Television attorney added to Centerton's Bates case

 James Bates
James Bates

BENTONVILLE -- An attorney who represents the man featured on the Netflix series Making a Murderer will help defend a Bentonville man accused of killing his friend.

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Kathleen T. Zellner

James Bates, 31, is charged with first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and is free on $350,000 bond.

About the case

James Bates is charged with first-degree murder, a Class Y felony; and tampering with physical evidence. If convicted of the murder charge, he faces from 10 to 40 years or life imprisonment. The tampering charge is punishable with up to six years in prison.

Source: Staff report

Bates is accused of killing Victor Collins, 47, of Centerton on Nov. 22, 2015. Bates also is accused of tampering with evidence by using a garden hose to wash away blood from his hot tub and patio area, according to court documents.

Collins was found dead in a hot tub at Bates' home. Collins died from strangulation with drowning as a secondary cause, according to the documents.

Kathleen T. Zellner of Illinois filed notice in Benton County Circuit Court on Thursday of her intent to join Bates' defense team. Douglas Johnson, a partner at Zellner's law firm, also will be part of the defense team.

Rogers attorney Kimberly Weber is the local attorney who represents Bates. She will remain on the case.

Zellner also represents Steven Avery. His case was the focus of Making a Murderer, a Netflix documentary series following the murder case of Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, in Manitowoc County, Wis.

Zellner also represented Ryan Ferguson, who was wrongly convicted of a murder in Missouri, but years later his conviction was overturned. Ferguson was released from prison.

A representative for Zellner's firm said Friday the firm isn't yet commenting on the Bentonville case.

The case recently received national attention because Bentonville police want information from Bates' Echo device that was in his home. Amazon has been reluctant to turn over the information.

Bates told police three men -- Collins, Owen McDonald and Sean Henry -- went to his house Nov. 21 to watch football. Henry left at 11 p.m., and the other three went to the outdoor hot tub where they drank beer and vodka, according to an affidavit.

Bates told police he went to bed at 1 a.m. and called 911 at 9:30 a.m. when he found Collins' body, according to the affidavit. Bates told police McDonald and Collins were in the hot tub when he went to bed.

McDonald told police he left at 12:30 a.m. to walk home, but a person picked him up and gave him a ride, according to the affidavit. Dispatch records show a 911 call from a nurse who spotted a man near Southwest Cabernet and Southwest Elm Manor and because of the cold went back to pick him up.

Police and medics found Collins, who appeared to have a black eye, dead in the hot tub, according to a probable cause affidavit. The rim of the hot tub and concrete patio appeared to have been sprayed recently with water.

Police found Collins' broken prescription eyeglasses, his wedding ring, a broken shot glass and several jet head covers when they drained the hot tub.

Bates had bruises and scratches on his shoulder, back and stomach, according to court documents.

NW News on 01/14/2017

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