University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law alumnus William Wood '76 has written 14 novels, including one nonfiction book. His latest novel, “Don't Stand Under the Coconut Tree,” was published earlier this year. 

His literary works include "Rampage" (1985), "Gangland" (1988), "Fugitive City" (1989), "Stay of Execution" (1994), "The Bone Garden" (1994), "Court of Honor" later retitled as "Broken Trust" (1995), "Quicksand" (1998), "Pressure Point" (2004), "The Bribe" (2014), "Sudden Impact" (2014), "Caliban's Flight" (2022), "American Rocket Science" (2024), "The National Tressure" (2025) and "Don't Stand Under the Coconut Tree" (2026).  

Wood’s path to writing began with a career in law. After graduating from McGeorge School of Law in 1976, Wood began working in the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, where he began working on trials on his second day. 

"When you're done with your legal education at McGeorge, you really have this terrific sense of confidence that you could be thrown into any kind of situation involving the law or government or anything. And you'd be able to navigate it. So that is one of the things that I was very grateful for from my time at McGeorge was that solid grounding it gave me," Wood said.  

During his time at the District Attorney's Office, Wood began writing stories. He realized every case, every preliminary hearing, and every police report had a story.  

"It's got a beginning, middle, and end. It's got characters, drama, comedy too – sometimes," Wood said. "I thought, 'Well, I'd be crazy if I didn't take advantage of this.' So that's why I decided to sit down and write."  

In 1985, Wood released his first book, “Rampage,” a story about a serial killer's trial. The story drew from multiple cases that Wood and his other colleagues at the DA's Office handled. Later, the book was adapted into a movie filmed by Academy Award-winning director William Freaken, who directed the French Connection and the Exorcist. 

His second book-turned-movie, “Court of Honor,” later renamed Broken Trust, was adapted into the TNT movie “Broken Trust” by Jane Fonda Films, starring Tom Selleck, with a screenplay written by Sacramento natives Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne.   

"When I was still in the DA's Office, I co-wrote a couple of episodes of a TV show called 'Kaz,' which was about an ex-convict who gets a law degree while he's in prison, and then he goes on to work for a law firm," Wood said. "So being on courtroom sets, TV sets and movies, it's just bizarre because these are representations of courtrooms in Sacramento."  

Wood’s 1994 nonfiction book, “The Bone Garden,” is the definitive account of serial killer Dorothea Puente, after nine bodies were dug up from her Sacramento yard. During his time at the DA's Office, Wood worked with the Sacramento Police Department on six cases against Puente. She was ultimately sent to prison in 1982 for theft and forgery but was released in 1985.  

It wasn't until 1988 that police discovered several bodies on her property.  

"I realized that I was in a unique position. I knew everybody connected to this case, including the defense attorneys; I had access to the law enforcement agencies, the prosecutors, and the judge and his staff," Wood said. "There were nine victims involved, and I thought, well, 'I'm the only one who can really tell this story as fully as it needs to be told.'  Everybody else is going to be coming after the fact, but I was there before."  

“The Bone Garden” has been referenced in multiple books and featured on shows such as “The Geraldo Rivera Show,” “The Sacramento Boardinghouse Murders,” and the Netflix series “Worst Roommate Ever.” 

After spending 15 years writing, Woods went back into law, serving as chief counsel to the Secretary of State of California, Bill Jones. In this role, Woods was a leader in the election law case, California Democratic Party vs. Jones, argued before the United States Supreme Court in 2000.  

He also served as the Commissioner of the California Department of Corporations and the Undersecretary of the Office of the Secretary of State in 2005.  

Currently, Woods is working on his second nonfiction book called "William Freaken's Rampage: A Film Odyssey." In this book, Woods discusses the making of the movie "Rampage" stories about what happened on set, and what it was like to work with actors and directors.