Marijuana patient killed in Kalispell

A medical marijuana patient in Kalispell was killed last week, and two men have been charged in connection with his death.

Kalispell police chief Roger Nasset said the body of Wesley Collins, 49, was found in a wooded area near Patrick Creek Road, southwest of Kalispell, on Saturday night, April 17. He had been missing for about four days. Nasset said Collins died of blunt force trauma. His body was sent to the Montana Crime Lab for an autopsy.

Robert Lake, 21, and Jeffrey Nixon, 19, were arrested and are being held without bond in the Flathead County Detention Center. Lake is being held on charges of deliberate homicide, robbery, tampering with or fabricating evidence, kidnapping, intimidation and theft. Nixon is being held on charges of deliberate homicide, robbery, theft and tampering with or fabricating evidence, along with two misdemeanor criminal contempt charges.

Nasset said several men allegedly gathered at Collins' apartment in northwest Kalispell to smoke marijuana provided by a man who holds a card as a medical marijuana patient. Nasset cited medical privacy laws and wouldn't name the card holder.

Lake and Nixon allegedly decided to rob Collins of his medical marijuana and other items, Nasset claimed, and Collins was killed during the burglary. The murder and the burglary were definitely linked to Collins' supply of medical marijuana, Nasset said.

Robert Cates said he met Collins about 8-10 months ago and was his medical marijuana provider. Cates said Collins was using medical marijuana to wean himself off prescription pain medicine that he used after he sustained injuries in a car crash.

Cates claimed Lake and Nixon had been stealing pills from Collins for about two months. He said Collins was vulnerable because he had a brain injury, a hip replacement and knee surgeries.

"It had nothing to do with medical marijuana," Cates said of the case. "They had been ripping him off every day pretty much for two months…. These kids were there for his pain medicine."

Collins had pleaded guilty in November 1998 to two counts of negligent homicide associated with the car crash. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 10 years suspended.

In May 2008, Collins was charged with felony criminal distribution of dangerous drugs. In December last year, District Court Judge Stewart Stadler re-sentenced Collins to a 10-year suspended sentence for the car crash and a five-year suspended sentence for the drug charge. As conditions of his probation, Collins was ordered to not possess or use illegal drugs or associate with probationers.

Cates said he first suspected Collins was missing on Tuesday, April 13, when Collins failed to show up at Cates' home for a planned visit. Kalispell police conducted a welfare check the next day, but Collins was not at his apartment.

Cates said he was outside Collins apartment with investigating officers on Thursday, April 15, when neighboring tenants shouted that someone was jumping out of the apartment's back window. Two men were apprehended, and Cates said he believes one was Lake.

Kalispell police received a tip about the location of Collins' body on Saturday afternoon, and three suspects were later rounded up, two from Kalispell and one from Marion. In the course of police interviews with the suspects, one man was released, and Lake and Nixon were arrested.

Nasset said there is "no disputing" that medical marijuana was being used at the time of the murder, and it is a factor in the case.

"I think it's unfortunate that this is being turned into a medical marijuana issue," he said. "A human being lost his life, and that' s the important thing here."

Nasset said Lake and Nixon are allegedly associated with a local gang that revolves around a rap-metal music duo called Insane Clown Posse.

Lake was arrested in November 2009 for allegedly stealing a cell phone from a nurse at Kalispell Regional Medical Center. He was later charged with using pepper spray on an employee and four patrons at an Evergreen casino during a robbery there. Lake was released on informal house arrest and his trial for the casino robbery was scheduled for June 7.

Lake has lived in Whitefish and was arrested by Whitefish police three times. He was arrested and charged with theft twice — at Grouse Mountain Lodge in June 2007 and at The Wave in March 2008.

He was also arrested during a Whitefish traffic stop in September 2009 and charged with driving with a suspended or revoked driver's license and a Kalispell warrant for contempt.