The Last 12 Weeks
Podcast

The Last 12 Weeks

Serial Productions & The New York Times

6 episodes

In 1992, David Wood was convicted of murdering young women and girls and burying them in the desert outside El Paso, earning him the nickname the Desert Killer. More than 30 years later, his lawyers have one last chance to argue his innocence and stop his execution. “The Last 12 Weeks” follows a team of capital defense lawyers as they try to save their client’s life. The series, produced by Serial Productions and The New York Times in collaboration with The Marshall Project, focuses on the high stakes and at times bizarre work involved in trying to halt an execution. With an extraordinary level of access to a capital case in its final stretch, the longtime death penalty reporter Maurice Chammah takes listeners into the room with the lawyers as the clock ticks down. Maurice and Alvin Melathe, a producer, follow members of the defense team as they look for alternate suspects, try to find new evidence to poke holes in the case, and track down hard-to-find witnesses. In the end, will the lawyers’ efforts be enough to persuade a deeply skeptical court system — and stop an execution three decades in the making? “The Last 12 Weeks.” A five-part series … on a deadline.

What this show covers

death penaltycriminal justiceDavid Woodtrue crimedefense strategyvictim perspectivecontested narrativeslegal dramaEl Pasocapital defenseevidenceinvestigative journalismvictims' familieswitnesseswrongful conviction

What listeners will find here

A death row inmate’s version of the case—set against a victim’s stark view
This preview, based only on the published show notes, suggests an episode centered on the case prosecutors made against David Wood and his continued denial of that narrative. It also signals a contrasting perspective from a victim of his earlier crimes before the episode heads to death row to hear Wood speak for himself.
A death-row case, a 30-year clock, and a defense team’s final push
This trailer preview introduces “The Last 12 Weeks,” a series about David Wood, convicted in 1992 of murdering young women and girls near El Paso. Based on the show notes, it follows a capital defense team racing to stop an execution decades in the making.
A death-penalty case built on tiny threads faces a last-minute challenge
Based on the show notes, this episode previews a defense team re-examining a case with no single piece of evidence to dismantle. With less than two months until an execution, the focus appears to be on small inconsistencies and a new witness with unexpected revelations.
A death-row defense team faces painful choices as the clock runs down
Based on the show notes, this episode follows the final weeks before an execution date as David Wood’s defense team weighs how far it will go to try to save his life. Their deliberations bring them to a key witness on his deathbed and to the mother of one of the Desert Killer’s victims.
A death row case reopens: can David Wood’s lawyers prove innocence in time?
This preview, based only on the episode’s published notes, sets up a high-stakes true-crime story. It introduces David Wood, convicted in 1992 as El Paso’s most notorious serial killer, and the urgent legal effort decades later to argue his innocence before execution.

Episodes

More like The Last 12 Weeks