Arraignment delayed for man, 86, accused in wife’s shooting

By Tiffany Gibson

Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009 | 3:05 p.m.

Joseph Woods in court (10-8-09)

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The arraignment for an 86-year-old man accused of fatally shooting his wife before shooting himself has been delayed due to the defense counsel's scheduling conflicts.

Joseph C. Woods is charged with murdering his wife, Kay, at their home, 1808 S. 10th St., on Sept. 23 before shooting himself in the chest. He is also charged with use of a deadly weapon. According to court documents, Joseph and Kay Woods made a suicide pact because both suffered from serious health problems.

District Court Judge Eugene Martin today reset the arraignment for 9 a.m. on Dec. 9 after Woods and his attorney, Dan Silverstein, failed to appear in court.

Silverstein said he asked that the arraignment be rescheduled because he had another hearing this morning in North Las Vegas Justice Court.

Because of Joseph Woods' health problems, Silverstein said he will enter the plea on his behalf. He said Woods won't appear in court Dec. 9 to give his plea because it’s difficult to transport a nursing home patient to the Regional Justice Center.

“He’s already in bad shape and he shot himself in the chest,” Silverstein said. “He’s hanging in there.”

Silverstein said Woods will plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter. He said under Nevada law voluntary manslaughter sentences can be anywhere from one to 10 years in prison.

But Silverstein said Woods is eligible for probation and shouldn’t be placed in jail because of his service to the community and time served in the military.

“It makes no sense at all for him to be put in prison,” Silverstein said. “He’s not a danger to the community.”

He also said taxpayers would have to pay thousands of dollars to provide Woods adequate and necessary medical treatment in prison.

“This was a suicide pact,” Silverstein said. “It wasn’t a malicious act.”

While recovering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Woods told paramedics and police he shot his wife. The couple's children found them the next morning. Joseph was breathing but Kay was dead, an arrest report indicated.