Posted on 11/11/2007 11:10:08 PM PST by McCoMo
Sheriff: Men confess to crime
By Debbie Robinson
news@joplinglobe.com
STELLA, Mo. Both defendants in the brutal rape and murder of 9-year-old Rowan Ford have confessed to the crime, the Newton County sheriff said Sunday.
David Spears, 25, of Stella, and Chris Collings, 32, of Wheaton, are charged with one count each of first-degree murder, forcible rape and statutory rape in the girls death. Spears is Rowans stepfather.
Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland said investigators allege that Rowan was abducted early Nov. 3 from her home in Stella in Newton County, murdered in Barry County, and her body dumped in a sinkhole in McDonald County.
After a nearly weeklong search for the girl, Copeland said, Collings confessed Friday to Wheaton police Chief Clint Clark. Spears was arrested a short time later.
Both confessed to raping and strangling her, Copeland said.
Clark did not return a phone call Sunday. The Barry County sheriffs office in Cassville said Sheriff Mick Epperly would have no updates on the case until Tuesday.
Investigators are continuing to work on determining what happened the night Rowan was abducted from her home, Copeland said.
David Spears has provided conflicting information to investigators since Spears and Rowans mother, Colleen Spears, reported the girl missing about 6:50 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, Copeland said.
During the search for Rowan, Copeland said, David Spears rode around with another man.
He (Spears) was pointing out to this man where would be good places to put a body, Copeland said.
One of those places was the sinkhole in McDonald County where the girls body ultimately was found, the sheriff said.
Its about 15 to 20 feet down, and it was getting dark, Copeland said of the time David Spears reportedly pointed out the site during the search.
Rowans body was found the next morning, which was Friday, by McDonald County deputies Jake Boles and Mike Hall in the sinkhole near Powell.
According to reports, Colleen Spears last saw her daughter at about 8:30 p.m. Nov. 2 before she left for work at the Wal-Mart store in Jane.
David Spears, Collings and another man were playing pool at the Spears home in the town of Stella in southern Newton County while Rowan was asleep in her bedroom, Copeland said.
The three men decided to leave at 10:45 p.m. to take Collings home, Copeland said.
They stopped so a man named Nathan and David could get more beer, he said.
Copeland said Nathan reportedly dropped David Spears off at the Spears residence.
Thats where the story gets murky, Copeland said.
Authorities said David Spears has acknowledged that he went out a second time around 1:30 a.m. Nov. 3 after calling his mother, Myrna Spears, and asking to borrow her car. Myrna Spears has said she watched television and did not check on the girl. David Spears was gone for 5 1/2 hours.
Copeland said Sunday that David Spears has told investigators that he discovered Rowan missing before he called his mother.
He said he knew Chris (Collings) would have her (Rowan), Copeland said.
He said Spears has said that after borrowing his mothers car, he drove to Collings travel trailer, where he alleged that he found Collings raping the girl.
Both men are suspected of raping and strangling the girl with a netting cord, Copeland said.
David Spears initially told investigators that he did not discover Rowan was missing until the next morning, after Colleen Spears arrived home from work.
We had three different cadaver dogs hit on (Myrna Spears) car, Copeland said. We know the body was in there at some point.
The two defendants are expected to be arraigned Tuesday in Barry County Circuit Court. Both men were being held Sunday without bond in the Barry County Jail.
Myrna Spears said Sunday that she has not talked to her son since his arrest on Friday.
David Spears and Collings, who grew up in the Wheaton area, have been friends for about 10 years, Myrna Spears said.
She said Collings recently returned from Arkansas, where his estranged wife and two children, both younger than 10, live.
Myrna Spears said she thought she knew Collings, and never suspected that he or her son would be capable of murder and rape.
Copeland said Sunday that Spears and Collings recently had been working for a property owner on construction of a barn in McDonald County.
Neither man is listed as a registered sex offender, Copeland said.
Copeland said Collings, who lived in the travel trailer about a mile east of Wheaton, had been making a living by working odd jobs and selling scrap metal.
Services
Funeral services for Rowan Ford will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Gospel Lighthouse Church in Neosho. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Clark Funeral Home in Neosho, where the family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. A memorial fund has been established. Donations may be made at any Hometown Bank.
Donations for what????? For a mom who would rather not be alone that to protect her child? Do we really believe that this guy was a model stepfather up until now, that no one noticed anything???? Do not donate ANYTHING to these people. The only innocent person in this is DEAD (Rowan)!
Of course, there is the possibility that just because theya re saying they do not expect any more arrests, that they are blowing smoke.. letting whomever else was involved think they are in the clear.
I am assuming it is for the funeral fund. Personally, I am pretty much in agreement with you about sending money. I would have little problem kicking in some for funeral expenses and perhaps a nice gravemarker... but I do not like the idea that any funds left over would go to the family. Such excess funds should go to the Crime Victims compensation fund.
As for myself, my wife and I decided we would rather just buy some flowers, which I delivered to the church a couple hours ago.
Yeah, I agree. I have had some experiences with the press before, and I know how much they can really screw the facts up when they set their mind to it. All in all, they have done a fair job.
All of these discrepencies will be resolved eventually.
How did you read his myspace? I would like to read it too if you have a link or can tell me how. I am not on myspace. Thanks ~P~
These are the links to the myspace pages for Colleen, David Spears and Chris Collings.
I do not think you need a membership to view them, except for David Spears. David’s myspace page is set so that only those who are on his buddlylist can view his profile.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=74281145
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=236309969
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=235325592
Thanks so much! Would you add me to you ping list please.~P~
Warning: Collings’ myspace page is extremely ugly.
Damn straight on the heavy guard.
No date has been set yet for the next hearing.
If convicted of first-degree murder, the men could face death or life in prison. However, Barry County prosecutor Johnnie Cox said after the hearing that he has not yet decided if he will seek the death penalty.
What's the matter with this prosecutor?
Sometimes I think (in fact, most of the time), that we have gotten way too hung up on the “concept” of justice, whether it can be administered fairly and impassionately.
In a way, we can’t see the forest for the trees.
If these guys were rabid dogs, we would have no trouble taking care of the problem real quick.
Our indecision has emasculated us. Our quest for a perfection we can never reach has put our women and children at serious risk.
Sometimes we need to put aside all the lawyering (whose purpose, just about everybody has to admit, is to confuse us) and grow a pair and just do what needs to be done.
What Luke says about Collings myspace page is, perhaps, a bit understated.
I was unable to read most of the stuff on his page until I highlighted the text with my mouse, due to the disgusting background image he has on there.
Ya may notice that his last login was on the same day they ended up kidnapping the lil girl. He also has his “mood” set as “horny” as of that visit....Sick bastard.
Luke, ya remember me telling about joining myspace so I could message all of his “friends” about how he was a sick baby killer? I rec’d several answers to that... most of them had not heard about the situation or that he was involved, so I sent them a link to the article about how he and Spears confessed. I got resposes then from them, most expressing extreme disgust and that they were wiping him from their friends listings. Maybe they will give a little more thought next time to the sort of people they accept as friends.
I suspect that he's waiting for lab results from Quantico. DNA & all that.
Yes, probably "extremely ugly" is indeed an understatement. It contains ugly, blaring "music" making very liberal use of the f-word, explicit pornography, a number of death-oriented and demonic-looking images...
I got resposes then from them, most expressing extreme disgust and that they were wiping him from their friends listings. Maybe they will give a little more thought next time to the sort of people they accept as friends.
Maybe. The unfortunate thing is, our culture has degenerated to the point where, until Collings committed his crime, his myspace page would've been seen, in many circles, as "normal."
One day a couple of years ago, I went over to the apartment of a couple of college girls, people I had never met, as a job thing to do some work over there. Both of the young women were home.
The entire time that I, a strange guy working in their apartment, was there, these two sat on the living room couch in front of me and watched what could only be described as an unashamedly pornographic TV channel.
The people who were his myspace "friends" had him listed as a "friend" because they were not uncomfortable with Collings or his myspace page.
I don't do myspace, but if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't have "friends" like this guy.
Sad.
WHO IS NATHAN?
You gave no name as to who you were posting that to, but since it is a reply to my post, I assume you are asking me.
Gotta admit, ya got me stumped. Who IS Nathan? And why are you asking me?
I hope these SOB's have it really horrible in jail. I hope everyday is a living hell for the rest of their miserable lives.
Too bad they will probably keep them segregated from the general population. We all know how long they would last if they were mixed with the other inmates.
Oh this is so sad...
Aside from these men being completely demonic monsters, it’s utterly bizarre all around how they came to be ‘caught.’
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