Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Globe fails to offer in-person coverage of Rowan Ford murder case; KY3 offers strong coverage

The Joplin Globe apparently did not have a reporter onhand today in Cassville when David Spears and Chris Collings, the men accused of the brutal rape and murder of nine-year-old Rowan Ford of Stella, had their first trial court appearance.
The Globe story just posted has the byline "From Staff Reports," indicating no member of the staff was on hand to provide first-person coverage for the story that caught the attention, not only of people in this corner of Missouri, but from across the state and throughout the U. S.

I haven't seen anything on the KOAM website about the case. KSN/KODE offered the story accompanied by file footage (even if they had been there, the judge did not allow cameras in the courtroom). I did not have the chance to see either the 6 or 10 p.m. news tonight so there may have been more in-depth stories that have not been put on the website.

KYTV has a strong story by Sara Sheffield, including an interview with Rowan Ford's mother, Colleen Spears, whose husband is one of the defendants:

In an interview outside the courtroom on Tuesday, Colleen says she's sick that detectives say the man she once trusted confessed that he killed her baby girl.

Even with good friends and support groups by her side, Colleen says the days aren't getting any easier and her nights are still sleepless.

"It makes me wonder if they were planning it for a long time and just lying to me,” she said.

The man to whom she was married for five years -- and the man whom Rowan called "Daddy" -- is still behind bars, leaving Colleen with so many unanswered questions.

"My biggest question is why. What was the motivation; why did you do that?" she said.

"They both confessed to doing everything and now they're pleading not guilty. Okay, you're lying again.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have ZERO sympathy for child-abusers and certainly not child killers.

That being said, it seems to me the Joplin media's point of view is: "They're guilty, so we'll just wait around until the trial and report on that."

Obviously, the two have some reason for pleading innocent -- even if it's because they have nothing to lose. After all, the burden of proof is on the prosecution.

There is some reason to wonder what is going on. The murder was over two months ago but we still haven't heard the results of the DNA tests. We very well may not until the trial.

I notice one of the stories on the not guilty pleas ends with this sentence:

"Authorities still aren't sure if they're going to seek the death penalty."

My guess is that the defense strategy will be to say that Collins and the stepdad had some sort of "diminished capacity" possibly related to substance abuse (meth?) that made them do something of this nature -- then try to hide it.

Also, there could be a problem with the DNA evidence. Perhaps it isn't totally conclusive for one or both.

If that's the case, they could plead not guilty on the hope of getting life sentences. Also, the prosecution could be trying to "turn" one of the two on the other -- in exchange for some sort of lesser charge. That would be especially true if DNA evidence was clear for one but non-existent or inconclusive for the other.

So I feel "The Joplin Globe" and the other SW Missouri media should be covering this case very, VERY closely. Unfortunately, they are not.

But that's par for the course.