KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Christopher Collings has two weeks to live unless the U.S. Supreme Court or the Missouri governor steps in to halt his execution.

Attorneys for the 49-year-old said as 6 p.m. on Dec. 3 approaches, their client has been scared and nervous.

They also say information about his case should give decision-makers pause.

Collings allegedly confessed to the 2007 killing of 9-year-old Rowan Ford in southwestern Missouri.

So did the girl’s stepfather, David Spears, now 42. Initially, Spears also faced the possibility of the death penalty. But he was eventually charged on lesser offenses, and convicted of endangering a child and hindering prosecution. The Missouri Department of Corrections said Spears was released from prison in March 2015. He now works for the state. He did not respond to a request for comment.

In addition to the alternative suspect, federal public defenders Jeremy Weis and Daniel Kirsch said they have questions about Collings’ confession to a police chief who allegedly misled officials about his own criminal history. The two attorneys say those factors are grounds to halt Collings’ execution. They also say had information about Spears and the police chief been presented during the 2012 trial, three jurors now say they would not have agreed to a death sentence.

Girl found in sinkhole

Ford lived with her mom and Spears in Stella, Missouri, a tiny town about 40 miles south of Joplin.

On Nov. 2, 2007, Spears, Collings and Nathan Mahurin were drinking at Spears’ house. That evening, they left the girl home alone and went to Collings’ trailer where they continued drinking, court documents said.

Later, Mahurin took Spears home and then returned to his residence.

When the girl’s mom returned from her overnight shift, she asked where Ford was. Spears said she was with a friend, court records said. She did not call police at first, but later that day she reported her daughter missing.

Court papers alleged Spears lied to authorities about his whereabouts. In a recorded conversation, Spears led an investigator to a sinkhole.

“It occurred to me, Fox Cave. If you’re going to hide a body, you’re going to drop it where outsiders wouldn’t know where to look,” a transcript showed he said.

Police went to the location on Nov. 9, 2007. There, they found Ford, who had been raped and murdered.

Spears was taken into custody and confessed. He told investigators that he loaded her body into his mom’s Suburban and dumped her in the sinkhole. He said Collings was with him.

A cadaver dog indicated that the girl’s body been in the Suburban.

During a police interview on Nov. 10, 2007, an investigator asked Spears how Ford was killed.

“I have this vague memory of (Collings) handing me a white cord and telling me it has to be done,” Spears said.

Weis said “there’s a lot to suggest” that Spears was involved in the girl’s murder.

Wheaton Police Chief Clinton Clark questioned Collings several times. Clark maintained that Collings confessed during an unrecorded conversation on Nov. 9, 2007, on a bridge outside of town. That confession became a key piece of evidence at trial.

During court proceedings, Clark said he had provided Collings with a written Miranda waiver prior to the confession.

According to an appeal filed by Collings, case records showed the form was signed at 3 p.m. — after the interrogation where he confessed. A call log indicated Clark and Collings had returned to the police station around 3 p.m. Two officers also said they observed Collings sign the form after returning from the bridge.

Officer credibility

Prosecutors are required to disclose impeaching information that could call a witness’ credibility into question under what’s known as the Brady rule.

During Collings’ criminal case, they told his trial attorney that Clark had faced an AWOL charge while in the U.S. Army.

Collings’ attorneys said complete information about Clark’s history was hidden during their client’s trial, appeal and state post-conviction proceedings.

The scope of Clark’s convictions came to light during Collings’ federal appeal when the state shared a copy of the police chief’s military records.

According to documents that are now unsealed, Clark had four AWOL convictions. He was sentenced to hard labor. He was absent or in custody for 726 of his 890 days in the military, court documents said.

Collings’ attorneys said suppressing that information prevented his trial lawyers from questioning whether Collings’ confession to Clark was reliable and whether Clark was eligible to be a police officer in the first place. Certain crimes are automatic disqualifiers.

Kirsch said Clark had a duty to report that information to the Wheaton Police Department and the Missouri Department of Public Safety, which licenses police officers.

Katy Linnenbrink, the director of public information for the state public safety department, said every license application is reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the department director, who takes into account aggravating and mitigating factors.

According to state statute, an officer may be disciplined for gross misconduct, moral turpitude or reckless disregard, including committing a criminal offense or making misrepresentations to obtain a police license.

Weis said the information about Clark was crucial, especially because it showed that he did not care about rules.

Wheaton Police Chief Clint Danforth said he was not aware of questions about the timing of the Miranda warning and that he believed Collings went to Clark to confess because he trusted the police chief.

Danforth worked with Clark for about two years before the police chief retired for health reasons in 2018. Danforth previously knew Clark from working on a drug task force and said he was “very honorable.”

“I guess everybody wants to dig, dig, dig,” Danforth said of the questions arising about Clark’s military service.

Clark died in 2020.

Kirsch said Collings is remorseful for any involvement in the girl’s death, and has acknowledged that he caused harm.

Weis has represented Collings for about six years and said that he has an “engaging personality,” and that his relationship with his two daughters “has been particularly important to him.”

An application for a stay of execution is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Collings’ legal team is also submitting a clemency application to Gov. Mike Parson’s office. The governor had denied every request for a reprieve in any death penalty case. His office did not respond to a request for comment.

If Collings’ execution goes through, it will be the fourth in Missouri this year and will leave eight people remaining on death row in the state.

Governor-elect Mike Kehoe’s campaign previously said he would “uphold the rule of law” when it comes to death penalty cases.

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