Three suspects linked to the robbery and murder of 49-year-old Kalispell resident Wesley Collins pleaded not guilty to all charges Thursday morning in Flathead County District Court.
Robert Allen Lake, 21, and Jeffrey Allen Nixon, 19, are accused of beating Collins to death with hammers on April 12 as part of a plan to steal his money and medical marijuana plants.
Cody Naldrett, 27, is charged with helping Lake and Nixon dump Collins’ body in a wooded area west of Kalispell.
Appearing before District Court Judge Stewart Stadler, all three suspects’ attorneys entered pleas of “not guilty” for their clients in front of a full courtroom.
Nixon and Lake each face felony homicide, robbery and evidence tampering charges, and if found guilty could face life in prison. Naldrett is charged with criminal possession of dangerous drugs and evidence tampering and could face 15 years in prison if convicted.
Lake’s common-law wife Karrolyn Robinson, 19, has also been charged with crimes in connection to the murder, including burglary, theft and evidence tampering. If convicted, she could be sentenced to 40 years in prison.
According to court documents, Lake admitted to his role in Collins’ death after Kalispell police questioned him following an apparent burglary at Collins’ apartment on April 17.
Lake initially claimed to be in the apartment legally and that he had purchased marijuana plants from Collins, according to court records, but police searches yielded more of Collins’ possessions from Lake’s residence, including Collins’ keys and prescription medications.
After further questioning, Lake allegedly said he and Nixon planned to kill Collins to steal his pot plants and his money. He said Nixon was primarily responsible for the hammer attack on Collins while the three men smoked pot and that he, Lake, only participated in the beating because he “felt threatened” by Nixon.
Nixon, however, alleges that Lake was solely responsible for Collins’ death. But according to Kalispell police, an acquaintance of Nixon’s said he had planned to kill Collins in the week before the murder.
Both murder suspects told authorities that Naldrett helped them remove and dump Collins’ body. Authorities subsequently found prescription drugs in Naldrett’s residence, none of which were prescribed to him.
Robinson was arrested in connection with the murder after police alleged that she had ordered Lake’s brother to delete all the text messages from Lake’s phone before turning it over to police, despite knowing that the messages had evidentiary value.
According to court records, Robinson admitted to police that she had taken pot plants from Collins’ apartment, prompting a search of her home that produced more of Collins’ personal items, including a flat screen television, tools, weight equipment and prescription medications.
Lake and Nixon remain jailed on $500,000 bond; and Naldrett remains jailed on $50,000 bond, which Stadler refused to lower to $20,000 on Thursday. Robinson, scheduled for an arraignment on May 11, is in jail on $50,000 bond.
Lake, Nixon and Naldrett were ordered to appear in court for their omnibus hearings on May 12, with a jury trial scheduled for July.