Posted on 11/07/2007 11:31:44 AM PST by Luke Skyfreeper
Thanks for the update.
I don’t know about Spears being outside when his mother arrived with the vehicle, but my impression was that Collings had taken her to his trailer in his vehicle, and that Spears arrived there later to find Collings raping the child, and joined in the attack.
That would be about right, if they arrived back at the Spears house around midnight. By the time she was loaded into the vehicle, etc., and Collings’(and perhaps someone else) left with her, Spears then made the call to his mother, and went to Collings’ trailer in her vehicle - staying gone the 5 1/2 hours in which they raped, murdered, and disposed of her body.
Spears was alone when his mother arrived, and could’ve given her any excuse for why he wanted the vehicle.
If you are starting a ping list, I’d like to be on it for updates about this case.
Please add me to your ping list.
Chief among these is whether a third person was actively involved in the crime, and whether Myrna Spears may have aided and abetted the crime in some way.
Personally, though I have absolutely no direct personal knowledge of the Spears family, I doubt that the mother would have knowingly contributed to the situation.
Nor is it up to me to judge her as a parent. Unfortunately, regardless of what I or anyone else may think, for the rest of their lives, David Spears' two parents will have the heavy burden of knowing that they raised a child-rapist and murderer -- and one who did this to the very child whom he had a specific duty to guard and protect. They don't come any lower than that.
As to whether a third person was actively involved in the crime, we still don't know at this point. My own gut feeling is that the other drinking buddy, whoever he is, is probably going to be cleared. I have three reasons for thinking this.
The first is that it is now Sunday night, and no other arrests have been announced. Since both Spears and Collings have been talking to the police about what happened, I would expect that they would have wanted to spread responsibility as much as possible to another individual, if someone else were indeed involved. And in that case, I would think we would have probably had another arrest by now.
Secondly, if another person had been involved in the rape, that person must know that the DNA evidence now in possession of the authorities is going to cook his goose. In that case, it is probably in his best interest to go ahead and turn himself in, rather than wait to be arrested.
This, incidentally, is what I attribute Chris Collings' reportedly turning himself in to the police on Friday. I don't attribute it to altruism or "decency," I think he simply realized his best chance of avoiding the death penalty, now that Rowan was found, was to go and hand himself in.
But, I might have my information wrong. It may be more that the police were already questioning Collings, and he broke down under questioning. But I think the fact that he knew he was already done, whatever he said, must have been a factor.
In any event, the fact that Collings and Spears are both in custody and cooperating with the police makes things even worse for any third person. By now, I would think such a third person would have probably decided either to hand himself in, or to take a very dangerous gamble, with low odds of success, and run for it. But we haven't heard either that a third person has handed himself in, or that the police are urgently seeking a third suspect. So, until we hear otherwise, I tend to believe at this point that Spears and Collings were the only two people involved.
My third reason has to do with the exact way in which things have unfolded this week. I won't go into my thinking on this at this point, but I tend to believe that if a third person had been involved, things most likely would have unfolded differently.
Either David Spears took part from the very beginning in a plot to abduct the girl, take her to Colling's camper, and rape her, or he found that Collings had left with her. The circumstances (and what we know of the story) seem to indicate that there was no big plot from the beginning, that he simply happened upon the crime in progress, and then joined in on the rape.
This scenario I find very strange, even for someone on booze or drugs. Of course, I don't know a great deal about either booze or drugs personally... but in such a situation, you have you, and you have the person committing a crime. And that person is committing a crime against your stepdaughter.
It seems to me that most people, at that point, would not just join in. Normally, for people to do really bad things, you need more of a "group" mentality, and "everybody's doing it," go-along kind of thing.
This is the one thing that would make me think a third person was involved. If a weak-minded David Spears arrived at a crime that two of his buddies were in process of committing, he might more easily be persuaded to participate.
Of course, Collings is reportedly about 6 feet 8 inches tall, and who knows what the personal dynamics were between the two. He may have been persuasive, and persuaded Spears to take part, or it may be that Rowan had been a temptation to Spears for a long time and this just gave him the excuse he needed. I guess it's all speculation at this point. I would think we'll probably know something more this week, one way or the other.
I’m interested. Please go on....
oops didn’t see your last post. Interesting theory.
Those are all very excellent points, and I find myself in agreement with you about a third person. I think it pretty much went down as alledged at this point. If these guys are confessing, what reason would they have to shield anyone else who might be involved in the rape? I think the third male probably was with them earlier that evening, but split before the bad stuff went down.
One thought occured to me... did the third guy that was with them earlier know it was going to happen or hear the other two say anything prior to it happening? If he had some such knowledge, and talked to the police, that might have provided the cops with leverage to get the two to confess. Anyway.. this is all speculation and the answers will be revealed eventually.
The loose end I am most interested in at this point, is Spears’ mother.. and what she actually knew. That is the ONE possible accessory that I could see them maybe lying to protect... but even then it is unlikely Collings would do so.
That’s what I find oddest. He walks in on his friend raping his daughter and he joins in instead of hitting said friend over the head with the closest heavy object.
“That’s what I find oddest. He walks in on his friend raping his daughter and he joins in instead of hitting said friend over the head with the closest heavy object.”
One little nudge from him.
Actually, the more I think about it, there’s a flaw in my thinking that gave me a third reason to think there probably wasn’t a third person. So I won’t go into that theory at this point, because it’s probably flawed.
Absolutely.
Some mention has been made of a Billy Jack Mahurin. I do not know if this was the third guy with them that night... and if he was brought in for questioning, even if uninvolved, then that might explain the rumors about him in Neosho. Or it may be that he was simply someone they were looking at early on since, as I understand it, he has a bit of a shady past, and happens to live near there. It may simply be a coincidence that is unfortunate for him. Something like this happens, and everyone with a record near there is naturally going to be looked at. So, as far as he is concerned, there is no evidence of his involvement that I am aware of, yet.
Yes, I've heard nothing so far to implicate this person.
That's what I would have done, and hard enough to kill him.
I think most men would. Even if his friend is 6’8” Spears is 370lbs. He definately had a weight advantage and a normal person would have had an advantage due to rage.
“That’s what I would have done, and hard enough to kill him.”
Not sure I would killed him that quickly. I think I woulda had to make sure he went slow. I would certainly like to do so now. I would be tickled if they let me in his cell with a pair of pliers, a pocketnife, and some rocksalt.
That cretin is breathing air that human beings could be breathing.
I should not say that.. but thats how I feel about these creeps.
I take comfort in this...
Luke 17:2
It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
The shall meet justice eventually, one way or another. Hell was created for people like this.
Believe me, I understand the sentiment.
FWIW, I’ll be extremely surprised if either of these cretins ever sees the light of day again. And I’m sure Spears isn’t going to have an easy time in prison. It may go easier for big Collings, but then, you never know. At the very least, he’ll be subjected to death by warehousing.
And at least this wasn’t one of way too many such crimes that go unsolved.
According to Epperly, around 3 to 4 p.m. Friday, Collings was "pretty much brought in on his own will by Wheaton Police Chief Clint Clark."
This led to the interview which provided what Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland termed "the big break" in the case.
Early reports were to the effect that Collings had turned himself in. It looks more like this happened more in the context of a friendly conversation with the local police chief.
Wheaton is so small, everybody has to personally know everybody else.
I can imagine the conversation might well have gone something like this:
Police chief: "Now Chris, you understand that if you had any involvement with this, it's going to come out. Whatever involvement you may have had, even if there was no sexual assault involved, there are probably going to be traces of DNA evidence that will be found. So if you were involved in any way, it would be better for you, probably a whole lot easier for you in the long run, to come and talk voluntarily and tell everything you know. If you were involved and don't hand yourself in and talk to the police, that's going to make things a lot more difficult for you."
Collings: "Well, maybe I'd better go back to the station with you, then."
Your characterization of the town is pretty accurate. In fact, ya go just a few miles south into Mac County, and practically everyone knows everyone in the COUNTY. It is less so than in past years... with all the new folks moving in.. but it is still pretty much that way. A big part of the reason is we have 1 high school for the entire county.
Makes for a tightknit community. Sometimes that can be a good thing, sometimes not so good. On one hand, when folks need help the community really pitches in.. on the other hand, ya cannot fart without everyone knowing it.
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