Collinses sentenced in beating of skier

STEVENSON — An itinerant father and son from Clark County have been sentenced to long prison terms for the near-fatal beating of a cross-country skier near Dougan Falls last February.

Michael D. Collins, 34, was sentenced to 24 years, 9 months in prison after being convicted by a jury Wednesday of attempted first-degree murder and first-degree robbery. It was the maximum permitted under state law. During sentencing, Skamania County Superior Court Judge E. Thompson Reynolds called Collins’ actions “horrific” and “senseless.”

“If there’s any case that requires the maximum sentence, this is certainly the one,” Reynolds said, noting he also took into account the defendant’s extensive criminal history.

Collins’ son, Teven Collins, 17, took a plea deal last Friday and testified against his father Wednesday. He received an eight-year sentence for attempted second-degree murder. The three-day trial relating to the Feb. 9, 2009, attack on -Washougal’s Robert Kevin Tracey, 53, took place this week in -Skamania County Superior Court in Stevenson.

Because Teven Collins testified truthfully and is now remorseful, Skamania County Deputy Prosecutor Chris Lanz on Thursday recommended the low end of the sentencing range.

“Words can’t described how sorry I am,” a tearful Teven -Collins told the judge Thursday, before dropping his head.

The judge went with the recommended sentence because Teven Collins is a minor and shows signs of rehabilitation, he said. He did note, however, that he was handing him a lenient sentence.

“This is a heinous act, what you did,” Reynolds said. “And all I can hope, Mr. Collins, is that when you get out (of prison) that you don’t follow in your father’s footsteps.”

Several family members testified on Teven Collins’ behalf, calling him an impressionable teen who just wanted to please his estranged father.

“He asked many times growing up how come his dad never tried to see him,” Teven’s grandmother, Peggy Collette, told the judge Thursday. “He just wanted his father to love him so much.”

Walking back to her seat, Collette stopped where Tracey was sitting.

“Thanks so much for your grace,” she told him.

Outside court Thursday, Tracey said he was satisfied with both sentences. However, he questioned whether Teven Collins could be rehabilitated back into society.

“This attack was beyond passion and beyond anger,” said Tracey, who now bears faint scars on his face. “It was a multiprong attack.”

But overall, he said: “I’m just glad it’s over with.”

Testimony in Michael Collins’ trial this week indicated the two had been camping near Dougan Falls on the Washougal River in western Skamania County because Michael Collins knew police were looking to arrest him on an outstanding warrant. Teven Collins had ran away from his grandparents’ home in Montana and had been reunited with his estranged father, who was then living in Vancouver.

The two had subsided on cheap noodles, wild onions and mandarin oranges. When the food ran out, they plotted to confront, rob and kill someone, so as to not leave a witness. According to Teven Collins’ testimony, his dad told him to perform the killing so he could “earn my bones.”

After clubbing and strangling Tracey, they fled to Mexico in his vehicle. They were apprehended after the case aired on the “America’s Most Wanted” TV show and authorities received a tip. Meanwhile, three hikers found Tracey and called for help.

Earlier, prosecutors had believed a conviction on the charges would count as a third “strike” against Michael Collins under the state’s persistent offender act, resulting in a mandatory sentence of life in prison without release. Later they realized one of Collins’ convictions was not a strike, because the crime occurred before Collins turned 18.

Michael Collins told the judge Thursday that he plans to appeal his conviction.