From the OWH:"A Douglas County jury has found former Nebraska running back Thunder Collins guilty of first-degree murder and other charges.The panel of six men and six women, who began deliberating Friday afternoon, returned the verdict about 2 p.m. today.
Prosecutors had urged the jury to convict Collins of first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault and three counts of weapon use. He was found guilty on the murder and assault charges.
Collins attorney, Steve Lefler, said that prosecutors failed to prove their case, contending they rushed to judgment and relied on drug dealers, thieves and liars to build their case against Collins.Timothy Thomas, 38, died after being shot while cutting cocaine out of an SUV in the garage of a home near 70th Circle and Military Avenue on Sept. 23, 2008. His cousin, Marshall Turner, was wounded in the shooting.
Prosecutors told the jury that Collins had the two California drug dealers bring cocaine to Omaha to make quick and easy money. Collins and another man then pounced, shooting the men on Sept. 23 during an attempt to rob them of more than a kilo of cocaine, according to trial testimony.
Collins did not testify during the two-week-long trial. Lefler suggested that Collins' one-time friend, Ahmad Johnson, was the mastermind of the robbery, nothing that Johnson has a previous robbery conviction."
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