Mystery of dead body starting to unravel

Keith Paul

Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2000 | 11:20 a.m.

Thinking her husband might "have slept off," the effects of a drinking bout, Ronald W. Collins' wife came back home shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday.

But when she entered her modest town house, she discovered the body of a naked woman wrapped in a plastic sheet on the kitchen floor. She then spotted her husband and fled the house again to call Metro Police.

When officers came to the town house at 4040 Castle Cove Dr. shortly after 5 a.m., Collins pushed the front door shut on them. The officers forced their way into the house because they didn't know if the woman inside the house was dead, said Metro homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen.

They found that she was dead and began searching for Collins. After determining that he had hidden in the attic, police negotiators tried for about four hours to talk with him, but Collins wouldn't respond. When the SWAT team finally stormed the attic, they found Collins hiding in an air conditioning duct.

Collins, a registered felon on an attempted grand larceny auto conviction, was held without bond this morning in the Clark County jail on slaying charges. But police were still trying to determine the identity of the dead woman found on his kitchen floor.

The slain woman had a gash on her neck, but police are waiting for an autopsy to determine a cause of death.

Collins' wife, who police would not identify, told officers Collins came home intoxicated about 8 p.m. Monday.

"Fearing for her safety because of some previous domestic violence, she left with her son from a prior relationship and went to her mother's house," Petersen said.

Officers have gone to Collins' home several other times on domestic disturbance calls. The last visit came on Dec. 22 when an officer issued a verbal warning to the couple.

Collins' wife returned to the house about 5 a.m. Tuesday, believing her husband "maybe had slept it off," but instead she found her husband and a dead woman, Petersen said.

Police said the dead woman was wrapped in a large sheet of plastic, but wouldn't say if they believed it was part of a plan to dispose of the woman's body.

Police towed Collins' vehicle away from the town house, located near West Alexander Drive at North Rainbow Boulevard. A large amount of blood was found inside the vehicle, Petersen said.

A small amount of blood also was found in the living room and dining room area of the house, but most of the blood was found in the kitchen, police said.

Neighbors gathered near the town house Tuesday as police detectives were inside trying to piece together what happened.