Accused murderer's trial starts Monday

Five young Flathead County residents were arrested and charged following the gruesome April 2010 bludgeoning murder of 49-year-old Kalispell resident Wesley “Bubba” Collins.

Only one has continued to proclaim his innocence.

The trial for 20-year-old Jeffrey Allen Nixon begins Monday at 9 a.m. at the Flathead County Law and Justice Center, starting with jury selection.

It’s expected to last about five days.

Prosecutors and law enforcement officials say Nixon was one of two men who beat Collins to death with hammers and then stole his medical marijuana, along with other belongings on April 12, 2010.

Collins body was discovered April 17 in a remote wooded area southwest of Kalispell.

Robert Lake, 22, pleaded guilty to deliberate homicide and tampering with physical evidence Feb. 13 after reaching a plea deal with the Flathead County Attorney’s Office.

He was sentenced to 110 years in Montana State Prison, though he later attempted to withdraw his plea. He said he thought the sentence would be 110 months, but District Judge Stewart Stadler rejected the claim.

Now, Lake could testify against Nixon. He was recently moved from state prison to the Flathead County Detention Center and will be available to take the stand.

Lake’s former girlfriend and the mother of his infant child has also been transported to the county jail and likely will testify as well.

Karrolyn Robinson, 20, was sentenced in December to eight years in Montana Women’s Prison after pleading guilty in October to tampering with evidence and theft. She admitted to deleting text messages that implicated Lake and others in the murder.

Others who accepted plea deals and have been sentenced are 28-year-old Cody Naldrett and 22-year-old Joshua Fritz. Naldrett received a six-month sentence, along with time served, for helping to hide Collins body. Fritz received a five-year suspended sentence for felony tampering with physical evidence.

Nixon has pleaded innocent to deliberate homicide, robbery, tampering with evidence, burglary and an alternative charge of accountability for deliberate homicide.

He faces up to life in prison if convicted.