Asheville-area lawyer, murder defendant arrested in Georgia

ASHEVILLE – A local bankruptcy attorney facing a second-degree murder charge in Buncombe County was arrested in Georgia on March 17 after he allegedly drove under the influence and assaulted two state troopers, records show.

Patrick Tucker Wood, 36, of Weaverville, was arrested by Georgia State Patrol in Berrien County, Georgia. His arrest warrant alleges he tried to headbutt the troopers twice while in handcuffs, breaking one trooper’s finger and causing a laceration to another trooper’s arm.

Wood, while on pretrial release out of Buncombe County, was charged with felony aggravated battery, felony willful obstruction of law enforcement officers by use of threats or violence, felony aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer when engaged on official duty, driving under the influence and other traffic violations.

The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office had previously arrested Wood Aug. 17 after detectives say he fatally shot Jason Gary Cole, 43, of Weaverville, during an altercation outside an Alexander home.

Wood has been staying in Georgia after he posted a $300,000 bond on Sept. 30 and was released from the Buncombe County Detention Facility the same day, the Citizen Times previously reported.

Assistant District Attorney Katie Kurdys filed a motion March 19 in Buncombe County Superior Court to revoke Wood’s bond. Kurdys wrote that she was contacted by Capt. William Addison with the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office on March 18.

When Wood was stopped by a state trooper for the traffic violations, he allegedly became “extraordinarily violent and resistant,” Kurdys wrote in her motion.

Kurdys argued that revoking Wood’s bond was “prudent and necessary to ensure the safety of the community.”

Visiting Superior Court Judge Louis Trosch ordered on March 23 that Wood be held under no bond and returned to Buncombe County custody.

Wood was still in Berrien County Sheriff’s Office custody as of March 26, according to an online jail database.

Warrants describe homicide investigation

At about 10:06 p.m. on Aug. 17, Buncombe County deputies responded to Old N.C. 20 Highway in Alexander to investigate a report of a gunshot wound, the sheriff’s office previously said in a news release. When they arrived, they found Cole dead with an apparent gunshot wound, the release said.

Detectives executed multiple search warrants in August to uncover the details of what happened at the Alexander home. These included warrants for Wood’s medical records, his red Subaru Crosstrek, his clothes and an SD card that might contain footage of the homicide from the home’s security cameras, according to copies obtained by the Citizen Times.

The warrants say Wood called 911 and told the dispatcher that Cole had “come at him with a knife.” Wood said he went to his vehicle, grabbed a firearm and shot Cole, according to the warrants.

When first responders arrived, Cole was pronounced dead by EMS, the warrants say. Wood told deputies he was willing to make a statement about the incident and tried to hand them a spent shell casing, according to the warrants. Deputies told Wood to set down the shell casing outside his Subaru and noticed a gun inside the car.

In an interview with detectives, Cole’s girlfriend, who had witnessed the shooting, said she and Cole had arrived at a mutual friend’s home and saw Wood “sitting in his car blasting music in the driveway,” the warrants allege.

According to the warrants, the girlfriend told detectives that Cole exited his truck and asked Wood to turn down the music. Cole and Wood “had words” outside the vehicle, before Wood got back in his car and started “blasting” the music again, the girlfriend said, according to the warrants.

Cole’s girlfriend said Cole walked back to his truck, grabbed a “wooden handle” and went back to Wood’s car. The girlfriend claimed Cole did not hit or raise the handle to hit Wood, according to the warrants.

That’s when Wood allegedly retrieved a gun from his car and shot Cole, the warrants said.

Why was he initially released?

At his first appearance hearing in Buncombe County on Aug. 18, Kurdys argued for Wood to be held on a $500,000 secured bond, citing the facts of the case and Wood’s recent “volatile behavior.”

Michael Casterline, an assistant public defender who stepped in to represent Wood during the hearing, asked the judge for a $100,000 bond, saying that Wood is a solo practicing bankruptcy attorney with obligations to clients and has been in the community for eight years.

Wood was licensed to practice law in North Carolina in 2016, is a member of the North Carolina State Bar and works in Weaverville, according to an online membership directory. The State Bar was told of Wood’s second-degree murder charge on Aug. 18, the Citizen Times previously reported.

Judge Edwin D. Clontz said he considered the nature of the charges and Wood’s professional position when setting his bond at $300,000. Clontz also ordered him to not possess any firearms or deadly weapons and not return to the address where the shooting happened. He did not add any travel restrictions, according to court records.

Wood’s bond was determined before House Bill 307 was signed into law on Oct. 5. In August, the prevailing bond statute clearly states that the presumption is to release the defendant, the Citizen Times reported.

The law says a judicial official must impose a written promise to appear, an unsecured appearance bond or place the defendant with a designated person or organization, unless these conditions would not secure their appearance in court or threaten public safety.

However, language in the new law — dubbed “Iryna’s law” in honor of the Ukrainian refugee killed on a Charlotte light rail train on Aug. 22, 2025 — switches the burden when the person is charged with a violent offense.

“For a defendant charged with any violent offense, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that no condition of release will reasonably assure the appearance of the person as required and the safety of the community,” the law states.

The Citizen Times reached out to Wood’s defense attorney, Sean Devereux, for comment.

This story will be updated.

Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville-area lawyer, murder defendant arrested in Georgia

Reporting by Ryley Ober, Asheville Citizen Times / Asheville Citizen Times

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