ROCKINGHAM — A recently impaneled jury heard opening arguments and testimony from several witnesses on Thursday in the second murder trial of Alexander Ingram.
Ingram, a Montgomery County man, is accused of brutally killing and robbing the late Michael Collins, who was owner of the Norman General Store, in late November of 2012. He is facing one felony count each of first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
The jury, finalized Wednesday afternoon, consists of four African-American women, two African-American men, five white men and one white woman, with another white woman as an alternate.
Wrapping up the opening arguments for the prosecution, Assistant District Attorney Dawn Layton told jurors that the victim couldn’t tell them who beat him.
“It’s the evidence that tells the story,” she concluded.
That evidence, defense attorney Stephen Freedman told jurors, points to the guilt of both his client and co-defendant Thomas Henry “Pete” Ingram, who is being tried separately.
“But only one of those individuals robbed and killed Michael Collins,” he said.
Freedman, from the Office of the Capital Defender, reminded jurors that they had to determine “beyond reasonable doubt” that the only person who killed Collins was Alexander Ingram.
While telling the background of the story, Freedman said there was a pair of brown work gloves found on U.S. 220 between Norman and Candor that were not sent to the State Bureau of Investigation crime lab until April of last year, when Ingram was on trial the first time.
Following the same line of attack from the previous trial, Freedman told the jury that while Alexander Ingram’s home and vehicles were searched and all of his clothing recovered, not all of the clothes “Pete” Ingram was wearing that night were seized as evidence.
The first witness to take the stand was Tonia Collins, widow of the victim, with District Attorney Reece Saunders asking the questions.
She described the layout and operations of the store and the jury was shown photos to illustrate her testimony.
Collins said Ingram would often come in to play video poker, and several weeks before the murder had asked to borrow $5. She testified he returned a few days later and said, “If I’d run out of gas, I would have come back and killed you.”
At the time, she said she didn’t think much of his comment.
On the day her husband was killed, Collins said the defendant was at the video poker machines in the store when she came in. He then left for a while and came back to put another $20 in for the machine. While she was trying to fix a void on the new cash register, Collins said Ingram gave her husband, who came in at 7 p.m., another $40.
She went home and waited for her husband to return after closing the store at 11.
“I sat there and I waited and waited and waited,” she said, adding that she called the store at 11:30 to no avail.
Collins then bundled up her granddaughter, who was staying with them, and went to the store, she said. After unlocking the door, she stepped just inside on the red doormat and called his name, but he didn’t answer.
She said she locked the door and went to get her son, Michael Collins Jr., who had gone home earlier because he wasn’t feeling well.
It was around midnight when she said they returned to the store, the son walking in first.
“He went around the corner and he looked — and he turned around and said looked at me and said, ‘Mama, someone’s blown Daddy’s brains out.’”
Collins testified that she did not see the co-defendant that night, adding that he didn’t come in much. Usually, she said when “Pete” Ingram came to the store with his uncle, he would stay inside the truck.
During cross-examination, Freedman asked about her describing Alexander Ingram as a friend in her previous testimony.
“I describe everyone as a friend,” she said. “I try to treat customers in a friendly (manner).”
Layton took over questioning with two county emergency communications employees — Christine Collins and Travis Wilkerson — taking the stand.
Collins said she took the first 911 call from a man.
Wilkerson testified that he dispatched law enforcement and took a second call from a woman on-scene who was wanting to know the response time.
Layton then played the recording of both 911 calls to the jury.
The defense declined to cross-examine either witness.
Next up was Detective Landon Cowick, who was a patrol deputy at the time.
Cowick said he was in Ellerbe when he received a call at 12:24 a.m. about a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He rushed to the scene where he saw Tonia Collins and her son, who told them Mike Collins was dead.
He continued saying that he entered the store where he found the victim’s body face-down in the first aisle to the left. Cowick then backed out of the store and waited for backup.
When Lt. John Edwards arrived, Cowick said the two of them went back inside to clear the store and make sure no one was there. As they were backing out, Cowick said he noticed the cash register and a monitor lying on the floor. Once outside, the called for an investigator, J.R. Smith, who took over when he arrived.
Cowick told Freedman during cross-examination that he was present, in training to become a detective, when “Pete” Ingram was later interviewed in Central Prison by Smith and Layton.
Detective Terri Childers, who was in charge of collecting evidence and documenting the crime scene, said she arrived around 1:37 a.m. and performed a walk-through with Smith.
During the walk-through, Childers said she saw a white package of meat on the floor and what appeared to be blood on the coolers near the body. Crime scene photographs were then passed around to the jurors showing several areas where there appeared to be blood, including near the rear-side door.
The jury also saw several pieces of physical evidence, including the victim’s hat and the hasp from the back door.
Childers testified that when the victim’s pockets were searched, there was no wallet — in which Tonia Collins earlier estimated there was around $400 — but she did find lighters, keys, pocketknives and a small bottle with marijuana.
She said on the floor behind the counter were security cameras, a monitor, a VCR and the cash register, which appeared to have been “ransacked.”
Childers then explained the process of taking DNA swabs and lifting fingerprints, saying that tests from the state crime lab came back negative for either.
Defense attorney Robert Singagliese questioned Childers about the measurements of areas in the store and the distance of suspected blood spots, to which she answered that she did not know.
The detective was released from the witness stand to be called again at a later time.
The trial resumes today with more testimony, and will continue on Tuesday because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Last spring, a jury was unable to reach a verdict, resulting in a mistrial.
Reach reporter William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_toler.
