Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Killers Amongst Us: Beautiful Blonde Mom Breaks into Politics, MURDERED! (part 2)

Episode Date: November 18, 2020

Linda Collins-Smith builds a financial empire and after raising two children as a single mom, she meets a man to forge a new future with. The match however was not made in Heaven and after 12 years a bitter divorce ensues. Is that what leads to her death? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Hi guys, Nancy Grace here. Welcome back to Killers Amongst Us, a production of iHeartMedia and Crime Online. You know, when you see people on TV or you hear them on the radio, you wonder, who are these people? What's going on in their real life? Who are they really? Especially with big stars and politicians, politicians taking very strong opinions to get elected. But then they're stuck with those strong opinions and opinions make enemies. You're either loved or you're hated. And sadly,

a lot of politicians are hated, even though many of them are trying to do the right thing. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Killers Amongst Us. The 57-year-old mother was elected to the state Senate as a Republican in 2014. I need your vote. Linda is one of those people that couldn't be bought, uncorruptible, that wanted to tell people that bad stuff was happening at the Capitol. Ken Yang was Collins' communication director. He says O'Donnell worked on Collins' re-election campaign.

They were good friends. They traveled together and did grassroots stuff. You were hearing our friends at CBS this morning talking about this ball of fire, Senator Linda Collins Smith, who really takes politics by storm. And what a story. From rags to riches, this young girl who grew up on a gravel road with no running water until she was in high school somehow manages to claw her way up, get an education, make a living, and then take on politics. politics and she succeeded. She was a success in so many ways but unlucky in love. As you heard her first marriage ended when her husband claimed disability and wanted her to quit work and stay home and live off the government. Well that did not sit well with Linda Collins Smith. That marriage ended in divorce but then along comes Prince Charming. Philip Smith's background was similar to Linda Collins. His father was the manager of a dime

store and a Baptist minister in Pocahontas, Arkansas. Smith served in the Army from 1972 to 1975. After leaving the Army, he entered college and worked as a journalist for the Jonesboro Sun and the Arkansas Democrat. Smith earned his law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1979 and for the next 22 years put his degree to use. Smith was a municipal judge in the city of Pocahontas and Randolph County for nine years. Then in 2001, Governor Mike Huckabee appointed Smith as the Division II judge of the Third Circuit Court of Arkansas. He retired from the bench in December of 2017. Like Collins, Phil Smith was also a businessman, owning several properties, including the hotel that he and Linda operated, the Days Inn and Suites in Pocahontas. So along comes Prince Charming, a lawyer, a judge,

a business person, to help her pick up the pieces of her love life and accepting her two children. With me, an all-star panel to break it down and put it back together. And again, welcome to Killers Amongst Us. With me, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Levi Page, expert in online activity, private investigator Derek Ellington at Ellington.net, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, and star of a brand new series on the True Crime Network, Poisonous Liaisons, Joseph Scott Morgan. Renowned psychiatrist joining us out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, Dr. Angela Arnold at AngelaArnoldMD.com. Judge, trial lawyer, Court TV anchor, Ashley Wilcott at AshleyWilcott.D. dot com. Judge, trial lawyer, court TV anchor, Ashley Wilcott at Ashley Wilcott dot com. Special guest joining us, former press secretary for Linda Collins Smith, Ken Yang and Senator Missy Irvin, Arkansas state senator, longtime friend of Linda Collins.

Senator Ken Yang, other guests, thank you for being with us. You know, Senator Ervin, it just strikes me how this woman, this beautiful blonde with the big blue eyes, managed to storm up in the state assembly and take on a lot of very tough topics. And you know what? When you do that, you make enemies. Yes, you're exactly right. You do. And you're going to fight for what you believe in.

And there's nobody else that really fought for what she believed in like Linda did in her own way. Linda and I knew each other and met in 2010. We were both running for, I was running for state senate and she was running for state representative at that time. And she was big, she was bold, she's little and petite, but her ideas and her expressions were big and bold. And she was a ball of fire and you didn't forget her. I'm not going to ask you to comment, Senator Missy Irvin, our special guest today, Arkansas State Senator, on men in general. I will. Sorry to all you men on the panel, but to you, Dr. Angela Arnold, you know, you're an M.D. and that is still to this day male dominated, although it's changing so rapidly. As a criminal prosecutor, I can tell you there were many times I looked around the courtroom and I was the only woman in there.

Of course, to me, that was like shooting a fish in a barrel. But that said, why do men get so P.O.ed when women succeed? What's their problem? Well, I think that the men who do get P.O.'d when women succeed have a very low self-esteem, typically. And you'll find people that have a very low self-esteem have narcissistic personality disorder. And it's all tied up together. Okay? So there are very few men. In the past, I think that men are coming

around a little bit more, but there have a little, I said a little bit more. Okay. But there are, but very few men can tolerate being around a successful woman and compete with that. You know, I had Ashley Wilcott. I had the best example. My dad, Mac, worked for the railroad. And my mom, when he met her, I mean, she was a bank teller and worked her way up to working in payroll for one company and then ultimately being the CFO of a plant of a Fortune 500 company she was she is no idiot at all in fact she was the only woman in the country that held that position long story short my dad never complained i mean he pitched in did housework took care took care of us when he wasn't working crazy night shifts never a word i mean he just always seemed proud. And he always

cheered my sister and my brother and I on to just do the best we could. And so I was really shocked. I had never been around men like that. And frankly, until I got in law school, Ashley. Boy, law school, that says it all right, when you get in the type A competitive that we've all encountered when we went to law school. So you know, that's the way it should be in a perfect world. You should end up with a person, you should be with a person that's going to support you in your endeavors, whether you're a type A, go after it like she was, or whether you're going to choose to instead support the husband or your other spouse while they go out and do those things. And so in a perfect world, that's exactly what you want. But we all know we don't

live in a perfect world and a lot of spouses are not that way. Nancy, jump in. I just want to thank you. I really appreciate the question because being in the Senate, the majority is male in the Arkansas State Senate and the legislature. And it is very difficult at times when you're the only woman and you're the chair of the committee and you have to lead it and people are challenging you because, you know, quite frankly, there's, you know, they, I have been the victim of being bullied many, many times in that circumstance or questioned or my integrity is in question or, you know, what is her intentions or what are her motives? You know, and and quite frankly, you know, at one point, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, every single time they would list me in the newspaper about anything that I would do or anything I would say, they would say Senator Missy Irvin comma, whose husband is a doctor or who is the wife of a physician every single time.

Not one time did they, would they ever say Senator, you know, Bart Hester, who's married to a doctor or an attorney or who is the husband of the attorney. Not one time. And I had one whole entire page of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette where I circled that and pointed that out. And it was just the legislative briefs from the day, from the session. And I sent it to the editor and I said, this is wrong. I got here on my own two feet. I love my husband and he's been incredibly supportive of me, but I got here with my own two feet with the brain that I have in my head. And I am not identified as the wife of, or I am married to.

That does not define me. I am defined by what I have achieved on my own and under my title that I earned because I'm the one that worked and I'm the one that went out there and I'm the one that fought for that seat in the Arkansas State Senate, not my husband. And he supported me. I love him greatly. But, you know, he was offended by it as well because he knows me and he's married to me. But, you know, I just I just just say that because there is, it is a difficult world out there. And I just so much appreciate the fact that you brought that up

and that you are saying that boldly and proudly. And, and I deal with it. I'm going to be dealing with that today. In fact, I'm chair of the Senate Ethics Committee and we have an issue and I am the chair of it and I have to follow the rules no matter what. I have to do that no matter how unpopular that might be. I have to follow the law, the constitution and the rules. And Linda was that person. She saw things very clearly and she was not going to be bullied and she was not going to be pushed around. And she was going to say, and she said what she thought. And, you know, that might rub people wrong and people might disagree with that. But I can tell you, you know, you get down here and you don't just get to do what you want to do. You have to follow the rules.

And sometimes you've talked about the narcissistic behavior and the type of personality that's even magnified in a politician politicians are narcissistic in itself and so you know that and nobody very few people say no to them and so you come you combine that with you know as they come in and then it's even more complicated if they come from the military sometimes you know nobody outranks anybody else in that Senate. You know, just because you're a colonel or a Green Beret or an Army Ranger or a Navy SEAL or whatever, that's great. Wonderful. We love you for your service. But when you are elected into that body, you do not outrank anybody else. Senator Irvin, well said.

Thank you. I'm voting for you. Absolutely. Senator Missy Urban, you've just given me a glimpse into the character of Linda Collins Smith. Because you know, the old adage, birds of a feather flock together. Well, Ken Yang, Joe Scott Morgan, Derek Ellington, and Levi Page, I guess you're watching your P's and Q's on this program. Because between us ladies, you know, I think we've got you outnumbered. We're talking about Linda Collins Smith and what she faced there in the Arkansas Assembly. You're hearing her longtime friend, Missy Irvin, Arkansas state senator, speaking out. And, you know, she had been in lucky and love. And then she finally finds this judge, a lawyer, seemingly everything checked out just perfectly on his resume.

Take a listen to Dave Mack, Crime Online. Linda Collins was successful in real estate and Philip Smith was a successful lawyer and judge when they got married. They invested in real estate and Philip Smith said Linda was a good businesswoman and very smart. It was during their marriage that Linda Collins-Smith ran for political office and won. She served in the State House of Representatives, changed parties from Democrat to Republican, then ran for the state Senate and won again. Linda Collins-Smith was a conservative politician, a strong voice, who didn't back away from a fight. That was her trademark. Now, when that's your trademark, translation, Colin Smith was a conservative politician, a strong voice, who didn't back away from a fight. That was her trademark.

Now, when that's your trademark, translation, you have enemies. But the new husband stood by her side, not just in politics, but business, too. Listen. During their marriage, Linda Collins Smith and Philip Smith were also the owner-operators of the Days Inn and Suites of Pocahontas. So besides Philip Smith being a circuit judge and Linda Collins Smith serving in the State House of Representatives, they were busy with businesses at their home in Pocahontas. Then they decided to open up a new hotel. They bought a 30-unit unsuccessful motel, remodeled it with decor from the 50s and 60s, and reopened it as the Rock and Roll Highway 67 Inn in Pocahontas. Wow. So these two were building a financial empire as well. And from what we understand, he also took the two children under his wing,

the children from the previous marriage, and they seemed like one big, happy family, kind of like the Brady Bunch. Take a listen to our new friend, Senator Missy Irvin, speaking. The first time I met Linda, it was a stormy night, and it was in Pocahontas, and it was at the Eddie May Heron Center. We were at a Passover, and Linda was dressed in her red suit with her red lipstick on. She was animated. She was passionate.

I was there with my four children, who were very young at the time, but who were quickly becoming my little political consultants. Linda gave this vows and speech about the second amendment, about protecting the life of unborn children, about the need to support small businesses. And she ended with, vote for me in the Democrat primary. And my children all turned and looked at me in astonishment. And they said, Mom, she just gave your speech.

They didn't understand why she was running the democrat primary and i was a new republican wow wow i could just imagine her giving that speech joining me right now foreign press secretary ken yang ken i'm trying to get an understanding of who linda collins is what she for, what she's like as a mom. And I know she's a single mom for a long, long time. And raising the two children, working the business, scrapping her way to the top, she gets elected. But tell me about the real Linda Collins.

Well, I think, you know, Senator Ervin gave some great insight of who she is. But, you know, the first thing that comes to my mind is a Christian. She was a God-fearing Christian woman. Hold on, Ken Yang, I just got to tell you something right now you know especially in politics and in media when you announce you're a christian everybody starts making fun of you um it's like you're one of the last targets that it's okay to make fun of and mock. And for some reason, it engenders so much animosity. I don't get it, but it does. And I'm just thinking about her being a strong Christian,

or as I like to say, I'm trying to be. I'm certainly trying. And that in itself makes enemies. It's the strangest thing, Ken. Well, I think, you know, people tend to focus on the bad. You know, there's always a bad student in every class. There's always, you know, someone that breaks the rules and people want to focus on that minority. But, you know, when you get to Linda, you know the she was one of the good ones and even though when she would just go

full steam ahead and you could you would disagree with her you would uh you know fight her in committee or privately or whatever but she loved you afterwards if you ended up not talking to her if you ended up not wanting to be friends with her that that was on you. It was never on Linda because Linda wanted to continue to hug on you, be there for you, and just live that good Christian life, that embodiment wherever she went. Do you agree, Senator Irvin? You're hearing Ken Yang. Do you agree?

Oh, absolutely. I think she got that from her parents. I mean, they raised her to be a very strong Christian, scripturally based woman. And I think she took that through her life and all that she did. And the way she treated people, I think, was in that vein. But also it molded the way she believed. And that came out very clearly in the way she delivered her comments, the way that she would reference scripture. And that really formed her opinions and it formed her beliefs and it formed her outlook on different situations,

whether that be in society or whether it be as a matter of law. And, you know, and she really, she applied that filter. And I appreciate that. I appreciate that. I am a Christian person. I'm with you, Nancy. I mean, we work every day. That's what we're supposed to do. But it is important, I think, for people. And I think people are threatened by it because it does set a standard immediately. And that's the standard that person's going to go by. And I think people are threatened by it because it does set a standard immediately. And that's the standard that person's going to go by. And I think people are threatened by that. And if they perhaps maybe not understand it completely or not understand how it guides people because they just won't take the time to engage in the conversation about it with them. So I'm really impressed that she was upfront about that. Guys, who is this woman, Linda Collins Smith?

So another thing that factors into this is being the single mom working. And then she finally meets Mr. Wright. Well, I've got news on that. Take a listen. Judge Philip Smith and Linda Collins were separated for 18 months before Linda Collins filed for divorce. While Smith did not contest the divorce, the divorce was anything but amiable. They argued bitterly over property and money. Even after the decree was granted, Collins filed a 1,000-page notice of appeal.

She claimed the trial court's ruling as to the division of property was erroneous. At the heart of the matter, a tax refund check in gold coins. Smith repeatedly asked for the coins to be turned over to him. Collins denied knowing where they were. What happened? You know, I mean, to you, Ken Yang, what happened? What went wrong? I mean, this guy looks so good on paper, right? Yes. You know, I think, you know, when people are in power or, you know, as y'all were alluding to it,

when females are out there and being successful and letting their name be known, letting, you know letting themselves be known, sometimes it causes friction in relationships. It causes friction at home. And being a state senator, being a legislator is taxing, especially when you live far away from Little Rock. You're always in Little Rock. You're always in Little Rock. You're always away.

So there's not as much time to address the issues that you probably would if you worked an 8-to-5 job and went home every night. You know what, Ken Yang? They could use you at the U.N. because you are certainly diplomatic. To Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, what the hay went wrong? The man gets the catch of a lifetime. He falls into a pot of honey with this woman. What happened?

Nancy, we don't know exactly what led to the divorce. All we know is when they were divorcing, it was extremely bitter. He even wanted her locked up and held in contempt and that never happened. What? In the middle of a divorce, he tries to get the state senator locked up and held in contempt okay well that's telling me a lot

about him right there yes he he did that keep going levi it never happened she was never locked up and they had a bitter divorce that was appealed. She appealed the divorce's ruling, and they were continuing to fight this very bitter divorce that dragged on for years from 2016 to 2019. Can you imagine having that stress in your life? Oh, let me just throw a question out there. Has anybody ever been threatened on this panel with being sent to jail? Because I have.

Anybody? Anybody want to admit it? I'll tell you what happened. I was prosecuting a child molester. I mean a longtime child molester, too. And the defense attorney put his law partner up on the stand to talk about why one of these little girls, one was age three, how they recanted their story that mommy's boyfriend, very, very rich millionaire, by the way, had been molesting him, full on sex with a three-year-old. So anyway, I started cross-examining

him, as I should, about his pecuniary interest in the outcome of the case as to, you know, a possible slant to his testimony, and the judge held me in contempt. Well, let me tell you, that courtroom filled up with public defenders faster than you could blink an eye to see me get fingerprinted and hauled away. Well, there was another judge in the courthouse who once kissed me on the knee. He was aiming from my ear, but he didn't see very well. He's about 95 years old. And he landed on my knee.

Anyway, he begged the judge just to wait till the end of the trial before I was taken to jail. And by the end of the trial, the judge cooled down and did not send me to jail. Now, that's a story for the books right there. But, you know, I just don't think any lawyer's worth their salt unless they've been threatened with contempt or going to jail at least once. So I'm not impressed, Levi Page. I'm not impressed at all that this so-called husband wanted his wife thrown in jail. Needless to say, he did not turn out to be Prince Charming. Listen to Tyler Thomas in a KARK4. Court documents reveal the former senator was in the process of divorcing her husband, retired Judge Philip Smith. A hearing in that case was scheduled later this month,

and according to documented testimony, the couple were at odds over money after selling a local hotel for more than a million dollars. The ex-lawmaker's former spokesperson tells us the divorce, quote, was not pleasant. Trouble is brewing for well-known politician, a house on fire, Linda Collins Smith. What's really going on in the inner circle of Linda Collins Smith? Turmoil. Killers Amongst Us, Nancy Grace, signing off. Goodbye. You're listening to an iHeart podcast