CHRISTOPHER LEROY COLLINGS | Missouri Death Row | Convicted Of First-Degree Murder In The Sexual Assault And Strangulation Of 9-Year-Old Rowan Ford | She had been taken from her home in the middle of the night | After a week of searches, her body was disc

Christopher Collings. Autographed Letter, Signed. Handwritten, Commercial #10 (4.125 × 9.5 envelope). Saint Louis, MO. Pmk: September 21, 2023. Content unknown. SEALED.

Nine-year-old Rowan Ford was reported missing from her Stella, Missouri, home on Nov. 3, 2007. Her body was found in a cave on Nov. 9. The cause of death was ligature strangulation; she’d been sexually assaulted with injuries to her vaginal area causing significant bleeding and pain.

Christopher said on the evening of Nov. 2, he drank five six-packs of Smirnoff Ice and smoked marijuana; David Spears (Rowan’s step-father) and Nathan Mahurin were also drinking. The three drank and shot pool at Spears’ house, then left Rowan alone in the house and went to Christopher’s trailer in Wheaton to smoke a “hog leg” of marijuana. They made at least three trips for alcohol that evening.

Around 11:30 p.m., Mahurin and Spears left Christopher’s trailer; Mahurin drove the back roads to Spears’ house because he was intoxicated. Mahurin dropped Spears off and returned to his house around midnight. Christopher told police he knew if he hurried, he could beat Spears home. He was “really, really fucked up.” He said he drove the direct route to Spears’ house. He walked through the house, looking in rooms and used the bathroom. He went into Rowan’s room, picked her up and carried her to his truck.

Christopher (“Uncle Chris”) said he probably started to think about having sex with her on the way home. At his camper, he carried her, still sleeping, inside and put her on the bed. He took her pants and underwear off, “used his finger on her a little” and then had sex with her for 4-5 minutes, possibly ejaculating. Rowan awoke when he penetrated her, and she struggled.

Christopher stated he intended to return Rowan home, and he led her outside facing away from him so she couldn’t see his face. He made sure to keep the lights off and didn’t speak so she wouldn’t recognize his voice. However, Christopher said on the way to his truck, there was moonlight; she looked back and saw him. He knew she had recognized him and he “freaked out.” Seeing a coil of cord in the bed of a pickup next to him, he took the cord, looped it around her neck and started pulling real hard. She struggled a little and fell to the ground; he went to the ground with her and held tight until she stopped moving.

Christopher said when he realized what he’d done, he knew he was in a lot of trouble and had to do something. He put her body in his pickup bed, without covering her, and took off; he drove around trying to think of where to put her, and he wound up putting her in a cave/ sinkhole on Fox Hollow hill.

Christopher said he returned home and burned his clothes, her pants and underwear, the rope and his mattress in a wood stove and a burn barrel.

When Colleen returned home from her overnight shift at 9:00 a.m., she couldn’t find Rowan; after searching the house, she woke Spears and asked him where Rowan was. Spears told Colleen Rowan was staying with a friend, but he couldn’t identify the friend. Colleen walked the neighborhood searching for Rowan to no avail; Colleen wanted Spears to call the police, but he insisted she was at a friend’s house and he wouldn’t let her have the phone. When Rowan didn’t return that afternoon, Colleen contacted the Sheriff to report her missing.

Officers were surprised by Christopher’s confession because they assumed Spears’ had killed Rowan and Christopher merely knew what happened. After Christopher’s first three statements, Newton County deputies questioned Spears again, at which time Spears implicated himself. Upon learning this, Christopher was questioned again in a second recorded interview. The deputies and Chief Clark told Christopher that Spears stated he called his mother, had her bring a vehicle to his home, and then he joined Christopher back at his trailer. Spears stated he also had sex with Rowan, was there when Christopher killed her, and helped Collings dispose of her body. Christopher denied Spears involvement. The jury found him guilty of first-degree murder.

Christopher Collings was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.

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