Ex-Springfield Coach Convicted Of Murdering Hailey Owens, 10

SPRINGFIELD, MO — Craig Wood, former paraprofessional and football coach at Pleasant View Middle School in Springfield, Missouri, was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder for snatching 10-year-old Hailey Owens from a quiet neighborhood in front of horrified witnesses, then raping and killing her.

Wood's attorney, Patrick Berrigan, didn't dispute that his client killed the girl, but argued that Wood didn't plan to, as prosecutors said. Berrigan painted the abduction as impulsive and said Wood had "no disguise whatsoever." He faulted long-suppressed sexual urges and methamphetamine.

During the trial, witness Carlos Edwards testified he was raking leaves when he saw Wood drive past his Springfield home several times before stopping, asking Hailey for direction and then pulling the fourth-grader into his pickup truck. Edwards said he took off running but a drainage ditch at the edge of his yard stopped him from getting to the truck.

His wife called 911 and reported the truck's license plate, which led police to Wood's home. Hailey's body was found in a storage container in his basement. The girl was shot in the back of her head from close range, according to Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson.

Dr. Carl Stacy, the forensic pathologist who oversaw Hailey's autopsy, testified that marks on Hailey's arms indicated she struggled against some type of material used to bind her. A few jurors wiped away tears after they were shown pictures of Hailey's body.

Patterson said police found girls' clothing in a strip mall trash bin near Wood's home. Surveillance footage showed Wood buying bleach and drain cleaner at a Walmart. Patterson said Wood's clothes and bedding were found at a laundromat near Missouri State University.

Berrigan, Wood's attorney, noted that police found handwritten stories in Wood's bedroom dresser about sexual fantasies, two of them involving 13-year-old girls. Police also found four pictures of young girls who attended the school where Wood worked as an in-school suspension supervisor.

Photo credit: Andrew Jansen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP