Man Pleads Not Guilty In Deaths Dwayne Woods Accused Of Raping, Killing Two Women, Injuring A Third, In Valley Home
More than two dozen people squeezed into a Spokane County courtroom on Thursday to hear Dwayne Woods say two words: “Not guilty.”
Woods, 25, entered the plea calmly, ignoring the relatives and friends of the women he’s accused of killing.
He glanced at his public defender, Gary Hemingway, scanned the crowd absently and avoided eye contact except with Superior Court Judge James Murphy, who reminded him of the brutal crimes he’s charged with.
Woods is accused of raping and beating to death Jade Moore, 18, and Telisha Shaver, 22. He also is accused of critically wounding 19-year-old Venus Shaver, who is recovering at home.
The women were house-sitting for a relative of the Shavers on April 27 when the attacks occurred. All were hit in the head with a baseball bat and at least two were stabbed with a kitchen knife.
Before she died the next day at Deaconess Medical Center, Moore managed to tell sheriff’s detectives about the assault. She said a black man she knew only as “Dwayne” woke her up with a knife to her throat and made her undress.
That led detectives to Woods, whom Venus Shaver had been dating. When they tried to pull him over in northeast Spokane, Woods sped away but was arrested after a police officer rammed his car.
Woods’ attorney, however, questioned Thursday if detectives had the right man.
“How many black men named Dwayne are there?” Hemingway asked the judge. He also said Woods tried to elude police because he knew there was a warrant out for his arrest in Las Vegas.
“There’s an explanation for why (he ran),” Hemingway said.
Woods has denied being in the Valley on the morning of the assault and told detectives he never visited the trailer on South Coleman where the attacks occurred.
Deputy Prosecutor Kathryn Lee, however, said detectives interviewed a witness who dropped off Woods near the trailer early on April 27. Another witness admitted picking him up at a nearby convenience store about 10:45 a.m.
Murphy said he was convinced there was enough probable cause to hold Woods without bail at the Spokane County Jail.
Woods is charged with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder.
If convicted, he faces either the death penalty or mandatory life imprisonment under the state’s “Three Strikes” law. He has two prior assault convictions, both of which involved weapons.
The Shaver sisters’ uncle, Rock Nelson, said seeing Woods in court was difficult for the family.
“We just have so many questions,” he said. “We just want answers.”
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