A 3-inch scar reminds Lisa Wood of the night she woke up with two teenagers standing in her bedroom while blood poured from her chin and throat.
"That's the most vivid scene," said Wood, as she remembered her image in the bathroom mirror more than three years ago. "I've never seen a horror worse than that."
On Tuesday, almost two months after the Nevada Supreme Court reversed his 1997 conviction for plotting the attempt on her life, Wood's ex-husband pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.
Allen Dwight Wood, 36, could be released after his March 27 sentencing. The new charge of battery with intent to commit murder carries a penalty of two to 20 years in prison. Wood already has served three years.
The previous conviction was struck down when the state's highest court ruled that a third-person account by Brian Bardin bragging about Wood's plans for his wife's murder should not have been allowed in the district court trial.
Wood was found guilty in that trial of persuading Bardin and Justin Anderson, both 15 at the time, to break into Lisa Wood's residence and slash her throat.
In all, seven teenagers were implicated in the crime, but only Bardin served time. He was sentenced to five years and is currently on parole after early release for good behavior.
Bardin slit Lisa Wood's throat, puncturing the skin a fraction of an inch from her jugular vein. She slowed the blood by applying pressure with a paper towel.
The wound took 100 stitches to close.
"The last thing I want to see is this man freed," said Lisa. "There's so much wreckage that he has created that didn't come out in that courtroom." She no longer goes by the name Wood but preferred that her new name not be used.
Wood's first ex-wife, Kim Courtney, to whom he was married about eight months in 1987, is also fearful of Wood's potential release. "I'm tired of all these boys being abused and manipulated by him," she said. "He will never take responsibility for anything he has ever done."
At Tuesday's arraignment, Wood told Judge Michael Griffin he was "not fully aware of everything that was going on" the night of the crime.
Prosecutors believe Wood manipulated the boys into doing his bidding by leading them to believe he was involved in organized crime.
Wood was originally sentenced to 13 to 33 years in prison.
