David Alan Woods is seen in this undated photo. (Gastonia Correctional Center)
A North Carolina man serving a life sentence for murder briefly escaped from prison Monday, but was killed when the stolen truck he was driving overturned on Interstate 85.
According to the Gaston Gazette, 46-year-old David Alan Woods stole a Ford truck belonging to the city of Lowell while on a work detail Monday afternoon. The truck was found sometime after 2:15 p.m. at the bottom of an embankment with its roof crushed.
The Gazette reported that Woods was ejected from the truck.
Woods had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and burglary in connection with the 1993 beating death of 89-year-old Roseline Murphy. Prosecutors said Woods and another man, Jeffrey Dickens, broke into Murphy’s trailer to rob her. Investigators said Dickens beat Murphy to death with a hammer before the two men left the scene to buy drugs.
According to the Gazette, Woods contacted the Sanford Police Department the next day and entered a guilty plea the day before his trial began. Dickens also confessed to killing Murphy and received a life sentence.
It was not immediately clear what kind of work Woods was doing when he escaped. An investigation into his escape is ongoing.
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