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ghosttruck

Level 57 Taco Wizard
full


Here's the news from my backyard...I've actually had a few dealings with her...if you think her picture looks crazy she could top it IRL. Now I'm just wondering who she pissed off!

A former Arkansas state senator reportedly was found shot dead inside her home Tuesday, prompting police to launch a homicide investigation.

The body of Linda Collins-Smith, a Republican, was discovered Tuesday night at her home in Pocahontas, about 130 miles northeast of Little Rock, her former press secretary, Ken Yang, told KATV. Yang said the death is being investigated as a murder and that neighbors reported hearing gunshots a day or two before the body was found.

“I am in shock over the news of Sen. Linda Collins-Smith’s death,” Arkansas Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin tweeted. “I am heartbroken for her family & friends as they grieve, & my thoughts & prayers are with them during this tragic time."

Collins-Smith’s remains, according to KATV, were found wrapped in a blanket.

The 57-year-old former Republican state senator represented the 19th district in Arkansas from 2014 until 2019. She lost her party's primary last year.

She originally was a member of the state’s Democratic Party before switching over to the Republican side in 2011.

“To so many of us, Senator Linda Collins-Smith was more than just a colleague. She was a friend and warm person,” the Democratic Party of Arkansas tweeted.

 
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the woman accused in the murder of former Arkansas Sen. Linda Collins-Smith.
[....]
O’Donnell, once an aide to Collins-Smith and an employee of the former senator's business, is being held without bond on charges of capital murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence.

It was not immediately clear from available public records what prompted police to charge O'Donnell with abuse of a corpse. In an unusual move for a criminal proceeding, the judge in the case issued a gag order barring prosecutors and defense attorneys from discussing specific details of the case.
[....]
The condition of Collins-Smith's body "prevented any immediate positive identification," Randolph County Sheriff Kevin Bell told reporters in June.

An autopsy determined that Collins-Smith died of multiple stab wounds, according to the affidavit. In addition, her body had been moved from inside the home to the driveway and was in an "advanced state of decomposition" by the time it was found.
[....]
During her arraignment Tuesday, O'Donnell acknowledged that she understood the charges, and her attorney entered a not guilty plea on her behalf.

Prosecutors announced during the hearing that they plan on seeking capital punishment for Collins-Smith's murder.

After the 25-minute hearing concluded, O'Donnell began to cry as she looked back at her daughters, who were sitting in the front row. She then mouthed "I love you" before she was led out of the courtroom.

Additional details on the crime have not been released, and the judge has placed a gag order on the attorneys about speaking about specifics on the case, the prosecutor and one of O'Donnell's defense attorneys told reporters outside of the courthouse.

A trial date has not yet been set.

 
Soooo, from jail, she wanted to arrange to have 4 people murdered (one staged as a suicide) her car blown up, and for the murder/staged suicide of the senators ex-husband, they would receive payment by stealing a "bag" of gold OR silver as payment from the victim. . In essence, the man would be paying for his own murder.
And she shares this shitty plan with 4 inmates, as caught lawbreakers are universally renowned for their trustworthiness.

I've really had my fill of arrogant delusional soulless people.
 
The woman accused of killing a former Arkansas state senator has pleaded not guilty to new charges.
[....]
The new charges levied by Jackson County are two counts of solicitation to commit capital murder and two counts of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence.
[....]
Defense attorney Lee Short dismissed the new charges almost immediately after they were filed, telling ABC News that high-profile homicide cases can bring jailhouse informants out of the woodwork.

"It's not surprising at all -- inmates do it all the time," Short told ABC News at the time. "In high-profile cases, especially homicides, people tend to seek opportunities to improve their situations by giving statements against people."

O'Donnell's lawyers on Wednesday waived a formal arraignment and entered a plea of not guilty.

Moments later, Judge John Fogleman allowed attorneys representing ABC News to intervene, hearing arguments from the defense, the state, and counsel for ABC News on the issue of lifting or modifying a gag order that restricts the release of case documents connected to O'Donnell's prosecution.

"It's important that the public be given the full opportunity to watch the justice system in action and understand the charges and what is being alleged," said John Tull, who's representing ABC News and the Arkansas Press Association.

Enacted hours after Collins-Smith's body was found, the gag order issued June 5 resulted in any and all records -- "affadavits, law enforcement reports, documents, recordings, statements, search warrants, crime lab reports, medical examiner reports" -- be sealed until a court rules otherwise.
[....]
Six months after O'Donnell's arrest, ABC News filed a motion requesting the opportunity to argue against the order. The former presiding judge, David Goodson, denied that motion without a hearing. A week later, Goodson recused himself from the case.

Last month, ABC News asked newly appointed Judge John Fogleman to reconsider that motion, on First Amendment grounds, and Tull argued on Wednesday that “the public and the professional press have the right to observe the criminal justice system at work."

Newly appointed prosecuting attorney Robert Dittrich disagreed.

"I believe my chance of seeding an impartial jury will be seriously impacted if the seal is lifted," he told the court. "If there is more reporting, there will be more chattering, more this, more that. I believe that it's adding fuel to the fire."

The defense team also opposed lifting the orders.

"The purposes of this trial, to achieve justice, are not going to be advanced by opening up investigatory documents," Short said.

Fogleman announced during court that he'd be filing a new order to seal, supplanting the previous two orders, stipulating that any document must undergo his review before being placed under seal.

"In this case, involving the death of a senator and former representative ... and where the death penalty is being sought, the court recognizes the considerable interest from the press," Fogleman said. "Sometimes constitutional rights can collide with one another, and in this case that is [freedom of the press] with the defendant's right to a fair trial by an impartial jury."

Fogleman also modified the gag order, lifting the order barring disclosure from officials at the medical examiner's office, the Arkansas crime lab and the Arkansas Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The judge ruled that the trial addressing the Jackson County charges would be scheduled for November or December 2020, only after the murder trial had concluded.

O'Donnell's next scheduled court appearance is Feb 28.

 
POCAHONTAS, Ark. (KAIT) - The woman accused of killing a former Arkansas state senator at her home in Pocahontas will spend the next 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to her murder.
[....]
Rebecca “Becky” O’Donnell previously pleaded not guilty to capital murder in the death of Linda Collins.
During a court hearing at the Randolph County Courthouse on Thursday, O’Donnell changed her plea to guilty of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse.

“I went to Linda’s house, and I intentionally killed her and then hid the body,” O’Donnell told the judge, according to our content partner KATV’s Janelle Lilley, who was also in the courtroom.

She also pleaded “no contest” to two counts of solicitation to commit capital murder in the Jackson County case. The plea will be treated as a guilty plea. according to Lilley.

O’Donnell remained stoic as Judge John Fogleman reviewed the plea deal. She answered his questions calmly with no display of emotion. Neither Collins nor O’Donnell’s family members showed any emotion as she entered her plea.

After reviewing the case, Fogleman sentenced O’Donnell to a total of 50 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections:
  • 40 years on the first charge of murder and 3 years on the charge of abusing a corpse.
  • He also sentenced her to 7 years each for the two Jackson County charges of solicitation to commit capital murder.
  • The two Jackson County charges will run concurrently (same time) but will be added to the Randolph County sentence of 43 years for a total of 50 years.
[....]

 
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