In connection with 2024 death of Mark Ault: Collins sentenced to 120 days in prison, probation with 14-year back up

Last week Lorie “Shannon” Collins, 50, of Gainesville, walked into the Ozark County Courthouse with her public defender Chase Opolka and officially accepted a plea agreement in connection with an incident last year that ultimately led to the death of her longtime boyfriend, Mark Ault. 

During the hearing, held Feb. 5, before Circuit Judge Craig Carter, Collins confirmed that pursuant to the agreement with Prosecuting Attorney Lee Pipkins, she wanted to submit an Alford guilty plea to tampering with a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in death, both class D felonies. 

An Alford plea means that Collins does not admit that she is guilty of the crimes, but she believes that a jury of her peers would likely convict her of the harsher second-degree murder charge that was originally filed against her. 

Even though Collins does not admit to committing the crimes, she is able to be sentenced the same as if she had submitted a normal guilty plea. 

The agreement with the state was that Collins would submit the Alford plea in exchange for the harsher murder charge being dismissed and her being sentenced to 7 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on each of the other class D felonies, with the counts to be served consecutively.

However, that sentencing was made under the Missouri Revised Statute 559.115, which means that Collins’ is actually only ordered to complete a 120-day shock prison sentence with the Missouri Department of Corrections. Then, she will be released on probation. The two 7-year sentences will act as a sort of “back up,” and if Collins’ violates her probation after being released from the four month shock prison stay, the judge has the authority to execute the sentences and send her back to the pen.

If she had been convicted of second-degree murder, Collins would have faced sentencing of up to 30 years in prison. 

A note on the online court records says that Ault’s family was present in court and approved the plea offer before it was accepted.

A memorandum says that Collins will also owe $330.50 in court fees and $14,000 in restitution. The March 23-25 jury trial has been stricken from the court’s calendar due to the plea agreement and sentencing. 

Original allegations

According to the probable cause statement, prepared by Ozark County Sheriff Cass Martin, around 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 12, 2024, the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department dispatch office received a call from a reporting party who said an individual had been run over by a motor vehicle, at Collins’ and Ault’s shared residence six miles west of Gainesville on Highway 160 near Locust Road. 

The sheriff says when he arrived on scene, he found Ault lying on the ground with a pool of blood around his head.  

A woman on scene, referred to as witness #1 in the court documents, reportedly told the officer that she’d seen Collins in the driver’s seat of Ault’s vehicle while he held onto the driver’s side door of the SUV. The witness said she heard the engine rev up and saw Ault pull open the driver’s side door.

In response, she said Collins reportedly accelerated the vehicle and then braked quickly, causing him to fly off of the SUV and land hard on the ground near the front of the car, sustaining significant head trauma. The woman said Collins circled back to the area and then left the scene. 

Another witness, who was reportedly driving by the home at the time, said he saw the vehicle go by with the victim hanging onto the passenger’s side door while he was attempting to get into the vehicle. That witness also said they saw Collins driving the vehicle at the time and that she had left the scene. 

Ault was life-flighted to Cox Hospital in Springfield, where he later died.