Double-Killer's Final Legal Gambit Three Decades After Parents' Murder
Gordon 'Woody' Mower, the notorious murderer who slaughtered his parents thirty years ago, is making a dramatic last-ditch attempt to escape his life-without-parole sentence through the courts. The 48-year-old, who previously plotted a coffin-based prison escape, will appear publicly for the first time since his sentencing in a heavily secured Otsego County Court hearing in Cooperstown, New York.
The Terrifying Prison Interview
True crime author Susan Ashline, who interviewed Mower for her upcoming book, describes her encounter with the hulking killer as absolutely terrifying. "Meeting him was absolutely terrifying," Ashline revealed. "This man came out and he was big. He didn't look angry, but he just looked miserable like I'd pulled him out of the lunch line or something and that he was hungry. I was terrified."
Ashline recounted the chilling moment when she was left alone with Mower in a prison visiting room. "I'm seated at the table alone in what looked like a school cafeteria. I'm five foot two, very petite. And he's very big. And you hear a big clang, and they release him into the room alone. They don't walk him to the table. They don't even stay in the room."
The Original Crime and Capture
Mower was just 18 years old when he murdered his father Gordon Sr, 52, and mother Susan, 50, with a .22 rifle following a family argument at their isolated upstate New York farm in March 1996. After the killings, he fled with his 14-year-old girlfriend but was captured three weeks later in a Dallas suburb moments after being featured on America's Most Wanted.
Even during his initial arrest, Mower demonstrated his escape-artist tendencies by smashing a police officer to the ground while handcuffed and attempting to flee before being quickly recaptured. He eventually accepted a guilty plea to avoid the death penalty, with his legal team allegedly promising his sentence would be reduced when New York's capital punishment law was declared unconstitutional.
Legal Claims and Allegations
Mower's current legal challenge centers on claims that his original attorneys mishandled his case and violated his rights. One particularly serious allegation suggests that state-appointed lawyers urged him to accept $10,000 from his parents' estates as part of the plea agreement and instructed him to remain silent about this arrangement during sentencing.
"Here's a guy who has spent his whole prison life trying to escape," Ashline observed. "Now he stands a solid chance of actually getting out, period. His allegation is that he was offered a $10,000 bribe to plead guilty and in exchange waive all his rights to any inheritance from his parents."
Maximum Security Precautions
Authorities are taking extraordinary security measures for the two-day hearing. Mower will be transported daily from his prison to the courthouse and back, a round trip of approximately 260 miles, rather than being held locally overnight. "There's no question, security will be heavy," Ashline confirmed. "They won't even allow him to stay overnight anywhere because they can't take that risk. And I'm expecting him to be heavily, heavily restrained in the courtroom."
The Coffin Escape Plot
Mower's most audacious escape attempt occurred in 2015 at Auburn Correctional Facility, where he constructed a coffin-like box intended to be hidden under tons of sawdust regularly removed from the prison workshop. The plan involved secreting himself in the box, which would then be loaded onto a local farmer's trailer and transported away from the facility.
The elaborate scheme was foiled after an inmate tipped off authorities, though Mower later bragged to media that he and another prisoner had practiced the escape approximately fifty times. Prison records indicate that three weeks before the plot was discovered, a guard observed Mower walking around with sawdust on his clothing. The failed attempt resulted in 564 days of solitary confinement for the double-killer.
The Book and Ongoing Relationship
Ashline's book, Ungrateful Bastard: The Shocking Journey of a Killer and Escape Artist, is scheduled for publication on February 5 by Bloomsbury. The title, which Mower revealed was his mother's nickname for him, emerged during their tense prison interview. "I said, Ungrateful Bastard. Nothing, no response," Ashline recalled. "He says 'that's the nickname my mother gave me'. And he's still not changing his expression."
Despite initial fears, Ashline says she and Mower have developed mutual respect through their correspondence and conversations. "He was at the time very, very respectful to me and he remains respectful. We have respect for each other," she noted.
High-Profile Legal Representation
Mower will be represented by prominent defense attorney Melissa Swartz, who successfully overturned the manslaughter conviction of Kaitlyn Conley in 2025. Conley had been convicted of fatally poisoning the mother of her former boyfriend in Whitesboro, New York, making Swartz's involvement in Mower's case particularly noteworthy given her track record with complex appeals.
Original Sentencing and Aftermath
During his 1996 sentencing, Mower appeared in black jeans and a green plaid shirt but froze when attempting to deliver his statement. Deputy capital defender Randel Scharf had to read the statement aloud after Mower became unable to lift his head or move from his chair. This occurred following emotional testimony from his aunt Marcia Gigliotti, who told him: "I will never be able to forgive you for taking Gordon away from me and my family."
Dennis Vacco, New York's Attorney General at the time, described Mower as a "remorseless killer who brutally murdered the two people who loved him most." The case continues to resonate three decades later as Mower makes what may be his final attempt to challenge the life sentence that has confined him since his teenage years.
