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.
I’ll be back in Neosho next week. I volunteer my services to administer justice.
I will not blink.
This type of thing must have been happening in the past. I sometimes wonder if it is because we have the cable news networks that we hear about every one of them now, where we didn’t used to.
In these cases, insane is just an excuse. Evil, corrupt, twisted, yes. But not insane.
Think about it: The Left has devalued life, broken down sexual “taboos” and permanently damaged the “family.”
Sexual predators and rapists are defended. Schools pass out birth control to eleven-year olds in Maine. Sodomy? Pshaw!
Liberals have allowed this and some of them want it to happen. Who’s to say when “old enough is old enough.” Hey, if it feels good, do it.
These animals should be destroyed.
I volunteer. Save the taxpayers a couple of bucks.
I would not be surprised if her classroom teachers were suspecious of her being abused. You look under the eyes and into them you can see the face of a child in torment.
I would be satisfied if they were executed in six months to a year from being arrested. This twenty year plus road to “injustice” is inexcusable. As for the pikes, I agree with your sentiment, but I don’t want to expose kids to it.
I will look into that Luke. I know there is a fund set up for donations. I will get the details for donations or flowers and such and post them.
Sad but true.
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 may be mailed to ...
Hometown Bank
1285 S Neosho Blvd
PO Box 510
Neosho, Mo 64850
(Please mark such donations as being for the Rowan Ford fund)
Flowers, Cards, etc, may be sent to...
Clark Funeral Homes
312 S Wood Street.
Neosho, Mo.
417-451-2345
Rowan Ford donations and flowers ping
See above post.
There is absolutely nothing I can add to the discussion that has not already been said a hundred times over. This disgusting pair should meet the nearest tree at the end of a rope. I cannot comment on the perp’s mother, but it seems as though she is complicit in the matter at some level. Does MO have a death penalty, and if so does it get used like TX and FL? There is no better example of its need and expeditious use than these two, and possibly three. I have’t heard of the whereabouts of the gir’ls real father, and what he may be doing, but as for me I would be planning a way to get these two to meet their final judge a lot sooner than they expect. Yes, I know, vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord, but there are some things so heinous that I could not help myself..............
Your feelings are shared by many, including myself.
Yes, we have a death penalty. A friend of mine (practically family, he spends most christmas’ and thanksgivings at our house), who used to be the states chief criminal prosecutor working for John Ashcroft when Ashcroft was our state AG, has sent more than 13 men to death row.. a number of whom have been executed. He now works as a special prosecutor, travelling around the state handling cases such as this. He is a brilliant prosecutor, and I am hoping that he gets handed this case. I have little doubt that if he is given this case, the men will get a date with a lethal needle. Defense attorneys hate him, and the Kansas City Star refers to him as “Doctor Death”.
Missouri is not quite as prompt as Texas and Florida when it comes to carrying out the executions, but it does not generally take 10 to 20 years either. I think the average is maybe 3 or 4 yrs... and sometimes faster than that.
Since there is a “confession” this precludes the need for a trial. Hence a “sentencing hearing” is all that is necessary.........or is MO law different?...........
Hard to say precisely how it will go down. A confession of the crime does not preclude a trial, but you are right... if they plead guilty then no trial will be needed, only a sentencing hearing. OR, the defense may end up trying to suppress the confessions, and there is no telling where it will go from there. Of course, all death penalty cases, if thats what they are given, are automatically subject to appeal.
This case could be open and shut enough that they do not feel a need to appoint him.
Please add me to the ping list.
Missouri has executed 66 men since 1989. And we currently have 45 men awaiting execution.
We always hear about how many blacks are executed while whites are not.. but of the 45 men currently awaiting execution, 25 of them are white.
I tend to agree that part of it is that with 24 hour news coverage, we tend to hear about such things more... but I also believe that such things are somewhat on the rise (at least abuse leading to murder).
When I was a kid, there was a very strange family that lived next door. The daddy was a child molestor, who attempted to play lil games with me and my older brother... fortunately that did not get very far. I count myself and my brother as extremely fortunate. But the whole family was that way... daddy screwing the daughters, sons screwing the mom and sisters.. it was all really sick. I even witnessed, firsthand, the older brother doing the oldest sister, when I was 6 yrs old.
Anyway, while my brother and I were fortunate to escape from anything beyond being exposed to such perversity, I have always wondered about some of the other kids in the neighborhood.
The situation was resolved one night when the dad alledgedly got drunk, and parked on some railroad tracks and went to sleep. Since that time, however, I have often wondered if he really commited suicide, or if some of the local daddies found out the truth and sorta helped him along. I think the police probably suspected such as well, but they ruled it a suicide knowing that he deserved what he got, and they had no real desire to find out that it was anything but suicide. Back in those days, REAL justice got served more than it seems to now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.