This past week, a terrible crime occurred not far from where I live.
Coach accused in girl's abduction, death.
Neighbors watched in horror as a 10-year-old southwest Missouri girl was snatched off the street just blocks from her home.
Some had spotted a man in a gold Ford Ranger pickup driving down the road in Springfield several times before the driver took off with the girl, investigators said. The residents even called 911 to report the truck's license number.
But the vehicle moved too quickly. And Hailey Owens was gone.
Now prosecutors have charged Craig Michael Wood with first-degree murder, kidnapping and armed criminal action. In filing the charges yesterday, they alleged that the 45-year-old middle school football coach and teacher's aide abducted Hailey as she walked home from a friend's house Tuesday.
There was some additional information on the local TV news.
Police found binders of child pornography, seized his computer, and discovered 15 firearms.
While I have heard about firearm collections by enthusiasts who enjoy that sort of thing, I wonder if this man's interest in firearms is a separate issue from the fact he is a psychopathic killer.
Was he an enthusiast with a collection or a crazy man with a cache?
Was he an assassin with an arsenal or a sexual predator with a stockpile?
I think the facts about this case are connected. There seems to be a correlation between a sexually violent mindset and the acquisition and use of firearms. However, he could have just as well been interested in some other treasure and still killed this child for the same incomprehensible reasons he did.
So my question is this.
Are these two parts of this man, the killer and the collector, separate?