By CASEY RYAN VOCK
Contributing Writer
OLMSTEDVILLE — After nearly 30 years, Thomas Anthony Collard has confessed to killing his wife, June Marion Collard, and disposing of her body.
Capt. Robert LaFountain, who heads the State Police Troop B Bureau of Criminal Investigation, said Tuesday that a warrant was issued for the arrest of Mr. Collard and he will be charged with second-degree murder in the death of his wife, whom he reported missing Nov. 27, 1980.
Mr. Collard, who is currently being held without bail in the Geneva County Jail in Alabama, was interviewed by investigators Tuesday and admitted to murdering his wife and disposing of the body, LaFountain said.
Mr. Collard, who now resides in Samson, Ala., is being held on unrelated charges and will be charged first as a fugitive from justice before the murder charge is brought against him.
Mrs. Collard, a 30-year-old mother of three children, was last seen Nov. 25, 1980, in Olmstedville, southern Essex County. Mr. Collard reported her missing two days later.
Around the time of her disappearance, Mr. Collard told authorities that his wife was then dating a man named Mike, later telling police that his wife had moved to Texas with the man.
Johnny Hopkins of Willsboro, one of Mrs. Collard's five brothers, was told of the pending arrest by State Police Tuesday.
"We are all relieved," Hopkins said, referring to his family, pointing out that Mrs. Collard was one of his four sisters.
"We're not that surprised it was (Mr. Collard). We kind of suspected this when it happened."
Hopkins spent summers with his sister and her husband and described Mr. Collard as a "good-sized guy" who was "firm."
"He had a temper on him," Hopkins said. "It's just the way he was."
Hopkins described his sister as a "nice, quiet" woman, who always put her children first.
"When she disappeared, that was strange in itself," he said.
Hopkins said he spoke Tuesday with one of his nieces, Tammy Vanderworker of Warrensburg.
"She has some closure, but she is waiting for her father to come back up here and show us where the body is so we can give her mother a proper burial," he said.
Family members are hopeful that Mr. Collard will be extradited to New York state and will agree to show authorities where he hid his wife's body.
Hopkins said it may be a few weeks before that process begins, but added that the most grueling part — the wondering — is over.
"We've always searched, especially with June's kids, and hoped that something would come up that (police) would investigate," he continued. "It's been an on-and-off thing for years. I was shocked to get the call telling me they'd closed the case."
Mr. Collard has been the focus of the murder investigation for the past several years, LaFountain said.
Investigators Karen L. DuFour and Scott T. Weightman traveled to Florida and Alabama earlier in the week as part of the investigation.
"This exemplifies the dedication and perseverance of the Troop B Violent Crimes Investigation Team and the investigators assigned to these cases in bringing a 30-year-old case to justice," LaFountain said.
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