Seventeen years after raping and murdering a nine-year-old girl, Christopher Collings is scheduled to be put to death. The Missouri Supreme Court has set the execution date of December 3 for Collings.
In 2007, the southwest Missouri man took Rowan Ford from her home in Stella, in southwest Missouri’s Newton County. Prosecutors said that Collings raped Ford, and then along with Ford’s stepfather, David Spears, killed her and hid her body in Fox Cave. One week after Rowan went missing, her body was found in McDonald County on a hunch by a sheriff’s deputy on his way to work.
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office said Collings burned the rope he used to strangle the girl, the blood-stained clothing he wore during the attack, and his blood-stained mattress. He eventually confessed to the police.
After about four hours of deliberation, a Platte County jury reached a guilty verdict in 2012.
Spears pleaded guilty to child endangerment for his involvement. A judge sentenced him to 11 years in prison.
The Missouri Department of Corrections is scheduled to give Collings a chemical injection as early as 6 p.m. on December 3 at the state prison in Bonne Terre.
Copyright © 2024 · Missourinet