Crime & Safety

Defendant in Royal Oak Woman's Slaying Denied Separate Trial

Judge allows separate juries for Alan Wood and Tonia Watson in the Nov. 12 stabbing death of 80-year-old Nancy Dailey.

A parole absconder ordered to trial on murder charges in the November slaying of an 80-year-old Royal Oak woman on Wednesday was denied a request for a trial separate from his co-defendant, The Detroit New reports.

Oakland Circuit Judge Colleen O'Brien ruled that Alan Wood and Tonia Watson would get their own jury, but no separate trial for Wood. Wood and Watson are charged in the Nov. 20 beating and in her Trafford Road home.

with premeditated first-degree murder and felony murder while with felony murder, both of which carry a mandatory life imprisonment penalty. In addition, Watson and Wood are charged with larceny in a building and unauthorized use of a financial transaction device.

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Broke, homeless and struggling with drug addiction, Wood and Watson broke into Dailey’s home where they robbed and Wood brutally beat and then killed Dailey, .

Dailey was found in her home, tied up and her throat slit, a week after hiring the parole absconders to do yard work.

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Edgell testified that Watson told him that after they entered Dailey's home, Wood grabbed Dailey by the hair, threw her to the floor and tried to break her neck. She told the detective she walked away when Wood opened a 7-inch pocketknife.

Watson's interview with Edgell may only be used to implicate her, O'Brien ruled Wednesday. It cannot be used against Wood, because the pair are co-defendants.

Trial for Watson and Wood is scheduled to begin Aug. 20 in Oakland Circuit Court.

Correction: The date of the murder of Nancy Dailey is Nov. 20.


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