Couple Sentenced in Death of Royal Oak Woman

Two parole absconders were sentenced Friday morning in the slaying of an 80-year-old Royal Oak woman.

Alan Wood, 49, convicted of first-degree murder in January, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of Nancy Dailey in her Trafford Road home on Nov. 20, 2011.

Tonia Watson, 41, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, was also sentenced to to 23 to 80 years in prison. She cut a deal with prosecutors in exchange for testifying truthfully. 

According to Watson’s testimony, a couple of weeks before Dailey was slain, the elderly woman paid the couple—broke, homeless and struggling with drug addiction—$40 to rake leaves for 30 minutes. She said that later they discussed robbing someone and Dailey’s name came up. 

After spending a few hours at a nearby McDonald’s on Nov. 20, Wood and Watson walked to Dailey’s house, where she could be seen sitting on a chair in her living room, according to testimony. They waited until it got dark to try to enter Dailey’s home.

Watson said Wood used his scarf to tie Dailey’s arms behind her back and pulled out and unfolded his knife and said to Watson, “You know what I have to do.”

Before she was sentenced, Watson said, “I’m just so sorry about the precious loss of Nancy Dailey’s life,” reports the Detroit Free Press.

Wood showed no emotion before his sentencing, according to the Detroit News, telling Oakland Circuit Judge Colleen O'Brien, "Please give me my sentence and stop preaching from the bench."

Watson and Wood have lengthy criminal records, including convictions for home invasion and gun crimes, Michigan Department of Corrections records show. Both failed to report to their parole officers in Pontiac.