Craig Wood's lawyer: Arrest was illegal; my client was tired, mentally ill, drunk, and unstable

The lawyer for accused child kiler Craig Michael Wood, wants the statements he made to the Springfield Police Department to be suppressed because his client was "suffering from fatigue, mental illness, drug withdrawal, intoxication, emotional turmoil and psychological instability."

In the suppression motion filed Monday in Greene County Circuit Court, attorney Patrick Joseph Berrigan says that the Springfield Police officers who took Wood to the station "effectively placed Mr. Wood under arrest, having neither probable cause nor an arrest warrant justifying their actions. Any and all subsequent statements arising out of Mr. Wood’s illegal arrest should be suppressed as “fruit of the poisonous tree.”

The preliminary hearing for Wood, who is charged with first degree murder, kidnapping, and armed criminal action in connection with the February 18 death of 10-year-old Hailey Owens of Springfield, is scheduled for April 24.

At the time of his arrest, Wood was a coach at Pleasant View Middle School in Springfield.

The Springfield Police found Hailey Owens' body in Wood's basement, stuffed into trash bags.
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