Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that his office has requested the Missouri Supreme Court to set an execution date for Christopher Collings. In November 2007, Christopher Collings abducted, raped, and murdered nine-year-old Rowan Ford of Stella, Missouri, in Newton County. Afterward, Collings disposed of the victim’s body in a sinkhole near Powell, Missouri, in McDonald County. Additionally, Collings destroyed evidence by burning the rope he used to strangle the victim, the blood-stained clothing he wore during the attack, and his blood-stained mattress. Collings eventually confessed to the police.
Collings was convicted in Phelps County by a jury selected from Platte County. During the punishment phase of the trial, the jury determined that Collings had tortured the victim in a manner that was vile, horrible, and inhumane. The jury also found that Collings murdered the victim to prevent her from testifying against him regarding the rape.
Collings’s conviction and sentence have been reviewed by the Missouri Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. No court has identified any legal errors.
After the Attorney General files a motion to set an execution date, Collings’s lawyers will have an opportunity to respond. If the Missouri Supreme Court decides to issue an execution warrant, the execution date will be set between 90 and 120 days from the Missouri Supreme Court’s order.
