Nebraska prosecutors to pursue death penalty in only one of two grisly small-town killings

By JOSH FUNK
Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska prosecutors have decided not to seek the death penalty in the December killing of a Catholic priest inside his home, but are pursuing execution in the brutal killing of a retiree during a break-in that happened in the same tiny town four months earlier. Kierre Williams has been charged with fatally stabbing the Rev. Stephen Gutgsell during a break-in at the church rectory in Fort Calhoun on Dec. 10. William Collins, meanwhile, was charged with shooting Linda Childers with a crossbow three times before slitting her throat after breaking into her home in August. Prosecutors have said Childers’ killing was especially heinous and cruel.