Collins delivers parting shots

More than 30 eighth-graders packed the courtroom behind him and lined the jury box beside him.

The St. Margaret Mary Catholic School kids were there to get a glimpse of how the criminal justice system works — maybe catch a trial or a sentencing, if they were lucky.

They picked a doozy.

As a former football player was led into the courtroom in an orange jumpsuit, leg chains and handcuffs, an eighth-grade boy barely blinked. One girl strained to get a glimpse over the adults seated in front of her. Another whispered to her friend.

Their presence did nothing to deter Thunder Collins.

Facing a mandatory life sentence for first-degree murder in the killing of California drug dealer Timothy Thomas, the 30-year-old former Husker wasn't about to let a group of kids steal his, um, moment.

Against a backdrop of plaid skirts, headbands and school sweat shirts, Collins said his piece by quoting that former leader of young people, retired basketball coach Bobby Knight.

But before he did so, Collins — perhaps the most polite convicted killer in recent Douglas County history — told the kids to “cover your ears.” He then recited the Knight line in which the coach asks to be buried upside down.

“So all my critics can kiss my (expletive),” Collins said.

As he said “critics” — he shot a glance over his shoulder at the gallery. About a dozen schoolkids stared back at him, wide-eyed.

And then things really got surreal.

In one of the last spectacles involving a young man who may best be known for what he didn't do with his opportunities, Collins invited reporters to a scattershot press conference in jail.

He referred to Douglas County District Judge Gary Randall's sentence of life plus 90 to 110 years as “life plus Star Trek years.” He said prosecutors used a couple of Sammy “the Bull” Gravanos against him as if he were John Gotti.

He said the judge violated his rights by not sequestering the jury. And he said it was a “good possibility” that the drug gangs in California “got” to the jurors deciding his fate.

Referring to himself in third person, he called his sparsely attended trial “a very high-profile case” — “right under” the trial of Roy Ellis in the death of 12-year-old Amber Harris.

He reiterated his stance that he's no snitch — saying that was part of the reason he left the Nebraska football team as a senior. Collins, a running back, said he took the fall rather than snitch about what he now claims were $1,000-a-month payments from boosters.

In the same respect, he said, he didn't snitch on co-defendant Karnell Burton because Burton saved his life on Sept. 23, 2008, by shooting Thomas and fellow drug dealer Marshall Turner after the two attacked him.

Randall questioned how much different than that Collins was. The judge said there were two drug dealers with guns in that garage: Collins and his accomplice, Burton.

Collins, described as “narcissistic” by the probation officer who prepared a presentence report, slipped in the last word.

“See you in 18 months, Judge,” Collins said, apparently hoping his appeal will succeed.

He then was ushered away to jail. The young man who came to Lincoln 10 years ago will now return there — to a state prison evaluation center. Prison officials then will decide whether to place him in Lincoln or Tecumseh.

Collins said he is “80 percent” sure he will get a new trial, though the vast majority of defendants don't.

“There's no way I'm going to die of natural causes in anyone's prison,” Collins said.

Back at the courthouse, the Catholic schoolkids were getting a different view of the reality facing Collins. After sentencing two other defendants, Randall asked the kids if they had any questions.
Twirling her hair, one eighth-grader sheepishly raised her hand, confused about how much time Collins will have to serve.

“So, um,” she said, “what exactly was his sentence?”

“In Nebraska,” the judge said, “life means life.”

“Truthfully and honestly . . . I show no remorse for Timothy Thomas dying because it could have easily been me (dead) in that garage,” Collins said. “With him cooking and selling drugs in a hotel while children are present — we have no room for people like that in society.”

« Metro/Region

Share