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Thread: Christopher Leroy Collings - Missouri Death Row

  1. #11
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    Jury selection continues in murder trial

    Jury selection began Monday in Platte County in the death penalty murder trial of one of two men accused of raping and killing a 9-year-old Stella girl in 2007.

    Jury selection for Christopher L. Collings’ trial is continuing and expected to take a week, according to Barry County Prosecuting Attorney Johnnie Cox. Collings, 35, who is accused of raping and killing 9-year-old Rowan Ford, will then go trial in Phelps County on a change of venue from Barry County. Cox has said the trial could last a month.

    Last May, a mistrial was declared after attorneys for both the state and the defense couldn’t agree on a jury in Phelps County. Therefore, jury selection was moved to Platte County north of Kansas City. Once a jury is chosen, it will be bused down to Rolla where it will be sequestered for the duration of the trial.

    Ford’s body was discovered in a sinkhole in McDonald County nearly a week after she was discovered missing from her Stella home. Her step-father, David Spears, led Newton County Coroner Mark Bridges, a former employer, to the site. Both men looked inside the sinkhole, which is located about 10 miles south of Stella near Mike’s Creek near Powell.

    Bridges told the Neosho Daily News he saw some items inside the cavern-like area which raised suspicions, and contacted FBI agents. They, in turn, contacted the McDonald County Sheriff’s Department. Deputies Jake Boles and Mike Hall checked out the sink hole the following morning and discovered the girl’s body about 20 feet below ground.

    “I definitely wanted to search the cave and I think, subconsciously, that David did, too. He took me to the cave for some reason,” Bridges said. “I guess his first thought was I used to be the sheriff, and could help. David kept telling me ‘Maybe she’s at a friend’s house.’”

    According to Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland, Spears and Collings both confessed to the rape and murder of the child.

    “David said he came in, checked Rowan’s room and found she was gone,” said Copeland.

    “He said he knew Chris had gotten her and taken her to his house. He got there, and Chris was raping her. He raped her too. Then they thought they would be in trouble, so they killed her and threw her in a hole.”

    Spears is set to go to trial late this year in Pulaski County, where it was moved on a change of venue. Jury selection will be held Nov. 5, with pre-trial conferences slated for April 2, Aug. 27 and Sept. 26.

    http://www.neoshodailynews.com/news/...n-murder-trial

  2. #12
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    Testimony won't start Monday for Christopher Collings' murder trial

    A delay in jury selection will prevent attorneys from making their opening statements and start questioning witnesses on Monday in the murder trial of Christopher Collings. Collings is one of two men accused of murdering a girl in Barry County in November 2007.

    Collings' trial is here to try to ensure a fair outcome. The jury is being selected in Platte City, north of Kansas City, because of extensive publicity in southwest Missouri about the murder of 9-year-old Rowan Ford. Collings could face a death penalty if he's convicted of first-degree murder.

    Jury selection started in Platte City on Monday and was supposed to conclude on Saturday so jurors could be bused to Rolla on Sunday to hear the case starting on Monday. Circuit Judge Mary Sheffield has cleared three weeks on her calendar in case the trial takes that long.

    Phelps County Circuit Clerk Sue Brown says Sheffield's clerk called Friday morning to tell her that jury selection is delayed and is scheduled to resume on Monday morning, but the clerk couldn't tell the reason for the delay. Brown says, if jury selection is finished on Tuesday afternoon, the jury could come to Rolla on Wednesday so testimony could start on Thursday.

    The jury panel had 500 potential jurors. The judge and the attorneys worked all day Monday, Wednesday afternoon and evening, and all day Thursday to question and screen jurors. They likely will pick 14 jurors who will be sequestered in a hotel in Rolla during the trial. Once testimony and attorneys' arguments are done, two of the jurors would be notified they are alternates and won't participate in the discussions and vote on a verdict.

    The other man charged with Rowan's murder is David Spears, who was married to Rowan's mother at the time of her kidnapping and murder. Investigators think the two men took Rowan out of her home, took her to Spears' home near Wheaton, raped and murdered her, and put her body in a cave or sinkhole in McDonald County.

    The trials of both men have been delayed by haggling over evidence that will be presented at trial and by the extensive publicity. Collings' first trial ended in a mistrial when the judge and attorneys couldn't find enough unbiased or unknowledgeable jurors from the Rolla area. Prosecutors want to try Collings before Spears, so delays in one trial caused delays in the other. Spears is scheduled for trial in Waynesville in August.

    http://www.kspr.com/news/local/ky3-t...0,119679.story

  3. #13
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    A murder trial gets underway for a Four State man accused of killing a nine year-old girl

    The defense for Christopher Collings, 37, does not deny he murdered nine year old Rowan Ford.

    They are raising questions about whether the murder was premeditated.

    That could determine if Collings will live or die since he faces the death penalty if convicted of first degree murder. His attorneys hope to get a conviction of second degree murder which would bring 10 to 30 years in prison.

    Sheriff's deputies in Barry County, Missouri say in November 2007 Collings went to Ford's home in Newton County, Missouri.

    Court documents say Ford was inside, asleep, alone, and Collings broke into the home, then took Ford to his home in nearby Barry County.

    Police say Collings then took Ford into his trailer, raped her, then took her outside and wrapped a cord around her neck and pulled, until she died.

    According to investigators Collings put the body into his pickup truck, went to McDonald County and dumped the body in a cave.

    From the day after Ford went missing police suspected foul play.

    Police say Ford's stepfather, David Spears, denied knowing of any wrongdoing at first. But investigators say both he and Collings are on tape confessing to the rape and murder.

    The defense claims Collings drank 30 wine coolers and had also smoked marijuana the night Ford was taken from her home.

    Colling's case was moved out of Barry County to ensure a fair trial. It is being heard in Phelps County by jurors from Platte County.

    Updated March 7, 2012: Jury selection is expected to finish today for the trial of a man accused of raping and killing a southwest Missouri girl.

    In November 2007, the body of nine year old Rowan Ford of Stella was found in a cave in McDonald County a week after she disappeared.

    Christopher Collings is one of two men charged in the case.

    Last May a judge granted a mistrial and a change of venue.

    For more than a week now lawyers for both sides have been deciding on a Jury in Platte County, Missouri.

    Opening statements for the trial are set to begin on Monday in Rolla.

    Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty.

    The second suspect in the trial is Rowan Ford's step-father, David Spears.

    His trial is scheduled for this Fall.

    http://www.koamtv.com/story/17027289...-year-old-girl
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  4. #14
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    Rowan Ford Case: Law agents testify

    Jurors heard details about the condition of Rowan Ford’s body and what was done to preserve evidence as several law officers took the stand during the second day of testimony in the Christopher Collings murder trial, now under way in Phelps County.

    Collings is on trial for the November 2007 kidnap, rape and murder of the 9-year-old Stella girl. The case was moved to the Phelps County Courthouse in Rolla from Barry County on a change of venue. Prosecutor Johnnie Cox is seeking the death penalty in the case, while Collings’ defense attorney wants a lesser sentence.

    Ford’s body was discovered Nov. 9, 2007, nearly a week after she had been reported as missing from her Stella home. The body was recovered in a deep sinkhole known locally as Fox Cave in eastern McDonald County near Powell.

    On Tuesday afternoon, the seven women, five men panel heard from FBI Agent Andrew Alvey, senior team leader for evidence response team of the FBI’s Kansas City division. According to published reports, during questioning, Alvey said Ford was discovered nude from the waist down, except for a sock, and there was a mark on her neck indicating a ligature of some sort had been used.

    He reported former McDonald County Deputy Jacob Boles entered the sinkhole with a telescoping ladder, then stabilized the ladder to ensure the FBI team could enter. The scene was photographed by the FBI team, evidence was recovered, and the girl’s body placed in a body bag, taken to the surface and placed on a litter or gurney. It was removed from the scene at about 12:45 p.m. that day, the FBI agent testified.

    Testimony Tuesday began with Capt. Chris Jennings, chief deputy of the Newton County Sheriff’s Department, and Lt. Trevor Williams, also of the department. In an interview days before Ford’s body was found, Williams said, Collings told him he did not know the girl’s whereabouts.

    Jurors also heard from FBI Special Agent James Stinnett, who testified that Collings told him Ford’s then step-father, David Spears, was to blame for the girl’s disappearance, and now-retired Agent Rick Stonecipher, who told the court Collings agreed to a DNA swab. Stonecipher also told the court Collings told him he had lived at Ford’s home for about four months, moving out about a week before her disappearance. The retired agent also told jurors Collings seemed emotional and tense when asked if he was involved in the girl’s disappearance.

    Also testifying Tuesday were Gary Allen, evidence officer with the Barry County Sheriff’s Department, and Mike Hall, a former lieutenant with the McDonald County Sheriff’s Department.

    Newton County Coroner Mark Bridges previously told the Daily News that David Spears, Ford’s stepfather, led him to the sinkhole. He said he noted items worthy of further investigation in the cavern, and alerted authorities.

    The following morning, Nov. 9, then Deputies Hall and Boles went to the sinkhole. Boles lowered his head into the pit, then alerted the chief deputy that the girl’s body had possibly been found.

    Testimony continues today.

    http://www.neoshodailynews.com/news/...testify?zc_p=1
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  5. #15
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    Jurors See Chris Collings' Videotaped Confession

    For the first time, jurors are hearing an accused Missouri killer confess to raping and murdering a little girl. On Friday, jurors watched Chris Collings’ two videotaped confessions Friday in the courtroom. Officers videotaped two separate interviews on November 9, 2007 inside the Barry County Sheriff’s Office.

    Collings is one of two men charged with the rape and murder of nine-year-old Rowan Ford. As Collings watched himself confess to the rape and murder, he would look at the screen then down at the table in front of him. Ford's mother wept throughout the confession and wiped tears from her eyes.

    In the grainy, flashing video an officer read Collings his rights. “You have the right to remain silent anything you say can be used against you in a court of law,” the officer said on the videotape. That statement came true more than four years later in front of a jury that could decide if Collings lives or dies.

    “All together that night I had about five six packs,” Collings told the interviewers with a laugh. “I don't do nothing in moderation. I'm not trying to be funny. This is really hard.”

    Collings appeared to struggle when asked to explain what happened to Ford. “To this day I still don't know why I did it,” Collings said. “I picked her up and carried her out to my truck.” Collings says he took the sleeping girl from her bedroom to his mobile home. Collings paused then coughed before he said, “I took her pants and her underwear.” Officers asked if he had sex with Ford and Collings answered “yes.”

    After Collings says he raped the little girl, he walked her outside his home. “I went outside with her and you could see a little bit because there was some moonlight outside then she turned around and she looked at me,” Collings said. “I just started freaking like ‘oh my God she knows who I am what the hell am I going to do now.”

    According to the accused killer, he strangled Ford with “chicken house cord” or cord often used to build a cage for chickens. “After I realized what I done I knew I was in a lot of trouble,” Collings said. “I knew I had to do something, I didn't know what.”

    Collings told officers he threw Ford's body inside a McDonald County cave then burned some of her clothes, his bloody clothes and a mattress. One of the interviewers asked Collings, “Did David Spears have any knowledge of this?” Collings answered “no.”

    Investigators say Ford's step-dad, David Spears also confessed. That caused them to tape a second interview asking Collings if Spears was involved. “I don't know why they did what they did, said what they said and lied and stuff,” Collings said.

    Near the end of the first 68 minute videotape an interviewer asked Collings if he felt bad about what happened. “I felt bad that's why I've been bawling like a baby all afternoon,” Collings said. Even if Collings' regrets his confessed actions, regret won't bring back Ford.

    During the second videotaped interview for more than 70 minutes officers ask Collings repeatedly if Spears was involved. They say Spears was confessing to separate officers in Neosho with similar details. Throughout both of the confessions Collings remained adamant that he acted alone. KSPR News learned it's possible the defense will call Spears to the stand. If they do, he will likely plead the fifth. His trial is scheduled to begin in October.

    http://www.kspr.com/news/kspr-jurors...,3379986.story
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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  6. #16
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    David Spears Called as Witness in Collings Murder Trial

    Jurors returned to the courtroom Saturday for more testimony in the state's case against Christopher Collings.

    Collings, 37, is one of two men accused of raping and killing 9-year-old Rowan Ford in Stella, Missouri in November 2007. She was missing for about a week as the community searched, but her body was later found inside Fox Sinkhole.

    David Spears, who was Rowan Ford's stepfather -- also accused of the crime -- was brought in as a defense witness. That way, his attorney could be present. When he took the stand, he pleaded the Fifth Amendment, appearing to make no eye contact with Collings. He quickly left the courtroom. The jury did not see him.

    FBI agent Michael Daniels was the next on the stand. He's a member of the evidence response team. He helped process Spears' truck following the alleged crimes against Rowan Ford. He also helped search Spears' home.

    Jurors were shown photos of Spears' truck.

    "We took almost everything from the truck, not the tires," said Agent Daniels. The Defense then asked him about contamination of the scene or transfer, to which he replied, "Each person takes things from the scene and leaves things."

    Court is expected to be in session through 3 p.m. (Check out Laurie Patton's courtroom notes below)

    On Friday, prosecutors played the taped confession Collings gave law enforcement after the alleged crime. The confession tape is grainy and a little hard to hear at times, but the prosecution says the information in it is clear as they push for a 1st Degree Murder conviction and the death penalty.

    The defense, however, says with this tape jurors are only getting part of the story.

    "I jumped in my truck and I headed back to David's house," says Collings on the tape the night he allegedly abducted and raped Ford.

    "Did she resist, after sex?" asks Wheaton Police Chief Clint Clark on the tape, to which Collings replies, "Yes."

    Detectives asked why he did it.

    "I don't know what happened," says Collings on the tape. "It was over before it even started."

    But, Collings was crystal clear about why he murdered the little girl after the rape: she saw his face.

    "Like I said, you could see a little bit because it was light outside," recalls Collings on the tape. "She turned around and she looked at me. And I just started freaking, like 'Oh my God, she knows who I am.' There was a piece of nylon cord on the side of the truck beside me and I just grabbed it. Started pulling real hard."

    Despite detectives hammering away at him, Collings insists Spears had nothing to do with it.

    A second taped confession captured the moment Collings learns that Rowan Ford's stepfather David Spears is sitting in another county jail, confessing to the same crime.

    Later in the day, jurors were shown Rowan Ford's autopsy photos.

    The defense says it wants jurors to find Collings guilty of 2nd Degree Murder. Their argument is that Collings did not premeditate the act.

    A jury from Platte County, Missouri was chosen to hear the case because of pre-trial publicity in southwest Missouri. The case is being tried in Rolla on a change of venue. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case.

    http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=618972
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  7. #17
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    Closing arguments in Collings trial set for 3 p.m. today

    Both the prosecution and defense rested their cases Tuesday in the trial of Christopher Collings, a man accused of raping and murdering 9-year-old Rowan Ford in 2007.

    The trial, which is now in its eighth day, saw the prosecution call its final witness to the stand this morning, after which they rested their case. Defense attorneys for Collings did not call any witnesses, and Collings himself did not testify.

    Closing arguments in the case are now scheduled for 3 p.m., with each side getting one hour to speak.

    http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-closing-...,5099989.story
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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  8. #18
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    The defense is obviously expecting a guilty verdict and are focused on keeping Collings off death row.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  9. #19
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    Jury finds Collings guilty of first degree murder

    A jury has found Christopher Collings guilty of murder in the first degree. Five men and seven women, who have been sequestered in Rolla for the past week and a half, returned their verdict after deliberating for just over four hours.

    The verdict came at the end of an eight-day trial and on the heels of closing statements offered by both the prosecution and defense late Tuesday afternoon. The case now enters the penalty phase when jurors will have to decide whether or not Collings deserves the death penalty for murdering 9-year-old Rowan Ford back in November of 2007.

    Closing arguments

    "Today is Christopher Collings' day of reckoning," said Elizabeth Bock in the prosecution's closing statement made late Tuesday afternoon.

    Bock asked the jury to let their memories of the facts and evidence presented during the trial rule their decision.

    "You'll remember on Nov. 2, 2007, that Rowan Ford, a 4-foot, four-inch tall little girl went missing," said Bock. "And you'll remember, on Nov. 3, 2007, when Colleen Spears got home to find her little girl missing never to be seen by her again."

    Bock reminded the jurors of the day-by-day unfolding of events -- the various times throughout the week that Collings talked to various law enforcement officers but never admitted his involvement in Rowan's disappearance until officers eventually found Rowan's dead body lying in the bottom of Fox Cave.

    "Make no mistake about it. The defendant benefitted from the fact that Rowan was in a hole from Nov. 2 to Nov. 9, 2007," said Bock. "It was a deliberate decision to hide her body. You saw the condition of her body, and because of that, there's no such thing as CSI Barry County."

    Bock also told the jury that Collings' decision to kill Rowan was deliberate.

    "He knew he was going to kill her," said Bock. "Christopher Collings was not impulsive. He raped that girl for four or five minutes. The next thing he did was look for a weapon to kill this little girl. He made a decision. She had to die, and he had to get rid of her."

    In the defense's closing argument, attorney Jan Zembles did not argue that Collings was innocent. Instead she painted a different picture of Collings' state of mind on the night he raped and murdered Rowan Ford, and she asked jurors to consider returning a verdict of murder in the second degree.

    Zembles began and ended her closing argument with a statement Collings made to Wheaton Police Chief Clint Clark on the day Collings confessed.

    "He said to Clint, 'if you don't believe anything else of this whole story, you have to believe what I'm going to tell you. I fully intended to take her (Rowan) right back where I found her and leave her, but she saw me and I freaked out."

    Zembles explained that the charge of first degree murder requires the prosecution to prove that Collings acted with "cool reflection."

    "Cool reflection is not just a matter of time. It isn't just did someone, in this case Chris Collings, have time to stop," said Zembles. "Cool reflection is a state of mind. When people are paranoid, when people are terrified or when they're really, really angry, they're not cooly reflective.

    "Christopher Collings told Clint Clark and other law enforcement officers, over and over again, 'I freaked out, I was paranoid,'" continued Zembles.

    Zembles also said Collings didn't go looking for a murder weapon but said he just saw a cord laying in the truck right beside him.

    "He didn't take the time to cut the rope off the reel," said Zembles. "He just grabbed it and left it on the ground."

    Zembles talked about the graphic photos presented during the trial and urged the jury to put aside their feelings of "heartbreak," "grief" and "anger."

    "Nothing you decide when you deliberate is going to bring Rowan Ford back. Nothing you decide is going to make her 10 years old," said Zembles, "and that's why you decide what the facts are and you don't make an emotional decision."

    Before the jury was given the case to deliberate, the prosecution had one more chance to address the jury. Barry County Prosecutor Johnnie Cox used those final 20 minutes to talk about the "deep, dark" place that Collings went to on the night he decided to "play the boogie man" and steal a sleeping little girl out of her bedroom. Cox spoke with emotion about the "deep, dark" place where Collings went that led him to have sex with a 9-year-old girl and kill her.

    "You have to ask yourselves, was this a situation where Mr. Collings was really going to return that little girl after raping her to her bedroom that night?" Cox said. "When this man scooped a little 9-year-old girl off the floor, she was never coming back. That little girl was dead when he put her in his truck."

    Cox ended his statement by showing the jury a photo of Rowan Ford's dead body lying on the mortuary table.

    "This is the defendant's handiwork," said Cox. "This is a result of his deliberation -- a dead 9-year-old girl on a slab.

    "There is evidence of cool reflection, that he did take her life intentionally after cool deliberation," added Cox. "It wasn't a freakout. It was death after deliberation."

    Other trial notes

    Tuesday marked the eighth day of testimony in the trial. The morning began with the prosecution calling one witness to the stand. At the conclusion of that witness' testimony, the prosecution rested its case.

    A brief recess was then called, at which time Phelps County Circuit Judge Mary Sheffield overruled a defense motion for acquital. She also questioned Collings directly about his intention to testify. When asked if he was not going to testify, Collins answered "Yes, maam."

    When the jury was called back into the courtroom, the defense rested its case without introducing any additional evidence.

    Collings, 37, of Wheaton, is also charged with first degree rape and statutory rape in the Rowan Ford case. These charges were "severed" or set aside so that the capital murder case could be handled first.

    Collings has been held in the Barry County Jail since his arrest on Nov. 9, 2007.

    While in court, Collings has been dressed in street clothes and is not wearing handcuffs or ankle shackles. Instead, he has been equipped with a "shock belt" that is controlled by a Phelps County deputy who is present in the courtroom whenever Collings is present.

    Judge Sheffield told jurors that the second phase of the trial, called the penalty phase, will begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday).

    http://www.cassville-democrat.com/story/1827953.html
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  10. #20
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    Jurors weep from testimony of Rowan Ford's mother

    ROLLA, Mo. — Emotional testimony marked the start of the penalty phase in the Chris Collings triall for the murder of Rowan Ford.

    The state’s case for the death penalty began with the testimony of the 9-year-old girls’s mother and two of her teachers at Tri-Way Elementary School in Stella. The testimony of all three of those witnesses as to the type of girl Rowan Ford was, their remembrances of her, and the impact of her death on their lives brought emotional reaction to more than one juror. A couple appeared to weep openly.

    Prosecutor Elizabeth Bock told jurors that they will have two options. Give Collings, 37, of Wheat, a life sentence or give him the death penalty. The jury found Collings guilty of first-degree murder Tuesday after four hours of deliberation.

    Bock said that jurors will be asked to consider three possible statutory circumstances: The involvement of torture in the killng of the girl, that the murder took place while in the course of the crime or rape or that she had been killed as a result of her status as a witness.

    Bock said if they find at least one of those aggravating circumstances, then they must move to the second step in the penalty phase which involves the weighing of the aggravated circumstances.

    Charles Moreland, defense attorney, told jurors that they will be asked to consider a number of mitigating circumstances, including that Collings did take full responsibility for his crime. Moreland said the role that David Spears, the girl’s stepfather, played in the rape and murder will also be an issue in the penalty phase. Jurors will also be asked to consider a number of factors from Collings own childhood and life path.

    http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x14...n-Fords-mother
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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