Lawyer for Rowan Ford's stepfather files motion to have death penalty taken off the table

A pre-trial conference for Chris Collings, Wheaton, who is charged with the murder and rape of nine-year-old Rowan Ford of Stella, originally scheduled for today in Phelps County Circuit Court, has been postponed until Feb. 23, 2010, according to court records. Collings' trial, being held in Phelps County on a change of venue from Barry County, is scheduled for March 2010. The state is seeking the death penalty.

Collings, you may remember, is or was a friend of Rowan Ford's stepfather, David Wesley Spears, Stella, the other man accused of her rape and murder. Collings was the one with the MySpace site that proclaimed his mood as "horny" on Nov. 2, 2007, the day that Rowan Ford was murdered.

Spears' case has been moved to Pulaski County. A 9 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, hearing is set for a motion to remove the death penalty from the table.

Collings and Spears are being represented by public defenders who are experienced in dealing with capital murder cases.

Previous Turner Report posts on the Rowan Ford murder can be found at this link.