Charles Harrelson, father of Woody

ACTOR Woody Harrelson’s father, Charles Harrelson, died of a heart attack in the Supermax federal prison where he was serving two life sentences for the murder of a federal judge.

Charles Harrelson (69) was convicted in the May 29 1979 slaying of US District Judge John Wood Jr outside his San Antonio home. Prosecutors said a drug dealer hired him to kill Wood because he did not want the judge to preside at his upcoming trial.Charles Harrelson denied the killing, saying he was in Dallas, 435 km away, at the time.Wood, known as ‘Maximum John’ for the sentences he gave in drug cases, was the first federal judge to be killed in the 20th century.Charles Harrelson was transferred to Supermax, the highest-security federal prison, after attempting to break out of an Atlanta federal prison in 1995.Other inmates at Supermax, about 145 km south of Denver, include Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski, Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols and Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph.Actor Woody was just 7 when his father was first sent to prison, for murdering a Texas businessman.He was in college when his father was convicted of the judge’s assassination.Nampa-APProsecutors said a drug dealer hired him to kill Wood because he did not want the judge to preside at his upcoming trial.Charles Harrelson denied the killing, saying he was in Dallas, 435 km away, at the time.Wood, known as ‘Maximum John’ for the sentences he gave in drug cases, was the first federal judge to be killed in the 20th century.Charles Harrelson was transferred to Supermax, the highest-security federal prison, after attempting to break out of an Atlanta federal prison in 1995.Other inmates at Supermax, about 145 km south of Denver, include Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski, Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols and Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph.Actor Woody was just 7 when his father was first sent to prison, for murdering a Texas businessman.He was in college when his father was convicted of the judge’s assassination.Nampa-AP