Parole Agents Suspended After Letting Go Pair Now Charged in Royal Oak Slaying

The Michigan Department of Corrections has suspended two parole agents who allowed the man and woman who are charged with murder in the death of an 80-year-old Royal Oak woman to remain free last fall, according to a Detroit Free Press report.

Parole absconders Alan Wood, 48, and Tonia Watson, 40, were arrested in Canton just two days after Nancy Dailey was killed in her Trafford Road home on Nov. 20.

Records obtained by the Free Press show parole agents knew Wood and Watson were suspects in the thefts of a gun from a Berkley home and credit cards from a Royal Oak home, but they remained free. A month before Dailey’s brutal slaying, corrections officials cited Wood for three parole violations, but then let him go.

After her arrest, that Dailey had paid the pair $40 to rake her leaves. Weeks later, they decided to rob the Royal Oak woman.

Royal Oak Detective in  in Royal Oak about interviewing Watson on Nov. 23. “She told me they were broke and had problems with drug addiction,” Edgell said.

Watson told the detective that the pair broke into Dailey’s home and stole her credit cards, ATM card, cell phone, purse and jewelry. Watson told Edgell that Dailey tried to lock herself in a bathroom, saying “I tried to help you. You dirty birds. You dirty birds.”

Wood reacted violently, Watson told the detective, beating her and eventually slitting her neck.

According to the detective’s testimony, Watson and Wood left immediately after killing Dailey, used her ATM card to withdraw $200 and went to Pontiac to purchase drugs. Watson told the detective that night the couple stayed at the De Lido Motel in Detroit and watched media coverage of the crime.

Meanwhile, the Michigan Department of Corrections has assigned a liaison to work with Royal Oak police to catch parole absconders and better supervise ex-convicts living in the city.

At the Jan. 9 City Commission meeting, MDOC’s Russell Marlan and Mike Alexander gave an overview of an eight-point plan to target parole violators, including through increased collaboration with fugitive apprehension teams, increased use of GPS tracking and restoring the most-wanted website for violators.

Wood and Watson had been staying at local motels and police have been doing regular checks of the motels for parole violators. , a man was identified as having a parole absconder warrant for breaking and entering and later arrested.