Wood attended Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, Texas.
[1][2] Wood was in private practice in San Antonio from 1938 to 1970 with the law firm Beckmann, Stanard & Olson, except from 1944 to 1945, when he served as an ensign in the United States Navy during World War II.
[2] On May 29, 1979, Judge Wood was killed in San Antonio, by a shot from a high-powered rifle as he stood at the door of his automobile.
[6] In Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel No Country for Old Men (its story set in 1980), the sheriff states, "Here a while back in San Antonio they shot and killed a federal judge", referencing the murder of Judge Wood by Charles Harrelson.
The reality TV shows City Confidential and FBI: The Untold Stories did episodes on Wood's murder.