Sen. Linda Collins.Photo: Danny Johnston/AP
Linda Collins’sudden and suspicious deathshocked the nation. On June 4, 2019 — mere months after leaving office as an Arkansas state senator — the ex-politician was found dead with stab wounds outside her Pocahontas home.
Investigators quickly took up the case, battling the immediate question on everyone’s minds: Was Collins' murder a personal manner or a result of her political career?
Collins was a fairly recent divorcée recovering from a heated state Senate race in which she lost the primary election, leaving a couple of potential murder motives on the public’s minds. Still, her family could not have foreseen someone carrying out such a violent crime against her.
Less than two weeks into the investigation, authorities hadarrested a suspect: Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell, aclose friendand political aide to Collins. Her motive, prosecutors alleged, was to cover up a financial crime she had committed against the victim.
Linda Collins and Rebecca O’Donnell.Facebook
O’Donnell was “like a sister” to Collins, according to the suspect’s fiancé, yet in 2020 she pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in Collins' killing. She also pleaded “no contest” to two counts ofsolicitation to commit capital murder in another countyafter being accused of ordering a hit on Collins' ex-husband and his new wife from behind bars.
This week’s episode ofDateline NBC, titled “The Hands of a Killer,” explores Collins' shocking murder and the perplexing investigation that led to her killer. An exclusive preview of the special is below.
Dateline’s “The Hands of a Killer” premieres Friday, April 8, at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
The two-hour special features interviews with Collins' children, Butch and Tate; Randolph County Sheriff Kevin Bell; Arkansas state Sen. Gary Stubblefield; and others close to the late politician.
source: people.com
