Royal Oak

Details emerge against pair charged in murder

By Heidi Roman
C & G Staff Writer

ROYAL OAK — Lois Hillebrand can’t pinpoint what it was about the man and woman trying to earn cash for food and rent, but something about them made her nervous.

She wasn’t the only one who had a bad inkling Nov. 20. Leah Storto’s tension mounted as minutes ticked by and she didn’t hear back from her dear cousin — who felt more like a sister.

Several witnesses painted a picture of uneasiness as they testified during the preliminary exam against Alan Wood, 48, and Tonia Watson, 40, in Royal Oak’s 44th District Court Jan. 27. The exam was delayed until March because one witness is on medical leave.

For some witnesses, their gut told them something was amiss before the facts did. Nancy Dailey, 80, was murdered inside her home on Trafford in what police believe was a robbery at the hands of Wood and Watson. Dailey allegedly paid the transient pair to rake her leaves the weekend she was killed.

Storto, who talked to Dailey three or four times a day, was trying to reach her between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. to tell her about a show that was on TV that night. It was unusual that Dailey didn’t answer after several messages.

“I believe I said, ‘It’s important Nancy, please call me,’” Storto testified. “I said, “Nancy, if you don’t call me back within five minutes, I’m coming over.’ I said to my grandson, “Something is drastically wrong.’”

She called her cousin “over and over and over” until about 7:50 p.m., when she took the short drive over to the Trafford home. Dailey, who was unmarried and had no children, lived alone in the house.

Her worry didn’t subside when she pulled into the drive and noticed the garage door had been left open. In the frantic minutes that followed, Storto banged on windows and doors at the home, calling out her cousin’s name. She had a key to the home, but couldn’t get it to work.

She ran to several neighbors’ homes, looking for help and getting no answer.

“I was calling, ‘Please help me, please help me. There’s something wrong with my
cousin and I can’t get into her house,’” she testified.

Two driveways down, neighbor Steven Schram arrived home and was able to help Storto get into Dailey’s home with the key.

Dailey was lying facedown in a pool of blood between her bedroom and a hallway. Schram, a Detroit police officer, said the victim was already dead.

Shortly after the killing, police charged Wood and Watson with felony murder and other felony charges.

Several witnesses at their preliminary exam recalled seeing the pair in the neighborhood
around the time of Dailey’s death.

Hillebrand, a neighbor of Dailey’s for about 25 years, remembered Wood and Watson,
who were “not exactly well dressed,” asking if they could rake her leaves for money Nov.
19. They told her their home had burned down and they needed rent money.

Hillebrand declined the offer, but saw them in the neighborhood the next day. Dailey, it appeared, had taken them up on the offer.

“He (Wood) said something to me, but I don’t know what,” the neighbor testified. “I was afraid of him … For some reason, I wanted them to know I had an alarm system.”

Police said Wood and Watson had targeted Dailey for a robbery. They allegedly took her credit cards and used them three times after the murder. Surveillance cameras captured their images. Wood and Watson had been staying at a motel on Woodward Avenue.

Both suspects have lengthy criminal pasts and were on parole from prison at the time.

They are being held without bond as the case continues.
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Heidi Roman at hroman@candgnews.com or at (586)218-5006.