Man Convicted In Stabbing Death Of Elderly Royal Oak Woman
PONTIAC (WWJ) - An Oakland County jury has found 49-year-old Alan Wood guilty of a murder that shocked a Royal Oak community.
Prosecutors said 80-year-old Nancy Dailey was tied to a chair, beaten and stabbed by Wood -- who had come to the woman's home with his girlfriend looking for drug money after Dailey had hired the pair to do some yard work.
The girlfriend, 41-year-old Tonia Watson, took a plea bargain with prosecutors in exchange for her testimony against Wood, which Paul Walton with the Oakland County Prosecutor's office said helped get a conviction.
"When she [Watson] was originally arrested, she gave a version of events and she's always maitenied ... she's always been very consistent in what she has told police and the jury as to what happened inside that house on that fateful day," Walton told WWJ Newsradio 950.
"Any additional evidence that you can get in a case obviously is going to assist the jury in reaching a verdict," Walton said. "In this particular case we had very good DNA evidence ... against the defendant, Wood -- but there's no question that the testimony of Tonia Watson assisted the jury,".
Both parole violators, Wood and Watson were arrested in Canton Township two days after Dailey's body was found. Police said they were attempting to use one of Dailey's bank cards at an ATM.
It was a crime that stirred fear and uncertainty in a community where many had felt safe, prompting a call for a "No Knock" list that would prevent strangers from coming to residents' doors.
Wood and Watson will be back in court next month for sentencing.
