Woman pleads guilty to evidence charge
The common-law wife of a Kalispell murder suspect wept Thursday in Flathead County District Court as she pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence and theft.
Karrolyn Robinson, 19, is one of five people facing felony charges ranging from burglary to deliberate homicide following the bludgeoning death of 49-year-old Wesley Collins on April 12.
Her husband, Robert Allen Lake, 22, and Jeffrey Allen Nixon, 19, both of Kalispell, are accused of beating Collins with hammers, stealing his money and medical marijuana plants, then trying to cover up the crime.
Robinson was arrested by Kalispell police after orchestrating the deletion of text messages seen as evidence in the case. According to court documents, she brought Lake’s phone to police but only after sending Lake’s brother a text message asking him to delete all messages from the phone.
She also deleted messages from her own phone, according to court documents.
Kalispell police located three marijuana plants and many of Collins’ personal belongings, including a television, weight equipment, tools and prescription medications, during a search of Robinson’s apartment after she admitted to entering Collins’ residence with Lake to steal the marijuana.
Her admission of guilt came after she reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in the Flathead County Attorney’s Office.
During questioning from defense attorney Daniel Minnis, Robinson admitted to having the stolen property and deleting the text messages.
Prosecutors are asking for a 15-year sentence with seven years suspended. Minnis is requesting a 10-year sentence with the same amount of prison time suspended.
As part of the agreement, a felony burglary charge was dismissed. Prosecutors also dropped a charge related to an attempted robbery of the Players Club Casino on Sept. 14, 2009. Robinson allegedly drove Lake away from the business after Lake pepper-sprayed a cashier and demanded cash.
District Court Judge Stewart Stadler has scheduled a sentencing hearing for Robinson for Nov. 24. Though a plea agreement is in place, Stadler could still sentence her to up to 20 years in prison and require as much as $100,000 in fines.
Stadler denied a request to reduce the bail for Robinson, who is currently being held at the Flathead County Detention Center. She testified during an abbreviated hearing that followed her guilty plea.
“I have a five-month-old daughter that I haven’t been able to hold since she was two days old,” Robinson said.
Minnis said his client would comply with a range of release conditions that would have included daily check-ins with the sheriff’s office and a monitoring device. Robinson’s mother, Anna Johnson, testified that she has lost her temporary Canadian citizenship and represents no risk of fleeing the area.
Citing the seriousness of the related charges, Stadler denied the request.
“Every day you spend here now means you will get to see your daughter one day earlier,” he said.
Robinson’s guilty plea comes weeks before the first scheduled trial directly related to the alleged murder. Nixon’s trial on charges of deliberate homicide and robbery is slated to begin Oct. 25.
Cody Naldrett, 27, allegedly helped Lake and Nixon remove Collins’ body from his apartment and drag it into the woods. His trial on charges of criminal possession of dangerous drugs and tampering with evidence is scheduled to begin Nov. 1, the same day as the trial for 21-year-old Joshua Fritz.
Fritz is charged with burgling Collins’ home, evidence tampering, theft and obstructing a police officer.
Lake has an omnibus hearing Jan. 19, 2011. No trial date has been set.
Lake, Nixon, Naldrett and Fritz all are being held at the Flathead County Detention Center.
Reporter Eric Schwartz may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at eschwartz@dailyinterlake.com.