Video- Lawyers for child killer/rapist Chris Collings fight for his life

State: This is why Rowan Ford's killer must die

The Missouri Supreme Court will listen to oral arguments Wednesday during the first step in Chris Collings' efforts to avoid the death penalty for the Nov. 2, 2007, rape and murder of nine-year-old Triway Elementary School student Rowan Ford.

The government filed briefs with the court describing the case and refuting Collings' attorneys' arguments.

The Collings brief, which was filed earlier, indicated that he had been used by Wheaton police officer Clinton Clark, who was supposedly acting as his friend while leading him into confessing his role in the murder. The government's brief says that was not the case. Clark not only had been a longtime friend of Collings, but until Collings confessed, thought that Rowan Ford's stepfather, David Spears, was the killer.

2013 in Review- Death row appeal: Chris Collings is sorry for killing Rowan Ford, so don't kill him

(From November 26, 2013)

(Warning: The following post contains graphic material.)

The first step in the efforts by Chris Collings to avoid the death penalty for the rape and murder of nine-year-old Triway Elementary student Rowan Ford are scheduled for a January 8 hearing before the Missouri Supreme Court.

In documents filed with the Supreme Court, Collings' attorneys claim that he should either be given a new trial, be sentenced to second degree murder instead of first degree, or resentenced to life without the possibility of parole.