Man details beating while cross-country skiing

STEVENSON, Wash. - A man told a jury Monday about the day he was brutally beaten and left for dead while cross-country skiing.
 
Kevin Tracey was asked by prosecutors to stand up in the witness stand and see if either of his attackers was in court. Tracey pointed to Michael Collins who is charged with first-degree attempted murder and robbery and faces life in prison without parole. His 17-year-old son, Teven, is also charged with trying to kill Tracey but agreed to testify against his father in exchange for an eight-year prison sentence.

Tracey said it was Michael Collins who, after the beating, tried to strangle the life out of him while he was cross-country skiing near Dougan Falls along the upper Washougal River.

“The individual behind me, which I believe was this individual, produced a small, thin rope – nylon cord – put it around my neck, and pulled in opposite directions as hard as they could – strangling me and choking off my air,” Tracey said. “Strangely enough, at that point, you leave the attack mentally. … You know, strangely, the main thought at that point was ‘you gotta be kidding me, this is how I’m gonna go, this is how it’s gonna end?’”

Tracey was near tears as he described his ordeal, or as he put it, he wasn’t just describing it, he was reliving it.
Court adjourned with Tracey still on the stand.

Teven Collins will be the last prosecution witness later this week and Michael Collins’ attorney has told the court Michael will not testify in his own defense.