Story of self-defense told in slashing death of prostitute

Kim Smith

Thursday, Sept. 21, 2000 | 10:53 a.m.

A composed Ronald Collins told jurors Wednesday he was only looking for someone to talk to the night he killed Agnes Ready.

Collins, 31, took the stand on the second day of his murder trial in the hopes he can convince the eight men and six women sitting on the panel that he killed Ready in self-defense.

Prosecutors believe Collins intentionally slashed Ready's throat and are hoping to get a first-degree murder conviction and a no-parole life term for the Las Vegas resident of nine years.

Ready's body was found nude, face down and wrapped in a plastic tarp on the floor of Collins' kitchen on Jan. 11. Authorities have testified it appeared Collins tried to clean up the blood trail that led from his pickup through his house.

Collins testified that on the night of Jan. 10 he became disappointed with his wife, Melanie, because she didn't come home from work on time. After ignoring her for awhile, he left and then drank beer in a park.

When he went home and discovered his wife had left, Collins said he decided to try to find a neighbor at the El Cortez hotel-casino. As he was walking up to the door, a woman approached and asked for him to light her cigarette.

After a few moments, the woman, who introduced herself with a name "beginning with P," invited him to go out for some beers.

Collins said he agreed.

"I wanted someone to talk to, and it was convenient, I guess," Collins said, insisting he did not know the woman was a prostitute. He was not looking for sex that night, he said.

As he drove north on Las Vegas Boulevard, Collins said the woman asked him to stop at a convenience store so she could use a pay phone. While she used the phone he bought a few more beers.

After getting back into his truck, Collins said the woman directed him to a North Las Vegas bar where they parked and began talking.

A short time later, after the woman began smoking what he assumed to be crack cocaine, Collins said he stepped out of the car to urinate.

He testified that when he returned, the woman had taken her pants off. When he asked her what she was doing, she took off her sweater and threw it at him, hoping to lighten his mood, Collins said.

"The next thing I know, Bang! I was hit with something, struck with some object," Collins said. "I heard screaming and yelling. People were screaming and Agnes jumped at me."

Collins said that as he was struggling with the woman, someone tried to yank him out of the truck. He tried to drive away, but the woman was caught under the steering wheel.

During the struggle, Collins said, he realized he had been cut with the knife the woman had used to cut her crack cocaine and he began trying to get the knife away from her.

"I jerked it three or four times," Collins said.

The next thing he remembered, Collins said, is waking up in his kitchen when his wife began screaming.

"I woke up. I woke up and saw this body in my house on the kitchen floor," Collins said. "I was in shock. I couldn't believe this body was in the house."

When his attorney, Deputy Special Public Defender Joe Sciscento, asked why he didn't call the police, Collins said, "I panicked for awhile. I tried to think. I tried to get my head together."

When the police tried to enter his house, Collins said he slammed the door, still suffering from shock.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane methodically questioned the plausibility of Collins' story.

Kane asked why Collins would stop for beer on his way to a bar and why he didn't go through with his quest to find his neighbor at the El Cortez.

Collins said it was Ready's idea to stop at the convenience store and he didn't want his elderly neighbor to see him "with new people, drinking beer."

Collins also insisted that despite what his wife may have told police, they did not argue that evening. He merely ignored her, he said.

The backhoe operator also denied having told an emergency room doctor that a deep laceration on the back of his head was the result of a police baton. The cut, which required staples, was caused by his unknown assailant, Collins said.

He could offer no explanation for the fact that medical experts have testified that Ready's killer not only slashed her throat but drove the murder weapon into her neck.

"I said I was jerking it from her," Collins said.

Closing arguments were expected to begin late this morning.