On a chilling February afternoon in Springfield, Missouri, 10-year-old Hailey Owens was walking home from a friend's house, a simple journey that tragically became her last. It was February 18, 2014, when the fourth-grader was abducted in broad daylight. Witnesses saw a man in a truck lure her to his vehicle under the pretense of asking for directions before pulling her inside and speeding away.
The shocking event sparked immediate alarm, with neighbors attempting to chase the truck and quickly relaying the vehicle's license plate number to the authorities.
The information provided by the vigilant neighbors led police to the home of Craig Wood, a 45-year-old former middle school football coach and teacher's aide. Inside his basement, investigators made a gruesome discovery: Hailey's body was found inside two trash bags that had been placed within a plastic storage container. An autopsy would later reveal the horrific details of her final moments; she had been raped and had died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head. There were also marks on her wrists, indicating that she had been bound.
The investigation into Hailey's murder uncovered a trove of disturbing evidence against Craig Wood. Police found child pornography and more than a dozen firearms in his home. They also discovered handwritten stories detailing sexual fantasies, some of which involved young girls. Surveillance footage captured Wood purchasing bleach and drain cleaner, and he was also recorded disposing of Hailey's clothing in a dumpster. DNA evidence further tied him to the crime, with Hailey's blood found on his shirt.
Craig Wood was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, and rape. His trial began in October 2017, where his defense attorneys conceded that he had killed Hailey but argued that the act was impulsive and not premeditated. The prosecution, however, presented the extensive evidence they had gathered to argue for a first-degree murder conviction. In November 2017, a jury found Craig Wood guilty of first-degree murder. The jury, however, could not come to a unanimous decision on his sentence. Consequently, the decision fell to the judge, who, in January 2018, sentenced Craig Wood to death by lethal injection for the brutal murder of Hailey Owens.
