On the Dateline episode ‘The Hands of a Killer,’ Dennis Murphy investigates the 2019 murder of former Arkansas State Senator Linda Collins. The 57-year-old conservative politician was found fatally stabbed outside her home in the small town of Pocahontas (population 6,528) where she was born and raised.
At first, investigators struggled to determine if her murder was connected to her political career or her personal life.
Almost two weeks after Collins’ murder, Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell, a former campaign worker and friend of Collins, was charged with capital murder, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse. In August 2020, O’Donnell admitted to killing Collins and hiding her body, as part of a plea agreement which resulted in a 50-year sentence.
According to ABC News, prior to O’Donnell’s confession, prosecutors planned to seek the death penalty. Collins’ son, Butch Collins (who found his mother’s body), said: “The plea deal was not what my first choice would have been, but at least we do have a guaranteed amount of time that she will be imprisoned for and we will have the ability as the victim’s family to argue against her release at her parole hearings.”
Above is video from the press conference held after O’Donnell’s sentencing. Randolph County Sheriff Kevin Bell announced: “there’s no more sealed documents or anything else the judge has ordered. So you’ll be able to get all that.”
Dateline airs Fridays at 9 pm on NBC, right after The Blacklist at 8 pm.
