishom III, pleaded during the

call that started around 5:50 p.m on

March 5. “I’m asking for mercy, and I be-

lieve my brother would want me to take

a stance because of the man he was.”

Gov. Kay Ivey’s chief of staff, Jo Bon-

ner, said he would relay the message to

other officials and suggested that Sim-

mons should expect a call back.

But the murder victim’s sister never

heard from another Alabama official,

even after a temporary U.S. Supreme

Court stay bought Woods a few more

hours. Its justices ultimate-

ly elected not to intervene

in his execution, and at 9:

p.m., Woods, 43, died by le-

thal injection.

The extraordinary 11th-

hour phone conversation,

which was recorded by

Woods’ attorney and

shared with USA TODAY,

has not been reported.

The call was the result of

back-channel negotiations

in which Woods’ attorney,

Lauren Faraino, was in-

formed by sources connect-

ed to the highest levels of

Alabama government with-

in an hour of her client’s

scheduled execution that

he could be spared if a vic-

tim’s family member

begged for his life.

For those close to

Woods, and undoubtedly

the condemned man him-

self, the failed call for mer-

cy was only one of several

moments of emotional

whiplash on the last day of his life. The

prospect that Woods would be allowed

to live was repeatedly held before them

and then yanked away.

The Supreme Court stay caused his

family members to celebrate, believing

he had been spared. His family learned

within hours that his execution was still

imminent.

Woods’ imam, who was set to wit-

ness his execution, said he was sent

away from the prison and told he could

return if the execution went ahead. But

the imam was notified too late, and

Woods was executed without his spiri-

tual adviser present.

Woods’s case attracted national at-

tention – including from high-profile

supporters such as Martin Luther King

III and Kim Kardashian – because of

claims of police misconduct, flimsy evi-

dence and poor representation in his

2005 trial.

Prosecutors acknowledged that

Woods didn’t pull the trigger that ended

the lives of the three police officers, in-

stead convincing a jury that he had

lured them into being killed by another

man.

The confessed shooter, Kerry Spen-

cer, who is himself on death row, has

said Woods was “actually 100% inno-

cent.”

It’s unclear what steps Bonner took,

if any, after receiving the call from Sim-

mons. He did not respond to an inter-

view request for this story. His cell-

phone number that Simmons used that

night – which Woods’ own sister also

said she subsequently called to beg for

mercy, and that was then tweeted out to

the world by King III – has since been

disconnected.

A spokeswoman for Ivey also de-

clined to make the governor available,

instead resending a statement she had

issued the night of Woods’ execution.

“This is not a decision that I take

lightly, but I firmly believe in the rule of

law and that justice must

be served,” read the state-

ment, adding that the gov-

ernor’s “thoughts and most

sincere prayers are for the

families” of the officers.

“May the God of all comfort

be with these families as

they continue to find peace

and heal from this terrible

crime.”

Not all of Chisholm’s

siblings feel the way his

older sister Kimberly does

about Woods’s execution.

At a news conference after

the execution, members of

Chisholm’s family cheered

the outcome.

“One cop killer down as

we patiently wait for the

next one,” said Starr Side-

linker, sister to Harley and

Kimberly.

Faraino, Woods’ attor-

ney, said her client’s last

hours alive, while his fam-

ily hung on every develop-

ment, were “the cruelest

moments I’ve ever been through in my

life.”

Simmons’ involvement in the final

day of Woods’ life started a few weeks

earlier, when she received a letter at her

home in Florida from authorities stating

that Woods was set to be executed.

Simmons hadn’t closely followed the

case since Woods’ conviction, and she

said the murder of her police officer

brother – whom she called “Buddy” –

had fractured her family. Although her

sisters were eager for retribution, Sim-

mons felt compelled to send an email to

a nonprofit death penalty website with

the hope that it might reach Woods be-

fore he was put to death.

“I forgive him for any involvement he

had personally I don’t feel he’s guilty as

much as Spencer,” Simmons wrote.

“Only God knows the truth of what has

really happened and if it’s in God’s plan

he will stay his execution. But I want

him to know he is Forgiven by me.”

The email was forwarded to Woods’

attorney, Faraino, the day before his

scheduled execution. Faraino makes her

living in finance, and her pro bono legal

work for Woods was a no-frills family

affair. Her mother pulled legal files at

the courthouse, and her stepfather, Bart

Starr Jr. – the son of a revered Alabama

and Green Bay Packer quarterback and

member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

• worked the phones with well-placed
  friends to lobby for mercy for the death
  row inmate.
  Starr Jr. was at Faraino’s Birmingham
  home with less than an hour to go before
  Woods’ execution when one of those
  calls bore fruit. A prominent political
  donor told Starr his brother, an Alabama
  state senator, had conveyed that gov-
  ernment officials might consider a stay
  if a victim’s family member pleaded for
  it.
  Faraino frantically emailed Sim-
  mons: “I am pleading with you, please
  give me a call.” The victim’s sister readi-
  ly agreed to ask Alabama authorities to
  spare Woods’ life.
  Faraino’s audio recorder caught the
  frenzied next hour. While Simmons
  waited on the other line, Faraino dialed
  numbers to try to reach an Alabama offi-
  cial but found only switchboards and of-
  fice voicemails.
  At about 5:45 p.m. – roughly 15 min-
  utes before Woods’ scheduled execution
  — Faraino heard Starr Jr. yell out:
  “What?”
  “Oh, no, no, no, no, no,” Faraino said,
  weeping as she told Simmons, “I think
  they’re executing him right now.”
  But Faraino’s mother informed the
  lawyer it was actually good news. Su-
  preme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
  had issued a temporary stay of execu-
  tion.
  Simmons began celebrating. “God
  loves Nathaniel Woods,” she said.
  Members of Woods’ family learned of
  the stay from their cellphones and inter-
  preted it as a lasting measure. Earlier
  that afternoon, Woods, seven family
  members and his imam had joined him
  for what was supposed to be his last
  meal, and he had for the first time met
  his grandson. Now, his family and
  friends were overjoyed that it wouldn’t
  also be the last time.
  “I’m shaking, I’m just so excited I
  don’t know what to do, you know?” fam-
  ily friend Jasmine Walters said mo-
  ments after they learned of the stay.
  “I’m just so grateful. I’m so, so grateful.”
  But Faraino was aware that the Su-
  preme Court’s stay was only an interim
  step to allow the justices a couple of
  hours to decide whether to intervene,
  which was a long shot.
  Her efforts to reach an Alabama offi-
  cial before the stay might be lifted got a
  break when her stepfather ran to her of-
  fice with Bonner’s cellphone number,
  obtained via a former University of Ala-
  bama football player.
  After Bonner picked up, he declined
  to put Gov. Ivey on the phone with Sim-
  mons, saying she was on another phone
  call.
  Simmons emphasized to Bonner that
  all she was asking for was a renewed
  look at Woods’ case. “I think they need
  to go over the evidence that they have
  brought forth,” Simmons said. “I mean,
  it’s not going to hurt nothing.”
  “I’m begging the courts,” she added.
  “Please have mercy.”
  Bonner, a former congressman, re-
  sponded dispassionately. “Have you
  communicated in writing this request?”
  he asked. Bonner said that though he
  wasn’t doubting Simmons was who she
  said she was, her identity may have to
  be verified. “Because of the severity of
  this we have gotten calls from all over
  the country from people purporting to
  know things that they may or may not
  know.”

But Bonner said he would convey

Simmons’ plea to the state attorney gen-

eral and the governor’s legal counsel. He

took down her number and said repre-

sentatives from those offices “may give

you a call to get some additional infor-

mation.”

Two hours passed with no Alabama

official calling Simmons. At 8:06 p.m.,

the Supreme Court issued a one-sen-

tence decision denying Woods’ stay of

execution, removing the only remaining

obstacle to his death.

Woods’ sister, Pamela, said she also

reached Bonner on the cellphone num-

ber, asking to speak to the governor. “I

begged, I screamed, I cried,” Pamela

Woods said. “He would not let me talk to

her. He just said ‘No.’ I begged him,

screaming, ‘Please, let me speak to her,’

and he told me, ‘No.’ And he hung up in

my face.”

Simmons said she could tell during

her conversation with Bonner that it

probably would have little effect. “I

sensed, you know, ‘You’re not going to

stop this, lady,’” she said. “They’re going

to take this man no matter what I say.

It’s already in their hearts to kill him.”

Nathaniel Woods’s imam, Yusef Mai-

sonet, said he was told to leave the pris-

on after the Supreme Court stay and to

expect an official to call him and escort

him back in if the execution went for-

ward that night.

But the imam said nobody called him

until shortly before Woods was returned

to the execution chamber at close to 9

pm. By then, thinking the execution was

off, Maisonet had returned to his home

in Mobile, more than 50 miles away.

“I feel that they did purposefully keep

me out” of the prison for Woods’ execu-

tion, Maisonet told USA TODAY last

week.

Samantha Rose, a spokeswoman for

the Alabama Department of Correc-

tions, disputed Maisonet’s account. She

said in a statement that after Maisonet

was asked to wait in a certain area for

the execution, he “elected to leave this

location on his own accord without

speaking to security staff. When securi-

ty staff arrived to take him to the execu-

tion, the Imam was no longer onsite ...

We will not speculate on the reasons

why this Imam chose to leave when he

did.”

Maisonet said he had spoken at

length with Woods about topics includ-

ing what he wanted done with his body.

Before the day of the execution, Maiso-

net wrote to the Holman warden re-

questing that Woods’ body not be au-

topsied “since it is against our religious

beliefs and the cause of death will be

known.”

Alabama officials nonetheless per-

formed the autopsy March 6, according

to Fairano. Alabama corrections depart-

ment spokeswoman Rose said that de-

cision was “at the direction” of Escam-

bia County District Attorney Stephen

Billy.

Billy’s office did not respond to a

message seeking comment for this sto-

ry. In a letter to Faraino before the au-

topsy was completed, Billy said it was

his “policy to order autopsies on all exe-

cutions ... to confirm the cause and

manner of death.”

“It is not my intention of changing my

position on this matter,” Billy wrote to

the lawyer, “and would appreciate you

not contacting my office again regarding

this issue.”

Faraino said she has not been in-

formed of what the coroner found to be

the official cause of Woods’ death.

USA TODAY INVESTIGATION

11th-hour plea was made in vain

Minutes before Woods’ execution, murder victim’s sister begs to spare him

Gus Garcia-Roberts USA TODAY

Nathaniel

Woods with

family

members

during his

final

visitation.

GUS GARCIA-

ROBERTS

Kimberly Chisholm Simmons and her

brother, Harley Chisholm III.

KIMBERLY CHISHOLM SIMMONS

“Only God

knows the truth

of what has

really happened

and if it’s in

God’s plan he

will stay his

execution.

But I want

him to know

he is Forgiven

by me.”

Kimberly Chisholm

Simmons

in an email to a nonprofit

death penalty website,

before Nathaniel Woods

was put to death.