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Frank J. Colvin, 34, of Rolla, was scheduled Tuesday to challenge the integrity of his confession obtained by police in May 2010 following the death of his roommate, DelRay Wiench.
Colvin instead ended his battle to prove his innocence in court and entered an Alford Plea to second degree murder, a Class A felony.
According to court documents, deputies arrived at Wiench and Colvin’s home May 16, 2010 to find Colvin straddled over Wiench, who was laying on his back in a space between a bunk bed and a wall with apparent injuries to his face.
Wiench was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy was later performed.
The autopsy attributed Wiench's death to “manual strangulation.”
According to Phelps County Prosecuting Attorney John Beger, Colvin was initially interviewed at the home by Phelps County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott, and Scott noted inconsistencies between Colvin’s claim that Wiench had fallen out of bed and Wiench's injuries.
Colvin was then interviewed by two more members of the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department, who testified at a preliminary hearing that Colvin eventually admitted to being in an altercation with Wiench just before he placed the 911 call that brought deputies to the home.
Wiench's attorney, Public Defender Thomas Florek, filed paperwork with the court in December asking the judge to suppress those statements, not allowing the statements to be heard at trial.
The documents written by Florek asserted that PCSD detectives interviewing Colvin used techniques that were “inherently coercive” and the detectives made threats or promises to Colvin to obtain the statement.
Twenty-fifth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Tracy L. Storie was scheduled to hear arguments from Florek and Beger regarding those statements Tuesday, but the hearing took a different course before it began.
Florek asked to speak privately with Colvin during the first recess of the court, and the pair were gone for more than an hour.
When court was called back into session, Beger announced there would be a plea in the case against Colvin.
The plea Colvin entered, called an Alford Plea, allows him to be convicted of the crime without going to trial, but does not mean he is relinquishing his claim of innocence.
To qualify for an alford plea, according to Storie, there must be a reasonable likelihood of a conviction in the case and the defendant must believe a greater penalty would be imposed if the case went to trial.
Storie agreed that Colvin’s case met those standards and accepted the plea.
Frank J. Colvin, 34, of Rolla, was scheduled Tuesday to challenge the integrity of his confession obtained by police in May 2010 following the death of his roommate, DelRay Wiench.
Colvin instead ended his battle to prove his innocence in court and entered an Alford Plea to second degree murder, a Class A felony.
According to court documents, deputies arrived at Wiench and Colvin’s home May 16, 2010 to find Colvin straddled over Wiench, who was laying on his back in a space between a bunk bed and a wall with apparent injuries to his face.
Wiench was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy was later performed.
The autopsy attributed Wiench's death to “manual strangulation.”
According to Phelps County Prosecuting Attorney John Beger, Colvin was initially interviewed at the home by Phelps County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott, and Scott noted inconsistencies between Colvin’s claim that Wiench had fallen out of bed and Wiench's injuries.
Colvin was then interviewed by two more members of the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department, who testified at a preliminary hearing that Colvin eventually admitted to being in an altercation with Wiench just before he placed the 911 call that brought deputies to the home.
Wiench's attorney, Public Defender Thomas Florek, filed paperwork with the court in December asking the judge to suppress those statements, not allowing the statements to be heard at trial.
The documents written by Florek asserted that PCSD detectives interviewing Colvin used techniques that were “inherently coercive” and the detectives made threats or promises to Colvin to obtain the statement.
Twenty-fifth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Tracy L. Storie was scheduled to hear arguments from Florek and Beger regarding those statements Tuesday, but the hearing took a different course before it began.
Florek asked to speak privately with Colvin during the first recess of the court, and the pair were gone for more than an hour.
When court was called back into session, Beger announced there would be a plea in the case against Colvin.
The plea Colvin entered, called an Alford Plea, allows him to be convicted of the crime without going to trial, but does not mean he is relinquishing his claim of innocence.
To qualify for an alford plea, according to Storie, there must be a reasonable likelihood of a conviction in the case and the defendant must believe a greater penalty would be imposed if the case went to trial.
Storie agreed that Colvin’s case met those standards and accepted the plea.
Although Colvin did not admit to murdering Wiench, he is considered convicted of second degree murder, a charge that carries a potential punishment of 10 to 30 years in prison.
Beger recommended a sentence of 15 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, and Storie honored that recommendation.
“I have spoken with the descendant's three sisters, and I think it is fair to say that is consistant with their wishes,” Beger said.
Wiench's family members were not in the courtroom.
Colvin was returned to the Phelps County Jail where he will remain until he is transfered to a Missouri Department of Corrections prison.
