Murder Charge Dropped

McDONALD COUNTY — David Wesley Spears won’t have to sit through a long, drawn-out trial before a jury of his peers.

Spears won’t have to sit at the defendant’s table and listen to strong, damning and convincing testimony from lawmen, psychologists and a slew of other prosecution witnesses.

He won’t have to sit and listen for weeks to the details of that night in November 2007 when his stepdaughter, Rowan Ford, was brutally raped and choked to death at the hands of his drinking buddy and friend, Christopher Leroy Collings, 37, then dumped in a small, dark cave in McDonald County near Powell.

Collings was convicted by a jury in March this year and sentenced to death for that heinous crime.

No, instead of all that, Spears, 29, will have to spend 11 years in prison for not fulfilling his obligation to his stepdaughter by protecting her from serious harm and for trying to cover up his actions that night, even asking a friend to lie to police about where he was.

After consultation with attorneys from the Attorney General’s O◊ce and reports on new evidence from an independent laboratory, charges of first degree murder, forcible rape and statutory rape were dropped against Spears. Under a plea deal with Barry County Prosecuting Attorney Johnnie Cox, Spears was sentenced to seven years in prison for endangering the welfare of a child and four more for hindering prosecution, the maximum allowable for each felony o◊ense.

Spears entered a plea of guilty to the two new charges Sept. 26 in Pulaski County Circuit Court before Judge Tracie L. Storie.

It was not an easy decision for Cox, referring to the fact that Spears had confessed to being an accomplice to Collings in the rape and murder shortly after he was arrested.

“This case has almost consumed the resources of my o◊ce for the last four years and 10 months,” Cox noted in a news release. “Over the course of time that his case has been pending, evidence other than his statement has been pursued tobe used to prove David Spears was involved in the rape and murder of Rowan Ford. During that time, no additional evidence implicating Mr. Spears has been developed.”

He said that tests and analyses of physical evidence gathered in the case did not implicate Spears and the results have been inconsistent with his original statement. Evidence he referred to included a rape kit that was collected from an autopsy of the girl, then studied by the FBI lab, the state police lab and, just recently, by an independent lab, and other items. However, the results from the independent lab testing were consistent with statements by Christopher Collings of the incident.

In addition, Cox noted, there were inconsistencies in Spears’ statement that he actually strangled the girl.

“The lack of physical evidence that would be able to be used in court has created serious concerns and uncertainty about the statement David Spears gave to law enforcement,” Cox said.

Another roadblock to the original case against Spears was the denial by Collings of anyone else being involved from his fi rst recorded statement to his final recorded statement, Cox said.

“During every statement made to law enforcement Christopher Collings admitted that he had strangled Rowan Ford,” Cox said. Then, at Collings’ trial, the state used his statement against him, a key piece of evidence, according to Cox.

Cox had concerns of having to argue that Collings’ statement was an accurate account, having to present Spears’ statement and argue its validity as well and, in effect, having to argue that both versions are true even if they cannotbe true, he noted.

Another concern was the possibility that pursuing an inconsistent theory would likely produce an avenue for Spears’ case to be overturned if he was found guilty of the more serious crimes and, possibly, create a potential for Collings’ case to also be overturned. Neither avenue was acceptable to the state, Cox noted. He also said he knows what an outraged public is thinking - that Spears’ was involved and wants to see him receive punishment for that alleged involvement.

“This type of crime should outrage everyone,” Cox said. “I was outraged when I first heard about it. However, as a prosecutor, I am a minister of justice and must do what the law requires, what the factsrequire and what fairness and justice require.” Right Move

McDonald County Sheri◊Robert M. Evenson was a detective on the Barry County Sheriff’s Department when Rowan Ford was kidnapped, raped and murdered Nov. 3, 2007.

Evenson said he feels Cox made the right decision.

“There was no physical evidence that would have supported convicting David Spears,” Evenson said. “So, as hard as it was for the prosecuting attorney, he did what he had to do.”

Evenson was the detective who received Collings’ first statement and his first confession in which he said he acted alone in the crime.

“He swore he acted alone,” Evenson said. “The evidence indicated Collings was the perpetrator. Spears’ confession was similar, but there were several inconsistencies with the evidence suggesting Collings committed it.”

That may all be so, but it leaves a highly curious public.

“This is important,” Evenson stressed. “Why wouldsomeone confess to such a horrible crime? That’s the question the public has and there’s no good explanation for that.”

“I agree with the prosecutor’s decision,” he said. “I really questioned whether he was ever guilty. I knew the case was going to be horrible. He could have gotten acquitted.”