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Speaker 1: Hi, guys, Nancy Grace here welcome back to Killers amongst Us,

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Speaker 1: a production of iHeartMedia and Crime Online. As we watch

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Speaker 1: celebrities and politicians on TV listen to them on radio,

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Speaker 1: do you ever wonder don't they make enemies in this

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Speaker 1: line of business? Short answer, Yes, I'm Nancy Grace. Thanks

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Speaker 1: for being with us for Killers amongst Us, Believe it

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Speaker 1: or not, killers even walking the halls of government. Linda

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Speaker 1: Colins Smith, beautiful blonde, big blue eyes, sets politics on

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Speaker 1: a fire in the middle of an acrimonious divorce. Tragedy strikes. Listen.

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Speaker 1: I was the one that found my mother's body on

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Speaker 1: June fourth, twenty nineteen at her home. She was lying

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Speaker 1: face down, wrapped one of my old comforters and shoved

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Speaker 1: ther ain't the tarp in her driveway. I will never

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Speaker 1: not be able to see that picture burned in my brain,

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Speaker 1: the smell of a dead body laying outside, wrapped up

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Speaker 1: in that and that's harp for approximately a week in

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Speaker 1: the Arkansas summer, this swarm of flies that fay out

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Speaker 1: and surrounded me, the sight of her white blonde hair

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Speaker 1: moving because the number of maggots crawling on her scalp

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Speaker 1: The last memory of her that I have was a

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Speaker 1: me making nine one one call and trying not to

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Speaker 1: vomit at the sight and smell my mother's body. That

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Speaker 1: is Linda Collins smith Son Butch speaking with me an

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Speaker 1: All Star panel, Ken Yang, former press Secretary, Senator Missy Irvine,

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Speaker 1: Arkansas State Senator. Longtime friends of Linda Collins, judge, trial lawyer,

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Speaker 1: court TV anchor Ashley Wilcott, doctor Angela Arnold, psychiatrist out

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Speaker 1: of Atlanta, Professor Fat Jacksonville State University, Joseph Scott, Morgan,

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Speaker 1: private eye Derek Ellington, and Crime online dot Com investigative

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Speaker 1: reporter Levi Page. Levi to hear Butch speaking about finding

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Speaker 1: his mother is excruciating. What did the neighbors say they

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Speaker 1: heard or saw? Yeah, So there were a lot of

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Speaker 1: rumors going around Nancy that there was actually that she

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Speaker 1: was a gunshot victim, that she had been shot, but

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Speaker 1: that later turned out not to be true. She was

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Speaker 1: stabbed multiple times and what led to the finding of

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Speaker 1: her body is May twenty eighth was the last time

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Speaker 1: she posted on social media. Her friends and family were

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Speaker 1: reaching out to her, they couldn't get a hold of her,

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Speaker 1: and it's June fourth, after days of not being able

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Speaker 1: to get ahold of her, they go and find the body.

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Speaker 1: And I'm talking about her son and her father, and

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Speaker 1: that nine one one call is very emotional with her son.

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Speaker 1: And when the body was discovered and law enforcement started

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Speaker 1: investigating this case, you know, the one place that they

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Speaker 1: started was her ex husband, because in every case that

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Speaker 1: we cover, Nancy, you look at how was the relationship

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Speaker 1: with the husband or the ex husband, and if it

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Speaker 1: was bitter, if they were going through a tough, bitter divorce,

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Speaker 1: that means that law enforcement is going to zero in

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Speaker 1: on that to see what they can find out. Well,

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Speaker 1: it's my understanding it didn't take too long, under an hour.

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Speaker 1: I've been told before. The judge as he is often

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Speaker 1: still called, was taken in for questioning. To ask you, Wilcott,

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Speaker 1: why why wouldn't you take the husband in for questioning? Nancy?

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Speaker 1: You're always going to do that now. First of all,

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Speaker 1: why because often people are killed by someone close to them.

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Speaker 1: And second, in this case, let's not forget this is

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Speaker 1: a husband who's no longer on the bench because of

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Speaker 1: something we suspect accessing divorced documents and making changes to him.

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Speaker 1: So it was acrimonious. It is well documented that they

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Speaker 1: had a very long, contentious divorce. He'd be at the

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Speaker 1: top of my leg. You know, it's really statistics. You

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Speaker 1: can look and you see, Jessica Morgan, you're a death investigator.

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Speaker 1: That's so often we start with a husband and there's

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Speaker 1: a very good reason for that. Yeah, you got that right, Nancy.

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Speaker 1: You know, media would have us believe that it's going

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Speaker 1: to happen in some dark alley, some strangers going to

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Speaker 1: come up and kill Listen, Statistically, you're more at risk

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Speaker 1: with a person that you're in bed with then you

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Speaker 1: are some stranger coming up to kill you. I gotta

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Speaker 1: tell you, it's going to be that circle of intimates,

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Speaker 1: those people that surround you, and as investigators, that's why

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Speaker 1: we target those individuals to begin with with the investigation,

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Speaker 1: who had motive, means, opportunity access, all of these things

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Speaker 1: go into this recipe that we create. You know, when

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Speaker 1: we're trying to investigate at homicide. I'm sure you all

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Speaker 1: remember the Jody Arias murder case where Jody Areas stabbed

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Speaker 1: or lover Travis Alexander we think twenty nine times and

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Speaker 1: then shot him in the head. It was anger stabbings.

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Speaker 1: I call them to jury's sweetheart murders. It certainly doesn't

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Speaker 1: mean you're being sweet to the victim, but you have

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Speaker 1: to be up close and personal to the victim to

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Speaker 1: stab them. And in this case, Joe Scott, we're gonna

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Speaker 1: we learn Linda Collins was not shot by a sniper

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Speaker 1: or someone at fifty feet. She was stabbed multiple times.

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Speaker 1: Joe Scott, Yeah, she was, and that makes this all

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Speaker 1: the more intimate. Nancy, you know that, you know listen,

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Speaker 1: it's one thing. You mentioned the words sniper just a

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Speaker 1: second ago. It's one thing to shoot some people at range, okay,

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Speaker 1: say ten feet away from you. But when you can

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Speaker 1: be in that person's face, you can actually sense their

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Speaker 1: last breath blown out upon your body as you're driving

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Speaker 1: a knife into their chest, that's something completely different. That

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Speaker 1: goes to a whole another level of rage. Anger, and

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Speaker 1: it's a bloody mess. Nancy, make no mistake about this.

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Speaker 1: If we're looking at the forensics of this, wherever this succurred,

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Speaker 1: there would be blood evidence here. To Ken Yang, the

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Speaker 1: former press secretary for Linda Collins now the spokesperson for

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Speaker 1: Collins family, when you first learned that Linda was the body.

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Speaker 1: It was Linda wrapped in carpet, covered in a tarp

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Speaker 1: at the end of her driveway. What did you think?

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Speaker 1: You know, my my initial thoughn is who who could

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Speaker 1: have done this to Linda? Um? You know they live

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Speaker 1: in a you know, relatively safe, small community. Via Linda

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Speaker 1: had enemies, but you just never think that this would

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Speaker 1: happen to someone that you know. You know, I personally

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Speaker 1: worked for their prosecue attorney's office in my home county

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Speaker 1: for five years, so I've seen things like this, and

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Speaker 1: you know, I just didn't couldn't believe it because I

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Speaker 1: had just been texting with Linda, you know, not too

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Speaker 1: long ago. How did you learn, Ken, How did you

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Speaker 1: learn that it was in fact Linda's body? Um? You know,

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Speaker 1: I I had received several text messages that a body

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Speaker 1: had been found at her house. UM. And you know

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Speaker 1: I hadn't worked for Linda for a few years, but

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Speaker 1: you know, the last thing that she had sent out

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Speaker 1: still had my name on it, and so people were

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Speaker 1: contacting me, and you know, I believed that the son

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Speaker 1: and the daughter reached out to me about a day

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Speaker 1: or so later, asking me if I would officially represent

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Speaker 1: them to inoculate them from from the media. And so

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Speaker 1: you know, I had no reason not to believe the

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Speaker 1: son to believe Butch who had found them. And you

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Speaker 1: know you had you had alluded to you know that

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Speaker 1: he had said, he'll never be able to you know,

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Speaker 1: get that picture. May will not be able to see

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Speaker 1: that picture burned into his brain. And if I may,

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Speaker 1: you know, the quote continues from Butsch this is what

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Speaker 1: the murderer left for the son and the father to find.

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Speaker 1: The smell of the dead body quote. The smell of

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Speaker 1: the dead body laying outside, wrapped up and under her

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Speaker 1: tart for approximately a week in hot Arkansas summer was

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Speaker 1: nausea inducing in it of itself. The storm of flies

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Speaker 1: that flew out surrounded me, the sight of her white

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Speaker 1: blonde hair moving because of the number of maggots quawling

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Speaker 1: on her. That's the last memory of her that I

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Speaker 1: will have. As I was making that, I don't want

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Speaker 1: one call oh ken, oh ken, that you know to

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Speaker 1: you doctor Angela Arnolds psychiatrist. He is an adult, that's true,

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Speaker 1: but even an adult child to see the one that

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Speaker 1: has loved them the most in this world, their mother,

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Speaker 1: and this condition I mean I still to this day

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Speaker 1: remember the moment my dad passed away. I'm glad I

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Speaker 1: was with him, but that moment is forever in my mind,

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Speaker 1: much less what this son had to go through Angela.

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Speaker 1: I can't even imagine it. And he's definitely going to

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Speaker 1: need some treatment for that because that could cause a

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Speaker 1: post traumatic stress disorder for him. I mean, even when

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Speaker 1: I was reading about it, and I'm sure that other

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Speaker 1: people felt the same way, it was very difficult to

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Speaker 1: read about, especially the part about the maggots making her

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Speaker 1: hair move would probably means her face had been eaten

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Speaker 1: away at this point, so hard to take it in, yes,

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Speaker 1: and for that to be the last vision of his mother,

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Speaker 1: I don't know how he's ever going to be able

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Speaker 1: to wipe that memory from his mind. Law enforcement now

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Speaker 1: with the task of determining who murdered Linda Collins Smith,

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Speaker 1: of course, the judge her husband in the middle of

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Speaker 1: an acrimonious divorces taken in. But then think of all

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Speaker 1: the hours of investigation to Senator Missy Irvin, Arkansas Arkansas

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Speaker 1: State Senator and dear friend of Linda Collins, all the enemies,

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Speaker 1: all the death threats, all the insults and criticisms have

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Speaker 1: to be sifted through because of her position as an

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Speaker 1: elected politician. Yes, Nancy, you know when I first heard it,

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Speaker 1: and of course a B I mean, I really, in

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Speaker 1: my heart knew it was probably Linda because I represented

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Speaker 1: Pocahontas in Randolph County when I first was elected with Linda,

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Speaker 1: she was in the House of Representatives and I was

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Speaker 1: in the Senate. So that's how I met her. Was

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Speaker 1: on the campaign trail, so we were together all the time,

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Speaker 1: and you know, it was a it's a beautiful town

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Speaker 1: that the people are very gracious and wonderful, quiet town,

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Speaker 1: and so you know, when you hear this, my immediate

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Speaker 1: reaction was this was a crime of passion, and it's

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Speaker 1: a crime of intimacy and a crime of passion. And

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Speaker 1: of course, Butch knew. He knows the essence of his mother,

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Speaker 1: and so you know, we knew. I knew right away.

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Speaker 1: I think that was Linda. But you do have enemies,

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Speaker 1: and you have to question. I've you know, people are

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Speaker 1: attracted to us as politicians for various reasons, because they

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Speaker 1: admire qualities about us, or we say things that they

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Speaker 1: want to say but they can't say them, or they

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Speaker 1: don't feel bold enough to say them. So we become

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Speaker 1: that and there becomes an attraction I think too people

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Speaker 1: in our positions and you gather friendships, but you sometimes

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Speaker 1: don't know these people. You know. I was at a

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Speaker 1: campaign event one time and took a picture with a

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Speaker 1: man who came up to me and said, I love you,

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Speaker 1: Senator Irvin. You're great. I just appreciate what you do.

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Speaker 1: Can I take a picture with you and I'm going

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Speaker 1: to vote for you? And I was like, great, thank

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Speaker 1: you so much. An hour later, the Clevelande County Sheriff's

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Speaker 1: Department called me because she posted it on Facebook and said,

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Speaker 1: Senator Irvin, you are in a picture with a level

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Speaker 1: four sex offender. Oh, dear lord, and so you know,

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Speaker 1: it just shocks you. But that happens, and it happens

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Speaker 1: quite frequently, So you know, and you don't know who

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Speaker 1: these people are. You don't know what their backgrounds are,

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Speaker 1: You don't know if you can trust them or not.

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Speaker 1: But you know they befriend you. You are befriended so

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Speaker 1: and so, and I heard this. It was a crime

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Speaker 1: of passion. So she's really surrounded by people she doesn't

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Speaker 1: know or doesn't know their motives to Darry Ellington, You've

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Speaker 1: got the husband in the middle of a divorce, She've

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Speaker 1: got all the nuts that she has met in her

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Speaker 1: political career. You've got her running businesses, and not only that,

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Speaker 1: you've got her traveling back and forth and back and

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Speaker 1: forth on long haul tricks to the Capitol and little right,

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Speaker 1: many many times. For all we know, someone could have

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Speaker 1: easily followed her from one of the motels from Rock

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Speaker 1: and very simply just broken in and tried to rape

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Speaker 1: her and killed her. And at this point her body's

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Speaker 1: so decomposed, you may never know that answer, Derry Ellington,

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Speaker 1: there are many many possibilities. Well, and Nancy, what we

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Speaker 1: say now in this day and age, every crime is

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Speaker 1: a computer crime, and we credit law enforcement for having

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Speaker 1: a lot of resources at their disposal to quickly go

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Speaker 1: down the list of suspects. But seems like you know,

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Speaker 1: cell phone GPS data, text messages, location data, emails, law

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Speaker 1: enforcement has the ability to gather all that together very quickly,

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Speaker 1: and looking at the case file, I'm going to be

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Speaker 1: very interested to see the extent of the electronic evidence

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Speaker 1: they have and some of which they reference but not

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Speaker 1: allowed us to, you know, to review if they've not

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Speaker 1: put it into public yet. I mean the reality is

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Speaker 1: actually Wilcott trial trial lawyer and judge court TV anchor,

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Speaker 1: I mean, the possibilities are endless. Is suspickpool is large? Gosh,

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Speaker 1: this is a unique case to me, Nancy, and it's

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Speaker 1: because of what Joe goot Morgan said earlier statistically as

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Speaker 1: someone you know. But when you add to that exactly

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Speaker 1: what the senator just shared and all of the public

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Speaker 1: and publicity and passion around political topic subjects advocacy, it

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Speaker 1: is limitless. I mean, this is a needle in a

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Speaker 1: haystack in terms of the potential perpetrators out there, and

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Speaker 1: especially with the body decomposure at this level, it's going

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Speaker 1: to be hard to get any type even touch a

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Speaker 1: DNA from the body. Then in the midst of the investigation,

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Speaker 1: a love triangle emerges. Linda Collins Smith and Rebecca O'Donnell's

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Speaker 1: relationship was intimate. They can find it in each other.

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Speaker 1: In fact, those who knew the pair, including Collins family,

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Speaker 1: said they were like sisters even though they weren't blood relations.

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Speaker 1: O'Donnell helped Collins with her twenty fourteen and twenty eighteen

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Speaker 1: election campaigns. They to each other socially, even going on

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Speaker 1: trips together. O'donald was even a witness in collins contentious

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Speaker 1: divorce proceedings. She testified about colins separation from her husband

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Speaker 1: of twelve years, Judge Philip Smith. She testified to Colin's

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Speaker 1: residency in Pocahontas and the eighteen month separation from Smith.

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Speaker 1: Smith did not contest the divorce. As news became public

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Speaker 1: that O'Donnell's boyfriend Tim Logins had financial power of attorney

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Speaker 1: for Collins, speculation began on just what was the exact

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Speaker 1: nature of the trio's relations. Were O'Donnell and Collins involved

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Speaker 1: in a love triangle? WHOA did not see that coming?

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Speaker 1: Leavi Page? First of all, who is the man Tim

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Speaker 1: Logins that has power of attorney for Collins? I mean

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Speaker 1: I would have assumed some lawyer or some real estate

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Speaker 1: lawyer would have had that. And then Login's girlfriend is

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Speaker 1: Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell and she works for Linda. So explain

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Speaker 1: to me who are these two individuals Loggins and O'Donnell.

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Speaker 1: So Loggins and O'Donnell they are fiancee, and Tim Loggins

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Speaker 1: was the power of attorney over Linda Collins? Smith and

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Speaker 1: Rebecca O'Donnell had worked for Linda Collins political campaigns twice

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Speaker 1: and she was a very good friend of hers. They

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Speaker 1: traveled together, they spoke to each other, communicated with each

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Speaker 1: other frequently. So you've got these two. One is her

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Speaker 1: power of attorney for financial reasons. The other his girlfriend

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Speaker 1: has worked for Linda for a long time. To Senator

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Speaker 1: Missy Irvin, did you know these two? I only knew

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Speaker 1: Tim Loggins through Facebook? There is there was an ash

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Speaker 1: that was I think it's Act seven forty six that

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Speaker 1: we passed in the General Assembly, and it was about

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Speaker 1: gun rights and and really kind of established an open

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Speaker 1: carry in the state of Arkansas. Um, it wasn't worded

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Speaker 1: completely correct clearly, but because of Act seven forty six,

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Speaker 1: there was a a face group face group Facebook group

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Speaker 1: that Tim Loggins was a part of and so, um

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Speaker 1: it's a big Facebook group and posts and there was

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Speaker 1: some interaction. I had some interaction with some of those folks. Okay,

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Speaker 1: So he was involved in the gun regulation or anti

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Speaker 1: gun regulation pursuit to Ken Yang for a press secretary

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Speaker 1: for Linda. Did you know these two? I did. I

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Speaker 1: actually knew Tim a lot better than I knew um Becky. Uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, they went to everywhere together. I had to

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Speaker 1: end up in uh pokehon as a believing who who

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Speaker 1: went everywhere together, Linda and Becky and Tim okay. So

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Speaker 1: they were friends. Um, yeah, there were there were close friends. Uh.

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Speaker 1: When Tim would come to the Capitol to speak on

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Speaker 1: gun legislation usually and Linda was around usually that Becky

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Speaker 1: was around two. Becky had worked on the campaign in

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Speaker 1: twenty eighteen event in pocohonas I believe in the twenty

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Speaker 1: eighteen and I had invited Linda, and Linda invited to

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Speaker 1: Becky and Tim to come with them, and so you know,

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Speaker 1: I didn't know them well, but I didn't know them.

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Speaker 1: There's a picture of them on her Facebook post and

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Speaker 1: what we call the Senate elevator, the small elevator, and

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Speaker 1: there's a picture of the three of them, and I

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Speaker 1: think it was taken when he came to testify because

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Speaker 1: Linda became the chair of the Judiciary committee because the

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Speaker 1: chair of that committee had to resign. Well, so they

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Speaker 1: did everything together, and Linda trusted Login so much she

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Speaker 1: made him financial power of attorney. And then of course

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Speaker 1: the girlfriend Rebecca O'Donnell had been working for her for years,

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Speaker 1: so the three of them spent a lot of time together.

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Speaker 1: Take a listen to our friends at Kai Regin eight

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Speaker 1: news silver and gold coins valuing thousands of dollars. The

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Speaker 1: file revealed O'Donnell sold fifteen thousand dollars worth of gold

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Speaker 1: coins and rings, and it's likely those same coins that

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Speaker 1: Phil Smith said we're missing when he was being interviewed

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Speaker 1: in his ex wife's murder. We also learned about trouble

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Speaker 1: between O'Donnell and Collins. O'Donnell reportedly told that police were

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Speaker 1: trying to prove that she was laundering money from the

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Speaker 1: hotel Collins owned with Phil Smith. She said Collins's dad

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Speaker 1: accused her of stealing, but O'Donnell said that wasn't the case.

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Speaker 1: Whoa fifteen thousand dollars of gold and silver coins and rings?

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Speaker 1: So I guess the judge Phil Smith wasn't all wrong.

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Speaker 1: Somebody stole the silver and gold, but it wasn't his

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Speaker 1: then wife Linda Collins. According to this source, it was

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Speaker 1: I guess her secretary, Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell. What about it?

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Speaker 1: Levin Greg Nancy Linda Collins. Smith's father suspected Rebecca O'Donnell,

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Speaker 1: and so did Linda Collins Smith, and there was some

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Speaker 1: tension there when they started suspecting her of stealing. What

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Speaker 1: was Rebecca's personality? What was she like? I'm gonna stump

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Speaker 1: in here because the Tim Loggins is a hothead. And

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Speaker 1: if you look on the Patriots of Act seven forty six,

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Speaker 1: I mean they're a little bit extreme. I mean I

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Speaker 1: am one Second Amendment person. I'm a very conservative person.

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Speaker 1: My grandpa was against this. But these people are off

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Speaker 1: the chain. And he, you know, he is an aggressive personality.

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Speaker 1: And somebody who has engaged with me on Facebook on

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Speaker 1: that post or has written things, you know, improperly about

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Speaker 1: me or other people on that Facebook past. Oh you

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Speaker 1: know what, That's something I've always told juries. If you

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Speaker 1: can't figure out what happened, find the nut in the scenario,

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Speaker 1: and that will be a big red flag. Ken Yang,

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Speaker 1: What can you so he's uh, let me just say,

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Speaker 1: rabid Second Amendment person that is not a killer make

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Speaker 1: ken Yang? What can you tell me about Rebecca o'donald.

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Speaker 1: You know, she was very nice. She was a definitely

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Speaker 1: a probably the most quiet out of out of the

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Speaker 1: three um but as the Senator Irvan alluded to, you know, Tim,

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Speaker 1: Tim was had had a bigger personality, spoke up more

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Speaker 1: at events or at gathern rings, as did Linda, and

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Speaker 1: you know, Becky typically did not did not do so,

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Speaker 1: but seemed relatively nice and was always very cordial and

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Speaker 1: very pleasant to Dan. Out of the blue, take a

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Speaker 1: listen to our friends at ABCGMA. More than a week

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Speaker 1: after the murder, O'Donnell and Loggins were on their way

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Speaker 1: to the memorial service for Colin Smith when they noticed

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Speaker 1: flashing lights. What did you think was happening when you

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Speaker 1: saw those lights? I mean, I don't know what's going on,

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Speaker 1: but it's obvious. They're stopping us with my son in

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Speaker 1: the truck, and we stop and they've got a R

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Speaker 1: fifteens pointed at us. You can see the look of

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Speaker 1: just uttered disbelief on her face that that was happening,

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Speaker 1: not knowing what's going on, You could just see it.

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Speaker 1: O'donald worked on Colin Smith's most recent campaign, and, according

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Speaker 1: to Logins, was the last person known to have seen

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Speaker 1: Colin Smith alive. I believe it was my twenty eight.

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Speaker 1: Tooklinda lunch, That's what she told me. Took her lunch

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Speaker 1: to her home. Yes, they were very close. You don't

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Speaker 1: understand Becky worked for Linda, but Linda was a family friend.

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Speaker 1: So here you've got the boyfriend telling police his girlfriend

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Speaker 1: is allowed this one he knows of with Linda Collins Smith.

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Speaker 1: What else does he have to say? It was like

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Speaker 1: Becky's sister. Linda was like my sister. You would classify

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Speaker 1: them as best friends. Yes, they were all so close

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Speaker 1: that Logan says O'Donnell was a corroborating witness in Colin

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Speaker 1: Smith's divorce, and he had power of attorney over Colin Smith,

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Speaker 1: overseeing some of her financial matters, and that has brought

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Speaker 1: him under some public scrutiny. I didn't want to do it,

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Speaker 1: but Linda needed to help, and you help a friend

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Speaker 1: when they need it. I never might have a nickel

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Speaker 1: off of helping Linda do any of that period. You're

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Speaker 1: telling me you never benefited from any of that, not

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Speaker 1: a nickel. Are you one hundred percent certain that your fiancee,

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Speaker 1: Becky had nothing to do with the murder of Linda Collins. Yes, Sam,

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Speaker 1: you had nothing to do with the murder of Linda Collins.

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Speaker 1: I did not. That sounds a little weak. To me, yes,

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Speaker 1: I am. I did not I would be throwing a

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Speaker 1: fit and lying on the courthouse steps screaming what else

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Speaker 1: do we learn? After o'donald's arrest, Colin Smith's family was stunned,

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Speaker 1: releasing a statement saying we are sickened and upset that

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Speaker 1: someone so close to Linda would be involved in such

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Speaker 1: a terrible, heartless crime. But Logins is asking for help

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Speaker 1: to clear his fiancee's name, saying he believes the real

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Speaker 1: killer is still out there. As it crossed your mind

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Speaker 1: for a moment, just in some late night alone, were

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Speaker 1: you question, well, maybe Becky is capable of this. Becky

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Speaker 1: is not capable of this. You haven't add every question

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Speaker 1: that at all. No. I mean either she is a

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Speaker 1: best actress in the world and a sociopath and completely

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Speaker 1: fooled me, or there's not a chance she did this,

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Speaker 1: not a chance she did it well. Just as Derek Ellington,

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Speaker 1: expert an online activity at ellington dot Net said, the

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Speaker 1: second thing you do, besides speaking to the husband and

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Speaker 1: the intimates is look at the computers. Take a listen

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Speaker 1: to Aaron Castleberry Kai TV Region eight new court documents

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Speaker 1: recently released, she had new light into the death of

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Speaker 1: former state Senator Linda Collins. Now, the records released today

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Speaker 1: showed Arkansas State Police investigators sought several search warrants for

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Speaker 1: computers and computer and phone records for the two. Now,

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Speaker 1: the affidavit states that o'donald told the ANSP investigator she

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Speaker 1: last saw Collins at her home on May twenty, twenty nineteen.

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Speaker 1: That's where they got into a verbal argument, according to

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Speaker 1: that affidavit, and she said that she had not seen

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Speaker 1: her since that night. Now, on June fourth, her fiance,

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Speaker 1: now that's Rebecca o'donald's fiance say, said that she had

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Speaker 1: visited to Collins's home several times that week, and Collins's

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Speaker 1: son even said that he saw o'donald at his mother's

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Speaker 1: home on June third. So to you, Derry Ellington, online

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Speaker 1: activity expert, what were they looking for? Well, some of

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Speaker 1: the things we would look for besides direct communications between

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Speaker 1: the two, such as takes as an emails, is location data.

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Speaker 1: And the location data can be used to impeach somebody's statement.

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Speaker 1: You know where I was where I wasn't. And so

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Speaker 1: when we talk about location data, we talk about things

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Speaker 1: like cell tower data that the police have access to

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Speaker 1: and then also things they can get from Apple, from

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Speaker 1: Android where when you're using your phone every day, it's

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Speaker 1: also collecting location information on you. And again that information

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Speaker 1: can be very powerful to put somebody in a place

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Speaker 1: and also if the person's lying about where they were.

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Speaker 1: Now take a listen to Aaron Castleberry Kai TV Regionate News.

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Speaker 1: O'donald also told investigators that Timmy Loggins had removed several

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Speaker 1: security cameras from collins As home prior to the murder,

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Speaker 1: because that they did because they did not work, and

426
00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:56,520
Speaker 1: said that Collins was going to go and say as

427
00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,000
Speaker 1: she could get a refund for them. Now, those cameras

428
00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:01,359
Speaker 1: were not found at Colls home. So back to you

429
00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:07,520
Speaker 1: leavi page, Let me understand. O'Donnell now tells police her lover,

430
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:11,360
Speaker 1: Tim Loggins, is the one that removed security cameras from

431
00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:14,680
Speaker 1: the home. That is correct, Nancy, And that is suspicious

432
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:19,080
Speaker 1: because she is last seen May twenty eight and those

433
00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:22,000
Speaker 1: cameras are gone and then she ends up dead. Is

434
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:26,359
Speaker 1: it a coincidence that those cameras were removed before she's killed?

435
00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:29,679
Speaker 1: It all comes to a culmination. Take a listen to

436
00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:35,920
Speaker 1: Diana Davis KAI Region AH Judge Foegelman asked her, tell

437
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:38,919
Speaker 1: us what you did. That was quite a striking moment

438
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,960
Speaker 1: there in the courtroom, and Rebecca responded with quote, I

439
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:47,560
Speaker 1: went to her, I intentionally killed her. O'Donnell was very

440
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:51,040
Speaker 1: calm in the courtroom this morning. She looked much thinner

441
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:54,399
Speaker 1: than when she was in here before. There was a

442
00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:57,480
Speaker 1: moment when she teared up in the courtroom, but it

443
00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,280
Speaker 1: was not when she was talking about what she did

444
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,320
Speaker 1: to Linda Collins. Now you will remember that the state

445
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,960
Speaker 1: had been seeking the death penalty in the case of O'Donnell,

446
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,480
Speaker 1: but now that is off the table as she enters

447
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:13,360
Speaker 1: plea agreements today here at the Randolph County Courthouse. Her

448
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,760
Speaker 1: children were in the courtroom, as well as the adult

449
00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:21,880
Speaker 1: children of former state Senator Linda Collins. How stunned were you,

450
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:27,440
Speaker 1: Ken Yang, former press secretary for Linda Collins, to discover

451
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:35,200
Speaker 1: this mousey young secretary for Linda Collins admits to murder.

452
00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:46,440
Speaker 1: It was just heartbreaking and absolutely unbelievable that someone that

453
00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:53,280
Speaker 1: Linda considered her best friend, that Linda considered her sister,

454
00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:59,000
Speaker 1: would would do something like this and do something that

455
00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:02,920
Speaker 1: did you know, obviously all of us that new Linda

456
00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:06,480
Speaker 1: but ultimately do something that affected her children and do

457
00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:12,440
Speaker 1: something that affected Linda's dad, who was her best friend.

458
00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:19,920
Speaker 1: And not only was it just just heartbreaking, but you know,

459
00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:28,280
Speaker 1: I'm Tuesday still angry about it too, that miss O'Donnell

460
00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:31,680
Speaker 1: is still here with us and Linda is not. In

461
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:35,200
Speaker 1: a bombshell plea deal that takes the death penalty off

462
00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:39,760
Speaker 1: the table. The former MOUSEI secretary of Linda Collins Smith

463
00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:46,040
Speaker 1: pleads guilty to her murder, getting fifty years for the

464
00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:52,800
Speaker 1: death of Linda. Was the motive all about greed, all

465
00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:56,520
Speaker 1: about money? What do you know, Levin Nancy, You are correct.

466
00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:01,760
Speaker 1: She actually admitted to stealing from Linda Collins Smith and

467
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:05,920
Speaker 1: back to the security cameras that I mentioned earlier. The

468
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,360
Speaker 1: police never found the cameras, but they were able to

469
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:12,280
Speaker 1: go back into the cloud storage where the security footage

470
00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:15,080
Speaker 1: inside the home. Everything is stored on a cloud. They

471
00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:17,520
Speaker 1: were able to get a subpoena. It got that footage

472
00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:22,160
Speaker 1: and it showed Rebecca O'Donnell walking around Linda Collins Smith's

473
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:24,840
Speaker 1: home with a bloody knife and blood on her fan.

474
00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:29,960
Speaker 1: I don't understand why these two Arkansas State Senator Linda

475
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:35,520
Speaker 1: Collins and her aid, Rebecca Lyn O'Donnell and separable, working

476
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:39,520
Speaker 1: side by side, seeing each other socially every other night,

477
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 1: going on trips together. How did that friendship turn fatal

478
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,480
Speaker 1: to Senator and Missy Irvin way In. Yeah, I was

479
00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:53,400
Speaker 1: so angry about this, but it was actually my gut

480
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:57,320
Speaker 1: feeling that something like this had happened. And it take

481
00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:01,320
Speaker 1: me back to the tragic death of Seale, the Latin

482
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:06,640
Speaker 1: American bombshell, you know, singer, and very similar situation, but

483
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:09,240
Speaker 1: it was driven by a hind a crime of passion.

484
00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:13,280
Speaker 1: There's a friendship in infimacy. There was an attraction. There

485
00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:16,440
Speaker 1: was this admiration that she is what I can't be.

486
00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:19,960
Speaker 1: She's bold, and she is, you know, beautiful in this

487
00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:24,560
Speaker 1: blonde hair and this red lipstick, and she's competent because

488
00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:27,720
Speaker 1: and I'm not. And so it's you know, I'm talking

489
00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:31,520
Speaker 1: about Becky o'donald. I mean, they're very opposite, and you know,

490
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:35,960
Speaker 1: and Linda was so trusting of people and and trusted

491
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:40,160
Speaker 1: unfortunately this woman. And so it really was not shocking

492
00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:43,360
Speaker 1: to me because of what I have personally experienced, what

493
00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:47,400
Speaker 1: others I know have experienced, it was not shocking. Well,

494
00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 1: maybe the prosecution should have thought twice before they took

495
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:53,760
Speaker 1: that death penalty off the table. Listen to Kai region

496
00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:58,960
Speaker 1: Eate News investigators outlined their investigation into Rebecca O'Donnell. The

497
00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:03,920
Speaker 1: charges in this case solicitation to commit murder, O'Donnell trying

498
00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:07,120
Speaker 1: to get several of her fellow inmates to murder Linda

499
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:11,760
Speaker 1: Collins's ex husband, Phil Smith, and planting a suicide note

500
00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:15,520
Speaker 1: making it appear as if Smith was the true murderer.

501
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:20,200
Speaker 1: That never panned out because those inmates went to investigators

502
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:24,520
Speaker 1: and as they talked, investigators learned that O'Donnell admitted to

503
00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:29,640
Speaker 1: appearing on camera bloody knife in hand, but she claimed

504
00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:33,600
Speaker 1: that knife was for a chicken and that investigators doctor

505
00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:38,600
Speaker 1: the video. The investigating file also revealed that she removed

506
00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:42,760
Speaker 1: those cameras and returned them to the store. Well wait

507
00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:45,880
Speaker 1: a minute, so now she's behind bars, trying to get

508
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:52,520
Speaker 1: Linda's ex husband the judge murdered, and fake a suicide note.

509
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:55,840
Speaker 1: You think you've heard it all, well you haven't. Take

510
00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:59,280
Speaker 1: a Listen to Fox sixteen news reporter Mandy Noel, she's

511
00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:01,000
Speaker 1: a kis this morning, trying to set up a murder

512
00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:03,880
Speaker 1: from the high bars. Rebecca O'Donnell is in jail, now

513
00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:07,280
Speaker 1: charged with murdering Linda Collins. On top of the capital

514
00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:10,720
Speaker 1: murder charge. Rebecca O'Donnell is now facing two counts of

515
00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:15,000
Speaker 1: solicitation to commit capital murder and tampering with physical evidence.

516
00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,600
Speaker 1: The new charges were filed in Jackson County's Circuit Court.

517
00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:23,240
Speaker 1: Were told four inmates say O'Donnell talked to them about

518
00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:26,600
Speaker 1: killing Collins's former husband and making it look like a suicide.

519
00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:30,120
Speaker 1: Investigators say O'Donnell wanted the man's current wife to be

520
00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,480
Speaker 1: killed too. Court documents claimed she offered to pay the

521
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:37,360
Speaker 1: inmates in gold and silver. All this is happening from

522
00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:42,120
Speaker 1: inside the Jackson County jail. Whoa so wait a minute,

523
00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:47,240
Speaker 1: this MOUSEI secretary has killed Linda Collins. Now she wants

524
00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:50,040
Speaker 1: to kill her ex husband. Linda's ex husband, the judge

525
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:56,240
Speaker 1: Philip Smith and his new wife Joe Scott Morgan. You're

526
00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:59,720
Speaker 1: the death investigator. Ever seen anything like it? No, no, I.

527
00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:02,600
Speaker 1: You know you would think that you would be emboldened

528
00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:05,960
Speaker 1: that one time to go over the top. And Nancy,

529
00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:09,000
Speaker 1: I gotta tell you, and you know, in my measure,

530
00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:14,000
Speaker 1: this this homicide of this poor woman, it beats the

531
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,480
Speaker 1: band when it comes to others. But the fact that

532
00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:20,440
Speaker 1: you're going to try to reach out and solicit for

533
00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:24,920
Speaker 1: a homicide beyond this is mind blowing because of all

534
00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:27,760
Speaker 1: of the mechanics involved. And you've already been caught once.

535
00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,239
Speaker 1: You know what's on the table with this, it's it's

536
00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:33,560
Speaker 1: beyond the pole. You know. It seems as if her

537
00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:37,800
Speaker 1: web of deceit and murderer knows no end. And for

538
00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:42,760
Speaker 1: all these years she was elbow to elbow with her victim,

539
00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:48,040
Speaker 1: Linda Collins Smith. But don't forget the impact this has

540
00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:53,400
Speaker 1: had on Linda's family. Take a listen to Logan Whalley

541
00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:56,960
Speaker 1: Kai TV. It was an emotional day here at the

542
00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,640
Speaker 1: Randolph County Courthouse. Linda Collins children spoke to us about

543
00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:03,760
Speaker 1: an hour after the hearing ended, recalling the moment Linda

544
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:06,400
Speaker 1: was found dead. And you could tell the emotional toll

545
00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:09,640
Speaker 1: that this has taken on them. I will never not

546
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,279
Speaker 1: be able to see that picture burning in my brain.

547
00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:16,480
Speaker 1: Linda's family fighting back tears after the court hearing Thursday.

548
00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:19,520
Speaker 1: That was Butch, Linda's oldest child. He was the one

549
00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:21,880
Speaker 1: who found her dead. He says, the last memory he

550
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:24,120
Speaker 1: has of her was making that nine one one call

551
00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:26,560
Speaker 1: with the sight and smell of his mom's body in

552
00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:29,480
Speaker 1: his mind. But says his mother's death was quote an

553
00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:33,239
Speaker 1: awful deed carried out of hate, jealousy, and greed, and

554
00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:36,360
Speaker 1: we realized that no matter what punishment Rebecca o'donald or steves,

555
00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:39,120
Speaker 1: it will never be enough. Both Butch and his sister

556
00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:42,000
Speaker 1: Tate Williams feel that none of the punishments for Rebecca

557
00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:44,920
Speaker 1: O'Donnell will come close to what they feel is right,

558
00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:53,400
Speaker 1: a deadly mixture of jealousy, obsession, and greed. The theory

559
00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:59,600
Speaker 1: is that when Linda Collins confronted O'Donnell for stealing the

560
00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:05,080
Speaker 1: gold and silver, O'Donnell snaps and stabs Linda dead in

561
00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:10,800
Speaker 1: a fit of rage. O'Donnell up for parole in thirty

562
00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:18,040
Speaker 1: years killers amongst us Nancy Grace signing off goodbye friend,