Cassville Man Charged In Girlfriend's Murder:

Jimmy Joe Nelson has been charged with murder

A man from Cassville has been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action for the death of his girlfriend last week.

Prosecutor Johnnie Cox says Jimmy Joe Nelson, 40, slit 43 year-old Vicki Leigh Clark's neck and she bled to death during a fight last week (08-17-11) at the couples apartment in Cassville.

Barry County Prosecutor Johnnie Cox

According to the probable cause statement, Nelson called Clark's boss and told them Clark killed herself about 2 a.m. - Clark's boss then notified authorities about 11:00 a.m.  Investigators say Clark had defensive wounds on her hands and arm. A folding knife was found  lying on Clark's neck when she was found.

Neighbors say the couple fought on a regular basis and Nelson would lock Clark out of the apartment....sometimes when it was freezing outside.

Nelson was arrested last night at a residence in Barry County without incident and is being held in the Barry County Jail on a $250,000 bond.

Judge Declares Mistrial In Collings Case - When Will There Be Justice For Rowan Ford?:

Christopher l. "Chris" Collings (mug shot BCSO)

A mistrial was declared today for one of the men accused of raping and murdering 9 year-old Rowan Ford in November of 2007.

Barry County Prosecutor Johnnie Cox says Christopher Leroy Collings, 36, kidnapped the girl from her bedroom in Newton County and took her to his trailer in Barry County where he and Rowan's stepfather, David Spears, raped and killed the child.

Rowan Ford was just 9 years-old when she was murdered

The Phelps County Circuit Clerk's Office called 200 potential jurors for the case, by Saturday only about 66 jurors were left and defense attorney's filed a motion for a mistrial. 

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Judge Mary Sheffield granted the mistrial because attorneys had used multiple strikes in picking the jury and there were not enough potential jurors left to meet legal requirmements.  Some of the potential jurors said they had already formed opinions and/or knew too much about the case.  Others said they would not be able to keep an open mind about the decision between life and death for Collings.

Collings case was moved to Phelps County on a change of venue - now the case will be moved again, according to online court records.

Collings trial was scheduled to begin on April 7th, however defense attorney's filed last minute motions that delayed the start of jury selection to this week.



David Spears (mug shot BCSO)



Judge Sheffield will probably make a decision on whether to import a jury from another county or reassign the case to another county distrist on May 3rd.

Both Collings and Spears are facing the death penalty for the little girls murder.

Spears case is scheduled to begin in August in Pulaski County.

Barry County Jury Hung In Huggins Murder Trial, Judge Declares Mistrial For Second Time:

Michael Roy Huggins (mug shot Monett PD)

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A mistrial has been declared for the second time in the murder trial of a man from Monett.

Barry County Prosecutor Johnnie Cox charged Michael Roy Huggins, 26, with second-degree murder for allegedly killing Joshua Woods Utter, 21, of Pierce City during a fight late September 24th or in the early morning hours of Sept. 25, 2007.



Barry County Prosecutor Johnnie Cox


Utter's badly beaten body was found by a Missouri Department of Conservation employee at the Stubblefield Access on Flat Creek near Jenkins on September 25th.

Dr. Keith Norton, who works for Southwest Missouri Forensics and performed the autopsy on Utter, testified that he couldn't determine if Utter bled to death or was the victim of some sort of blunt force trauma.
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Dr. Norton told the jury that animals had gnawed on Utters nose, throat and lips and that he found seven puncture-type wounds on the victim's face that he believed were the result of animal activity to the body and would have caused massive bleeding.

McDonald County Sheriff Rob Evenson, a former detective with the Barry County Sheriff's Department,  testified that several agencies participated in Utter's death investigation and it was handled in a major-case squad-manner with Lt. Greg Brandsma, of the Monett Police Department, serving as case manager.
 

McDonald County Sheriff Rob Evenson (former Barry Co. detective)

  
Evenson said that officers investigating the death did not know the victims identity until after the autopsy had been performed on Sept. 26. By that time, Evenson said Huggins told investigators that the victim was Utter when he was questioned BEFORE the autopsy in Springfield.

Investigators also talked to a homeless man who had been living under Monett's Centennial Overpass, Melvin Sutton. Sutton told investigators he had witnessed a fight underneath the bridge on September 24th where one man had kicked at another man, but the man fell and hit the rail instead.

A friend of both Utter and Huggins, Jason Schroeder, testified that he and several other people went to the Stubblefield Access to party the night of Sept. 24, 2007. He told jurors that they had been drinking, using meth and smoking pot before a fight broke out between Huggins and Utter.
 
Schroeder said both Utter and Huggins were standing up when the fight broke out, but Utter had fallen and Huggins began stomping him.

Gary "Hootie" Lynn Dillard (mug shot BCSO)

 
Another friend of the men, Gary "Hootie" Dillard, who is charged with hindering prosecution in this case,  tried to break up the fight by grabbing Huggins off of Utter and throwing Huggins about three to five feet away.  Dillard then allegedly told Schroeder it was time to leave. 
 
Schroeder testified that when he saw Huggins the next day he told him to keep his mouth shut about what happened or he would kill him.  Schroeder says he told police what happened after Huggins was behind bars.
 
Defense attorney Brian Smith hammered Schroeder on cross examination, detailing for jurors how many times Schroeder had previously lied to law enforcement officials about the night Utter died. Schroeder told jurors his fear of Huggins led him to lie to police to protect himself and his then pregnant girlfriend.
 
On the first day of testimony, Smith asked Detective Brian Martin, of the Barry County Sheriff's Department, why he called the state crime lab in Springfield and ordered them to "cease all testing" on 41 items of evidence collected during the investigation.
 
In day three of testimony, Smith asked Gary Allen, evidence and property officer with Barry County Sheriff's Department, who made the decision as to which of the 41 items of evidence collected in the investigation would be taken to the crime lab for testing. He [Allen] testified he had enough experience to know what items needed to be sent to the crime lab.  He also said he was the responsible for securing and transporting evidence to Springfield.
 
This is the second mistrial in Huggins' case.  In February, Judge J. Edward Sweeney declared a mistrial because only one alternate juror would have been available to hear the case due to inclement weather.
 
Barry County Prosecutor Johnnie Cox says he's not sure at this point if he will retry the case against Huggins, "There are some things we have to look at and additional evidence we need to follow up on.  There are too many variables in play right now and we'll make a decision after we've had a chance to review everything.
 
Huggins was remanded back to the Barry County jail where he is being held on $250,000 bond.
 
Dillard is scheduled to appear in court on the hindering prosecution charge on March 22nd.

Barry County Teen Will Stand Trial For Alleged Drunk Driving Crash That Killed Friend:

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Sierra Nicole Wood (mug shot BCSO)

A judge has ruled that a teenager from Barry County will stand trial for an alleged drunk driving crash last May that claimed the life of her friend.
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Prosecutors say Sierra Nicole Wood, 17, of Purdy, was drunk when she lost control of her car on Missouri 76, ran off the road and flipped the vehicle ejecting 17 year-old Jessica Nicole Pettengill.
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Jessica Nicole Pettengill (family photo)

Pettengill and another passenger in the vehicle, Ronald R. Torrey, 18, were not wearing seat belts according to the Highway Patrol crash report.

Wood was tested at the scene for DWI and taken into custody.  She was released after posting bond.
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Wood is scheduled to be formally arraigned in circuit court on November 15th in Barry County.

Hearing Underway For One Of Rowan Ford's Alleged Killer's

David Spears mug shot

A motions hearing is underway today in Pulaski County for a man accused of raping and murdering 9 year-old Rowan Ford back in 2007.

A motion has been filed to obtain tapes of KY3's coverage of the past few months coverage of Ford's stepfather, David Spears' hearings. A special master appointed by the court has also filed a supplemental report regarding confidential taped phone calls between Spears, Christopher Collings and their attorney's made from within the Barry County jail. Also, a judge will rule at a later date if Spears' alleged taped confession will be allowed to be admitted as evidence at his trial.

Christopher Collings mug shot

Spears and his friend Collings are accused of raping the little girl at Collings trailer in Wheaton. In the probable cause statements filed against Spears and Collings, each of them claimed responsibility for Rowan Fords murder. One of them said that the little girl was killed inside of Collings trailer (b.) the other said that Ford was tied to a fence that held goats outside the trailer and killed there.




Several days after the little girl went missing her body was found in a sinkhole in rural McDonald County on a hunch by a sheriffs deputy on his way to work.

Collings and Spears are due back in court next month for motions hearings pertaining to the special masters report, a telephone survey conducted by Collings defense team and depositions and the taped confession.

Collings trial is scheduled to begin in January of 2011---Spears' in August of 2011.

Lawyers For Men Accused Of Killing Rowan Ford Allege Violation Of Attorney/Client Privilege:

Rowan Ford

The death penalty trial for the stepfather of Rowan Ford and his friend Christopher Collings who were charged with the little girls rape and murder could be postponed as a judge decides how to proceed with a potential violation of attorney/client privilege.

David W. Spears (Rowan's stepfather)

Lawyers for David Spears and Christopher Collings say that their confidential conversations with their clients inside the Barry County jail were recorded. They also allege that conversations between the men and family members were recorded too.

Public defenders say they believe their clients right to a fair trial may have been violated. Below is part of the motion that was heard today (03-04-10) in Phelps County.

2. MOTION FOR SANCTIONS HEARD. COURT TAKES POSSESSION OF CD'S . MR COX SEALS SAME. COURT ORDERS NO OTHER RECORDINGS OR COPIES TO BE MADE AND THE STATE AND BARRY COUNTY SHERIFF TO NOT RECORD ANY TELEPHONE CALLS BETWEEN MR. COLLINGS AND COUNSEL. COUNSEL WILL PROVIDE BARRY COUNTY WITH ANY PHONE NUMBERS USED IN COMMUNICATION WITH MR. COLLINGS. HARD DRIVES TO NOT BE DESTROYED AND ENCARTEL TO BE INFORMED BY TEHE STATE TO RETAIN ANY RECORDINGS IN THEIR POSSESSION AND NOT LISTEN TO SAME. STATE ORDERED TO CONTACT COUNSEL FOR DAVID SPEARS TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL MASTER. COURT TAKES ISSUE OF SPECIAL MASTER UNDER ADVISEMENT.

Public defenders say they believe their clients right to a fair trial may have been violated. Below is part of the motion that was heard today in Phelps County.

An area sheriff says the problem could be something as simple as the Barry County Sheriff's Office "not plugging in the proper phone number to the attorney's to block those calls from being recorded."

The court has confiscated the CD recordings and placed them under seal in a locked safe in the Phelps County Circuit Clerks office and has appointed a "special master," a retired judge, to listen to the recordings, separate them and route them to lawyers who represent each man.

KSPR reports that court documents reveal that it was attorney's for Spears who told Collings attorney's that there were confidential recordings between their clients and those who represent each man. An email sent from Barry County prosecutor Johnnie Cox says that while he was listening to the conversations he recognized the phone number for Spears' attorney and says he did not listen to those converstations.


Christopher L. Collings

In November of 2007 the 9 year-old little girs was kidnapped from her bed in Stella. Her stepfather said that when he left his home that night the little girl was asleep in her bed. Spears' mother, who was "babysitting" the little girl, told authorities she didn't check on Rowan at all during her the seven hours she was at the house.

Several days after Rowan went missing her body was found in a sinkhole in rural McDonald County on a hunch by a sheriffs deputy on his way to work.



In the probable cause statements filed against Spears and Collings, each of them claimed responsibility for Rowan Fords murder. One of them said that the little girl was killed in Barry County inside of Collings trailer (a.) the other said that Ford was tied to a fence that held goats outside the trailer and killed there.

Spears trial is scheduled to begin on July 12th in Pulaski County where it was moved on a change of venue.

Collings, has been ordered to undergo a mental evaluation to determine if he is fit to stand trial, which is scheduled for January of 2011.