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A man whose homicide case changed the way Utah handles mentally ill defendants has died.

Eugene N. Woodland, who nicknamed himself Captain Nemo after Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" character, died of old age Thursday at a South Ogden care center, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. He was 85.

In 1994, Woodland was convicted of the 1990 murder of Sandy contractor Bruce D. Larson. He received a five-years-to-life sentence for first-degree homicide, and a zero-to-five years sentence for aggravated assault, a third-degree felony. The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole approved his parole to the care center in 2012 because he was incapacitated, according to the corrections department.

Larson's son, Brian, heard of Woodland's passing on Friday.

"Last night I had a dream that my father was one of the first people to greet him on the other side, full of forgiveness," Brian Larson wrote in a Facebook post. "I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us to forgive all men and I was impressed that my father not only forgave him, but wanted to teach him more about the gospel. His example in this dream makes it easier for me to fully forgive Eugene Woodland for what happened."

It took 40 court appearances, six defense teams and five prosecutors to decide if Woodland was sane, if he could be medicated against his will and if he was a killer. The sanity issue bounced from state to federal court and back again as he successfully fought off the state's attempt to forcibly medicate him to treat his mental illness.

Woodland's ability to befuddle the court system was not lost on lawmakers. In 1993, the Legislature eliminated the need to dismiss a criminal charge if a defendant is civilly committed. In Woodland's case, prosecutors had to dismiss murder charges and then re-file them six months later after doctors deemed him competent to stand trial. The state then had to start criminal proceedings from scratch — which included scheduling another preliminary hearing and again calling out-of-state witnesses to court.

Woodland was a familiar Salt Lake-area character, often seen about town sporting a flowing cape, high boots and a beret. He had a huge limousine and a car painted with scales and topped with a large fin, which he called the Fishmobile. For years he attempted to set a water speed record on Utah Lake with a jet-powered boat he called the Nautilus Missile.

He built the Woodland Drive-in Theater, started a real estate company and operated the partially complete Capt. Nemo's Dinner Theater Atlantis. Larson was helping build the $1 million dinner theater for Woodland but work stopped after Woodland emptied the construction escrow account of $500,000 and was unable to pay Larson and his partner.

Woodland declared bankruptcy and Larson and the partner acquired the building. The last straw for Woodland apparently came when Larson removed Woodland's picture from the marquee and leased the building to people who were turning it into a country-western dance club.

Six witnesses watched in horror as Woodland shot Larson five times.

At a 2008 parole board hearing, Woodland insisted he was innocent.

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