Dateline NBC - The Hands of a Killer

Episode Date: April 12, 2022

When former Arkansas State Senator Linda Collins is found fatally stabbed outside her home, investigators must determine if her murder is connected to her political career or her personal life. Dennis Murphy reports.

Tonight on Dateline... He said, we found her. She's been murdered. And I said, murdered? I said, did you say murdered? I mean my world just falls apart. I was breaking down crying. It's my mom.

There was a large spot of blood that was on the floor. It appeared that's where the homicide actually took place. People couldn't believe that this former state senator was now dead. She embraced hot-button issues. She did. You've got to consider maybe there's political enemies here. Everyone thought the ex-husband. They were going through a divorce and the divorce was ugly. Linda had a feeling someone was trying to harm her. She was in fear for her life. A former state senator murdered. A stunning loss to so many. And the killer? That was a stunner too. Video cameras had been placed around that house. Those cameras possibly recorded the actual murder.

You see this white sheet. Somebody trying to disguise themselves. They walk into the house. This is our killer. I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline. Here's Dennis Murphy with The Hands of a Killer. Moving out of my office today, I just want to say how humble I am to be your senator, how proud I was to serve you. For elected officials, it comes with the territory. Now and then, you get tossed out of office. For Arkansas State Senator Linda Collins, that day of reckoning with the voters arrived in 2019.

She'd been primaried and lost her seat in the state capitol. That's the way I voted, as your conservative senator and your friend. After nearly 10 years of service, she was packing up her boxes. It was an altogether bad patch for the senator. She'd been going through a messy divorce as well. Her kids, Butch and Tate, knew all the turbulence had taken a toll on their mom. If you knew Linda, you knew that most important things to her were God, and then her family, and then probably the people of Arkansas.

That's her motto. That's what she's got stitched on her pillow. Exactly. But Linda, a force of nature if there ever was one, picked herself off the mat and did a little reinventing. She returned to her rural hometown of tiny Pocahontas, Arkansas, in the northeast part of the state, soy and rice growing country, and within months was dating a new guy. She was looking into good-paying lobbying jobs around the country. You know, she loves politics. Why not continue that, maybe in a different role, and turn it into an actual paying, you know, gig? But as the philosopher observed, life is what happens when you're making other plans. After a job hunting trip to D.C., Linda Collins simply disappeared. Tate's last conversation

with her mom was on Monday, May 27th. The interview had gone well, she said. Everything seemed fine. Talk about anything in particular? No, not really. Just made some plans and that was, that was it. But two days later, Tate sent her mom a text message and never heard back. It was a picture of shoes, and Mom loved shoes. And she didn't say anything back. And so I thought, okay, well, that's a little weird. But she had said that she was going to be busy doing some stuff. Busy, maybe.

But as the disturbingly silent days passed, Tate grew concerned. A week after Linda's last contact, Tate, two hours away outside Little Rock, called her brother Butch. I was like, I still haven't heard from Mom. And she was supposed to be in Little Rock getting dressed because she was going to be going to the Arkansas Music Awards. And we still hadn't heard from her. Butch, who still lived in Pocahontas, agreed to swing by his mom's house. Her truck was in the driveway, but she wasn't answering the door,

and he didn't have a key. Still, everything seemed to be in order. Did you reassure Tate then, I just was over at the house, and everything seemed to be okay, but she's not coming to the door? Right, I didn't see, I was like, I don't see anything out of place or anything that's odd. But Tate could just feel it. Something was off.

The next day, she called her grandfather, Linda's dad, who had a key to the house. Tate was on the phone with him when he arrived. Right away, her grandpa noticed something peculiar. Linda's truck was unlocked. That isn't Mom. That's not her. Yeah, Mom locks her vehicles obsessively. Her grandpa went to the back door and gave it a shove. It was open. Tate could feel the panic

rising as her grandfather began searching the house, which was under renovation. He's, you know, saying her name, Linda, Linda, you know, and he's looking and he says, I've checked every closet. I've checked in the tub. I've checked everywhere. But then in the kitchen, he says there's something in the floor. It was a mean looking stain, tarish. I can hear it in his voice that he knows that it's something, you know. And I say, OK, I said, do you want me to call Butch and have him come? And he said, yes, sis. He said, I think that's what you need to do. Butch was there within minutes. What'd you think it was?

Mom was a heavy, heavy coffee drinker. So it looked like a coffee pot had been dropped, and then there was dark liquid just had splashed out from like a coffee pot. So the coffee could explain the stain to you? Absolutely. But was it coffee? They sent Tate a video. It gave her the chills. I'm thinking, this is, that's blood.

And they're like, no, it's, you know, you can tell they're trying to make sense of it, you know, make it logical. No one goes in thinking that's what you're going to find. Unsettled, Butch and his grandpa hung up with Tate and closed up the house. They were walking back to their cars when grandpa caught a bad whiff, the worst. My grandpa was like, hey, you know, do you smell that? I said, you know, come to think of it, I do. It smells like something's dead, like a dead animal.

And he said, yeah. He goes, why don't you go check that tarp real quick? There was a tarp atop some construction material in front of the garage. I went over there and I moved a brick out of the way off the corner of the tarp, and when I raised it, just a swarm of flies came out,

and I saw it. It was his mom's body, lying face down with her arms above her head, wrapped in a comforter Butch had taken to college. She'd been there a while. I just threw the tarp down and my grandpa was coming over and I said, listen, uh, I was like, you can't, you can't. I found her. I said, you can't, you can't go over there. And he tried. And I physically shoved him back. I said, you can't, you can't see her. I'm sorry you had to see that, Butch. And it made me just physically just sick to my stomach.

Butch tried to stay calm as he called 911. What is your name, honey? Butch Smith. I'm her son. We came to do a wellness check at her house. I think I found a body. Okay, honey. We'll get an ambulance headed that way, okay? Then he had to call Tate. He said, we found her.

And I'm sitting on the couch. And he said, we found her. She's been murdered. And I looked him in the eyes and I said, murdered? I said, did you say murdered? He said, yeah. And, I mean, my world just falls apart. Linda Collins, one-time state senator,

mother, businesswoman, had indeed been murdered. Not any doubt about that. But who could possibly and why? Questions left to the authorities. They were about to arrive on the scene. Have y'all been inside the home? Yes. Yes, we have.

When we come back, the hunt for a killer begins. There's going to be something up with this. We are going to be something up with this. We are going to need CID out here. How horrible to think that the home that you knew so well is now a scene. A crime scene. A murder scene.

I couldn't imagine. You know, is my family in danger? Could it have been me? Are they coming for us next? Linda Collins Smith. We got a 911 call from a Butch Smith. It was early evening when the call went out over police frequencies. Former state senator Linda Collins had been found dead at her home, murdered. The first Randolph County Sheriff's deputy arrived at the scene, body cam rolling. There's going to be something up with this.

We are going to need CID out here. While we were there on site, the Sheriff's deputy had showed up and they immediately brought out the comm scene tape, started porting off the area. You can do it to this stuff if you want to. And, of course, the neighbors were coming out trying to figure out what was going on. The whole thing was beyond surreal for Butch. How horrible to think that the home that you knew so well is now a scene, a murder scene, and your mother's the victim.

I would have never, never in a million years have ever expected it. I mean, for somebody to just love their community and everybody so much to be murdered, I couldn't imagine. To Butch and his sister Tate, there was nothing about their mom's murder that made a bit of sense.

Linda was a loving mom and beloved figure in Northeast Arkansas, someone who had made something of herself despite a hard scrabble upbringing. She grew up very poor out in the country on dirt roads. They didn't have running water even. What is that word? I'll give you like grit, determination, character. What kinds of things are you talking about here? Absolutely all of the above and then some. All her life they say Linda had used that drive to try and better the community.

Early in her career as a realtor, she decided that tiny Pocahontas could use some first-rate lodging. So she and her husband Phil, the kid's stepfather and a judge, built one hotel a day's in and remodeled another. A way-cool rock-and-roll-themed motel decked out with 60s muscle cars and vinyl records. Linda ran them both. Do you guys get pulled into the business because you're there? Absolutely. You're cheap labor and you're available? Oh, absolutely. Our first jobs were picking the weeds out of the flowerbeds. But Linda didn't settle for being just an innkeeper. She founded a county tourism association and decided to run for public office. In 2010, she was elected to the Arkansas State House of Representatives.

Ken Yang is a political consultant who worked for Linda in Little Rock. Did you think she was a star when you signed on? Yeah. If Linda was alive today in this political climate, she would just be a superstar right now. You saw maybe a future governor in her, huh? Yeah, easily. What was her political strength? Being around people. She just had a spirit about her. She was a hugger, so she'd hug you.

She'd embrace you. She cared about you. If you were on the other side, she cared about you. She listened to you. But Ken, a Republican campaign strategizer, thought there was something off-kilter about Linda's politics. She was a Democrat, but her faith-based beliefs were deeply conservative. So seven months into her first term,

Linda took a risky plunge and switched to the Republican Party. I'm here today to announce that I have joined the Republican Party of Arkansas. Was that a cynical, opportunistic move on her part? Oh, no. To switch parties? In that day and age, it was more of a political suicide move. You know, you're not going to get reelected because it's a Democrat state. Hello, I'm Linda Collins-Smith.

But Linda did get reelected. In fact, she won an even bigger job, state senator. So here you are, the Arkansas Senate. Where's your seat, Senator? Seat's right here to the right. Gary Stubblefield served with Linda in the Senate from 2015 to 2019. He worked with Linda on some of the hottest of the hot-button conservative issues of the day. Issues were abortion, gun rights, children's rights especially.

Children's rights, freedom, everything that the Bill of Rights stood for in the Constitution. That's what Linda was for. And was she effective, Senator? Yes, she was very effective. She got business done, huh? Yeah, she did. We've got to hold people accountable, and this is the way we handle this. Effective, he says, because of how tirelessly Linda fought for her constituents.

She was only five feet tall, but her pugnacious style won her a football nickname in the chamber, the linebacker. This field was hijacked. It was hijacked on the center floor, and it turned into something that it shouldn't have been. If she knew she was right, she would fight to the very end. She would not give up. Of course, that stock could put a lot of noses out of joints. Sure, sure, but she wasn't there to make friends. Linda's kids knew their itty-bitty mom wasn't cowed by anybody. There was a few instances, I guess, where some other people there

had tried to physically intimidate her by standing up to her because they were larger, you know, folks. And so she'd come up to like their chest and she just put that nose right up against her and just tell them that's not how this is going to work. No, that alpha stuff, thank you very much. Right, right. It's not going to fly. Political pundits in the state thought it was Linda's strongheadedness that may have

caused her to get on the wrong side of the Arkansas governor. Whatever, but in 2018, he supported a primary opponent against her, and she lost her seat. Linda's marriage to Phil had gone sideways as well. They divorced after 23 years. Their business relationship was great, but just personally, they couldn't get past their issues. Linda's life was changing at warp speed, but she wasn't one to feel sorry for herself. She dusted herself off and saw the what-might-be's of the years ahead. That promising D.C. lobbying job, and for sure, more time with Butch and Tate's kids, her grandchildren. Go! Three, four!

Nine, eight, five! She absolutely loved having grandkids. She was the fun, the fun grandparent. Jingle bells, jingle all the way. But, happy new year! But now she was gone. Her life erased in brutal fashion by person or persons unknown. Police were swarming the property.

We'll wait till my sheriff gets here, but yeah, we're going to need in there. With a murderer on the loose, Butch, who lived nearby, couldn't help but wonder about his own safety. We didn't have a clue who had done it or what the reasoning was behind it or the motive. You know, is my family in danger? You know, could it have been me? Are they coming for us next? The sheriff's team joined by state police had their work cut out for them. And the pressure to solve the case would be intense. Because the death of Linda Collins wasn't just a local story.

It was about to become the most explosive news story in the state. Rumor quickly had it her killing was a political cover-up that went right to the top. Coming up, close friends learn the awful news. I know Miss Becky. I know it's hard. She was my best friend. And a cover-up by the killer? That was a security camera at one point. And looking at it, the camera's gone. You know, someone removed those cameras. When Dateline continues.

Linda Collins, a former state senator, had been murdered. And it seemed that everybody in Arkansas was panting to hear every detail. No one was more aware of that than Randolph County Sheriff Kevin Bell. And you got all the world looking over your shoulder, don't you? That's correct. Armchair detectives playing whodunit. Sheriff Bell spent years with the Arkansas State Police before coming to rest in Randolph County. When he got the call early evening June 4, 2019, he knew a storm was coming.

The dispatcher told me that the person had been found appeared to have been wrapped in a blanket outside underneath the tarp at Linda Collins' residence. Looked like a homicide. Sounded like a homicide to me. If there's such a thing as a run-of-the-mill murder, this wasn't it. This was personal. I've known Linda and her entire family for many, many years, gone to church with them, and just knew Linda from the community,

her being a political leader, business leader in our town. And you're being rolled out to what's going to be her murder scene. Yes. When the sheriff arrived at Linda's home, he began logging observations even before setting foot inside. I noticed on the house there were some places where security cameras. There's still a pole right there. There's a mounting bracket right there. That's correct. And that mounting bracket I noticed was a security camera at one point because I had seen those security cameras before. And looking at it, the camera's gone. Yeah.

Someone removed those cameras. And not just one camera. He later learned there were a bunch of them, both inside and outside the house, now gone. Who removed them? And when would they ever turn up? Where is that? Are we going to get a little help from these cameras? Right. Then he noticed something else. On the sidewalk area, we found a small piece of plastic.

Plastic? A piece of black plastic that appeared to be a tooth off of a hair barrette. So we were able to track back around and you could find the trail where someone had removed Linda from the house and brought her out this way. The sheriff was pondering those things when he entered the house. First, the kitchen. He saw right away the mean dark stain on the rough wood subflooring. Definitely not coffee. There was a large spot of blood that was on the floor. It appeared that's where the homicide actually took place. Did you know that you had a stabbing rather than a firearm incident here?

Initially, we did not know exactly what it was. Once the Arkansas Crime Lab arrived and we examined the body and could determine at that point that it appeared to be a stab wound. Multiple stab wounds. Multiple stab wounds, yes. They didn't find the murder weapon, but in the kitchen were signs of a cleanup attempt. A Clorox bottle with what looked like blood on it. As for the rest of the house, there was home renovation chaos, but nothing signaled a botched robbery. There had been no forced entry, and that suggested, but not much more, that maybe Linda knew her killer or killers.

But there was nothing in the house, I'm guessing, to explain to you what's really happened here? No. Which way your perpetrator's gone, how many people there were? Correct. State investigators called in to help, turned to Linda's inner circle to build a timeline of her last days. Two of her closest friends, so distraught they'd come out to the crime scene,

offered to sit down with investigators. Anything to help. I love that woman like a sister, and this is killing me. Tim Loggins, Linda's friend, confidant, and staunch political ally, had been tight with her for years. If she walked in that door right now, this entire room would light up. You would feel her, hear her, and see her. She would be the focal point of this room

in a good way. Tim had introduced Linda to his fiancée, Becky O'Donnell, a few years earlier. That night, an emotional Becky talked to investigators in a separate room. And I know you're upset, and I don't want to upset you anymore. I know, Miss Becky. I know it's hard. She was my best friend. I started out working for her as her personal assistant. Becky was so reliable, she was soon driving Linda everywhere and even managing her motel. She told investigators she picked Linda up at the airport after her trip. Becky was hazy about the travel details because one more complication on that hellish day, she'd misplaced her phone. I'm lost without my phone. I think I have some screenshots in my texts of her flight details. She remembered that Linda flew back on

Monday, May 27th, Memorial Day. As Becky drove her home, the two talked on the phone with Tim. His last call with Linda, just chit-chat. She's like, hey buddy, how you doing? I'm good, Linda. She said, boy, it's been a tough day. I've got a lot of stuff to talk to you about, but I'm too tired to do it today.

I'll talk to you tomorrow. The following day was May 28th, a Tuesday. Becky said she got a text that morning from Linda asking her to bring lunch to the house. I went out there and she told me all about the night before because the man out there, Rendell, spent the night with her. The man was Rendell Wallace. Linda had just started seeing him. Rendell had arrived late and left early.

Becky told investigators she and Linda argued about him. She was talking about how the night before it had taken Rindle like four hours to respond to her text and calls. This is before he came over, I'm assuming. Okay. And she was kind of upset about it, and I told her she had no right to be upset. And I told her she needed to slow down and take it easy and get to know him. Well, that would make her mad. I would say, well, maybe she's right.

Linda does not like... Well, she's a senator. She's telling people what to do, not being told what to do. And she really is. She really is. Becky told investigators she never saw Linda again. She recounted the details of the two women's final call. She said something about, well, I may just go over to Rendell's or something like that. And I said, I thought you didn't want me in your personal stuff.

Don't tell me. And she hung up on me. And Becky said early evening, Linda was a no-show for a meeting at the motel. But that Rendell guy, who was he? How did he fit in? He certainly caught the investigator's interest when Tim offered this. He was probably the last person to see her. The last person known to have seen her alive? Not a good place to be in a murder investigation. Coming up, the case takes a sudden U-turn.

Bombshell. Another former state senator in Oklahoma is found dead in his home. Investigators were eager to interview the new boyfriend in the matter of Linda Collins' murder. What'd you learn about him? He was somewhat of a mysterious figure at first. We didn't know a whole lot about him. Rendell Wallace. Remember Becky told investigators that she and Linda argued about Rendell the last time they saw each other. Linda grousing that he took his sweet time in returning her calls the night before.

Becky telling her to chill. You know, she was wondering if he had been with somebody else, and that's why he wasn't responding. And I just told her she was going over the top. You needed to stop. Becky's fiancé, Tim Loggins, who'd been in uniform himself as a state corrections officer for 28 years, shared his impressions of Linda's new guy with the investigators.

My entire life has taught me that you never, ever think you know what's going on, and no one is above anything. Today is June 4, 2019. And then investigators got Rendell in the chair. Mr. Wallace, would you state your name for me? They discovered that Linda's new guy wasn't new at all. Rendell and Linda had dated briefly back in the day, then drifted apart. Linda had talked wistfully to Tim about that long-ago relationship.

At one point, Linda told me she was dating Phil and Rendall before she got married with Phil. And I think I chose the wrong person, is how she put it. She was seeing both of them, you know, 20-something years ago and chose Phil. And I think she regretted that. Rendall told investigators he and Linda got reacquainted a couple of weeks before she died. It just picked up, and we're just happy to be with one another, you know. Investigators soon learned something else about Linda Collins. She was a good old girl who liked to dance, and Rendell was right there with her. He remembered a recent evening out.

We went down to the Eagles and had a few drinks and danced because we loved to dance, me and her both. So we hooked up and we went down to the Eagles and had a few drinks and danced because we loved to dance, me and her both. So we hooked up and we went down there and danced and wound up spending the night in Jonesboro at a motel. In fact, when Linda went off to D.C. for that job interview, she tacked on a trip to Arizona, specifically to do some dancing. She has some cousins there, and she wanted to go dancing for her birthday, and she got to go dancing with her cousins in Arizona. Was she a good dancer? Was she a rip-up-the-floor-look-at-me dancer? She loved to line dance. She could do some line dancing. Brendel said that while Linda was in Arizona, she texted him, asking him to come on out.

I told her I didn't have the money. And so she said, well, I'll be in Monday. She said. I told her, you know, I didn't have the money. Yeah, yeah. And so she said, well, I'll be in Monday. She said, I want to see you. True to her word, Linda called Rendell when she got home. It was about 11.30 when they talked, late. She said, what are you doing? I said, nothing, I'm laying here on the couch watching TV.

And she said, why don't you come over? I said, I'd love to. Rendell spent the night, and at 7 a.m., Linda walked him to the door. He told the cops they parted like teenagers in love. Rendall told investigators he texted Linda several times that week, but got nothing back. But I thought, well, she's just in meetings, you know, down in Little Rock. You know, she'll get back to me later on. And then I never heard anything from her since.

Tim and Becky said they hadn't heard anything for days either, but they had an explanation. I asked Becky, have you heard from Linda? And she had said she was, she being Linda, was going to go spend the week with Rendell. Well, where Rendell lives at doesn't have cell service. It's way up in the hills. Which kind of explained why I hadn't heard from Linda, you know, a couple of days. A former lawmaker found dead. Two days later, the news galloped away with a fresh days. A former lawmaker found dead. Two days later, the news galloped away with a fresh lead. Bombshell. Another

former state senator in Oklahoma is found dead in his home. Reporter Mitch McCoy covered the Linda Collins story extensively for NBC affiliate KARK-TV in Little Rock. And that lit this case on fire.

So who's going around targeting state legislators? That was a lot of the questions that a lot of people had. Tim heard the news and went, huh? Because? Literally just a few weeks before that, Linda had driven to Oklahoma. Was it a coincidence or was a killer on the loose targeting local politicians? Coming up... You've got to consider maybe there's political enemies here. We heard a lot of rumor about maybe even some senators

who would try to bully her into voting one way or another. Politics turned poisonous. Could that be a motive for murder? When Dateline continues. At the marbled state capitol in Little Rock, shock prevailed. Their linebacker was dead, suddenly and horribly stabbed with a knife. A second political death that made headlines days later jangled everyone's nerves. People couldn't believe that this former state senator who had just lost an election was now dead.

And our neighboring state, there was somebody dead that that had been in politics what was going on reporter mitch mccoy says it was difficult to know for sure because the authorities in randolph county slapped a gag order on the investigation just hours after the discovery of Linda Collins' body. You don't know what's happening? We have no idea what's happening other than this home is taped off and the rumors are circulating heavily. So your audience is eager for the next detail on this thing and nothing's really coming out of the edges of the investigation, is it? We would hear rumors days before they would become factual news headlines. Linda's friend and former aide Ken Yang says gag orders like this were rare in Arkansas. And if a gag order does happen, it typically doesn't happen like the very next day.

We're back now with a roundup of other news headlines, starting with the mysterious deaths of two former state senators found dead in their... One rumor, that the Oklahoma death was linked to Linda's murder, fell apart. That death was later ruled a suicide. But in Arkansas, in the absence of hard fact, speculation about Linda's death exploded. You know, with social media the way it is now, everyone starts coming up with reasons of why it happened or why it didn't happen. It immediately blew up, and it was the story of the month, if not longer, because of the political nature of her job and the circumstances surrounding her death.

A little fact, a lot of fiction. All of it bubbling in one unholy brew. It was no secret that Linda was a feisty, hardcore conservative had someone silenced her in the ultimate fashion. You've got to consider maybe there's political enemies here. Maybe there's a political inquiry that needs to happen. One thing that we heard a lot of rumor about was politics at the state capitol and maybe even some senators who would try to bully her into voting one way or

another. Political hardball was one thing, but murdering an out-of-office politician, did that even make sense? But conspiracy theorists did latch onto Linda's job hunting trip to D.C. days before her death. Was there something all dark and Cuban on there? Even the Clintons, those fixtures of Arkansas politics, were pulled into the crazy. There was a feeling out there in some quarters that the reason we're not hearing much about this is the authorities are coming up for the muckety-mucks. Yeah. There's some big names here that know what's going on. One conspiracy theory was Linda was researching or investigating child protected services and found out about the Clintons. And so, you know, the Clintons got her.

So Hillary, Hillary did it. Yeah, yeah, Clintons did it. Deep state cover-up. Of course, the Clintons had nothing to do with it. But that's how ridiculous the speculation got. In the midst of the madness, Ken Yang helped organize a memorial for Linda in the state capital in Little Rock. So, Ken, the memorial, why did it seem to you the only place to do it was here in the capital? Well, she loved serving the people. Did she love all the grandeur, the memorial, why did it seem to you the only place to do it was here in the Capitol? Well, she loved serving the people. Did she love all the grandeur, the marvellosity of the Capitol? Oh, she loved it. She loved all of it.

Many of her colleagues that day wore her favorite color. Your mom's signature color was red. Absolutely loved red. Had that always been? Always. She always had red lipstick, red fingernails, red shoes, red jacket. She drove a red truck. That day in the rotunda, feelings were still raw. I found it extremely difficult to express my sadness in words or in paper.

I admired her tenacity. Senator Gary Stubblefield, Linda's former colleague and steadfast political ally, also spoke. When I spoke that day, I hadn't gotten over the shock that this had really happened. It was a sad day. A sad day for Arkansas and a sad day for the Arkansas legislature. Meanwhile, Sheriff Bell was working hard to ignore everything but the facts of the case. But if the gag order worked for him, it also worked against him. Sheriff Bell, Sheriff's Office, Arkansas

You know, we had a lot of high-profile political leaders that were questioning us about the case. And one thing I had to do is just step back and say, I want to work this case and solve this case and catch this killer. And we had to ignore a lot of outside interference in order to do that. And a name kept to Linda. Somebody with a possible motive to kill. Coming up. She gets real quiet and she breaks out in tears. And I'm like, Linda, what's wrong? A marriage on the rocks and Linda on edge. I'm going to tell you another thing.

Linda was scared to death. Who would want to murder the former state senator? Was the clue to be found in her political ties or her private life. With Linda Collins, those strands were deeply entwined. But going back to the scene in the first moments of the case, the EMT speaking with the victim's father and son Butch were hearing about a divorce. They passed that nugget on to the arriving deputies. He said that her and Phil just recently divorced. I don't know if you know that. deputies. So no surprise, they needed to take a hard look at Linda's ex-husband, Phil Smith. Linda met Phil when he was working as an attorney and a municipal judge in Pocahontas, Arkansas.

Linda's kids, Tate and Butch, were in elementary school at the time, and though he wasn't their father by blood, he'd raised them as his own. In the beginning, I think we called him, we both called him Phil for a little bit, you know, until we got used to it. He did what dads do. He was there every day and he, you know, he was our dad. So things worked. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. The marriage worked too. They opened those hotels together, Linda became a state senator, and Phil was appointed to the bench of a circuit court. But ten years along, Tate and Butch came to view the marriage as an arrangement that went into a deep chill. People referred to him as like a power couple, but as far as a relationship, it just ran more like a business than what you would imagine, you know, a husband and a wife, you know, from a perspective of us looking in on it. Eventually, Linda and Phil separated and filed for divorce.

But the settlement dragged on as they fought over their businesses, the money, properties, and pensions. The case grew increasingly bitter. They could get preheated. Especially when you're going through a divorce. Especially one of that magnitude through a divorce. Especially one of that magnitude, I suppose. Tate and Butch were stuck in the middle. They tried to avoid choosing a side, but... She felt like we shouldn't have any involvement with him. You know, she felt like we should be very on her side and shouldn't have a relationship with them anymore at that point. So it did cause a strain on all of our relationships, you know, especially with mom.

No picking sides for Linda's close friend, Tim Loggins. He was solidly behind Linda. She confided in him about the divorce when they met one day for lunch. She gets real quiet, and she breaks out in tears. Linda does. She did. And I'm like, Linda, what's wrong? I came to find out that she was having marital problems. Tim said Linda later made a shocking accusation about Phil. Linda claimed to have walked into the judge's chambers and found him watching pornography. She went nuclear on him. She says he's looking at porn. She did. On his state-provided computer.

She did. That's a tough charge. It is. She said it. Linda didn't tell just him about it. She made it part of her divorce case. Phil Smith denied the allegation. However, he was investigated by the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission. He accepted its determination that he improperly used court computer equipment after regular work hours at the office. The damage was done, according to reporter Mitch McCoy. It took his judicial powers away. You can't come away from that, huh? The state disciplined him.

The state said you could never be a judge in Arkansas again. The divorce became ugly. Absolutely. Very strong consequences for Phil. Yeah. Phil's judicial career was over. But when that knock-down, drag-out divorce ended, Linda was financially on the short

end of it, as Tim explained in his interview with police. She got screwed. Phil got almost everything. Here's the kicker. Linda appealed it. And when the judge says that could be another 17 months, Phil just collapsed. Oh my God, is this never going to end? Tim told police something else about Phil Smith, something darker. I'm going to tell you another thing. Linda was scared to death of him. Scared of Phil? Of Phil. He wasn't the only one saying that. Friends and family said they'd seen her fear too. Linda was deathly afraid of Phil for whatever reason. She

felt scared that he was going to do something. Everybody I've talked to says she's scared to feel. She is. Why? Why was Linda so afraid of Phil? Coming up. My mom was sick for several, several years and nobody could figure out what in the world was wrong with her. Before her mysterious death, a mysterious illness. She's saying, I now have a suspicion about what was happening, and that was he was poisoning me. That was something that she said, yes. When Dateline continues. Police had an urgent question. Who killed Linda Collins? After interviewing her new man, Rendell Wallace,

police ruled him out as a suspect. Those closest to the scrappy politician, including her own kids, pointed the finger at one person, her ex-husband, Phil Smith. My first thought went to him just because, you know, he would be the one to gain the most. The only person that made sense to me without knowing anything else in her life is, you know, my dad. Butch told police Linda was concerned he would do something. Do you think your mom scared your dad? Was scared your dad?

Yes. You do? Yes. You really believe there was a fear there? It wasn't an act. It was a fear there. I fully believe, firmly, firmly, with all, everything, believe that she was afraid of him. And Linda believed Phil may have tried before.

Let me tell you a story. Now, my mom was sick for several, several years, and it was kind of, everybody knew or knew that she was sick, and nobody could figure out what in the world was wrong with her. It was the early 2000s. Phil and Linda were still married when she came down with a bizarre malady. My mom was, she never wanted to lay down. She didn't take naps during the day. She'd stay up late, got up early, and was just constantly running.

And there was a period in time, about two years, where she couldn't, she was basically bedridden, just couldn't get up and do anything, had no energy, which was not like her. After a year of various tests, her blood work finally revealed a possible cause of her illness, an extremely high level of mercury in her system. Did she have a heavy diet of fish? No, not at all. And that was one of mercury in her system. Did she have a heavy diet of fish? No, not at all.

And that was one of the things I asked. I said, well, you know, if your body's not able to process the mercury from the fish, and if you eat a fish a lot, it could build up in your system, but she doesn't. So what was going on? What do you think that was all about? They were concerned that maybe it was her feelings, that it came from, she loved to drink canned Diet Coke, so they were also concerned maybe from the cans. But, you know, they really just said, you know, the amount is like you drink a thermometer was the amount.

There was no scientific proof to those theories, so Linda wasn't sure exactly how the mercury got into her body. But she was convinced the person behind it was Phil. Though she never reported her suspicion to police, she wasn't quiet about it. And she's saying, I now have a suspicion about what was happening, and that was he was poisoning me. That was something that she said, yes. She thinks Phil tried to kill her. Becky O'Donnell and her fiancé Tim Loggins had heard the mercury poisoning stories too, and after her death, shared their suspicions with police. Linda told me that herself now,

and said Phil done it. Almost killed her. I just can't believe that they let that go, you know? He's a judge. A powerful judge who may have had other secrets, according to a very emotional Becky. I keep thinking she's going to get mad at me for telling this stuff. No. She wouldn't get mad at you, baby.

Phil used to hit her. Phil used to hit her. Linda claimed Phil would terrorize her during the divorce. Her joint at the hip aide, Becky, told police she'd seen it happen. Okay, where Linda's house is, and he was just

sitting there. I think he's a stalker. I saw firsthand when he showed up at his house that day and we were moving stuff out. She was uncontrollably shaking. Let's get out of here, let's get out of here, let's get out of here. She's scared of him. She's scared of him.

She's very scared of him. Becky said he would show up at the Rock and Roll Highway 67 Inn. I called Linda and I had her on the phone. And she was telling him, you're not supposed to be there, you need to leave and all that. Linda told me he could get these crazy eyes. He got these crazy eyes and looked at me and said, you stay out of it or something to that effect. So you were kind of scared of him too a little bit?

Well, yes. Linda changed the locks on her house. She kept a gun in her nightstand. And she asked Tim for help in installing a security system. I knew nothing about home security systems. I went into deep research and started researching what was out there. She wanted a wireless system that wasn't hardwired. She didn't want to lose the system if he cut the power.

So she had scenarios in her head where he was going to come to her house? Yes. Cut the power, scare her, maybe kill her like a bad movie or something, huh? Yes. Once the cameras were installed, Linda could access the footage from her laptop or phone. I think there was nine cameras altogether. Nine cameras? I did the placement so there was coverage of every corner, every window, every entrance. All to protect herself against Phil, Linda said. She called me one night at 11.30 at night, screaming that Phil's here, Phil's here. So this wasn't just her paranoia?

I don't know, but I know what she told me. And she was terrified. Terrified and now dead. My friend was dead. I knew who killed her. Tim immediately shared his suspicions with police. What are you suspecting? Her ex-husband killed her. Really? Deal.

Yeah. Of course, Sheriff Bell had to speak with Phil. I actually talked to him myself on the phone and questioned him over the phone about if he knew anything. Because it had been an ugly divorce and it had been a disgrace for him. Yeah, right. Phil Smith told police he didn't kill Linda. And he also denied to police and in a statement to Dateline the allegations Linda and others made against him.

He said he hadn't heard Linda's accusation that he tried to poison her with mercury, and he did not do so. He acknowledged that the divorce was unnecessarily bitter, but said he was never physically violent or emotionally abusive toward Linda. He also said he never stalked Linda at her home, work, or any other place. So police went back to those missing security cameras. By now, they'd determined Linda had been killed on Tuesday, May 28th. The question was, when were the cameras removed? Tate made a key discovery. I was actually able to get into Mom's email account,

and she would get alerts whenever the camera picked up something. And so I went back to the date she had been murdered, and I remember scrolling down down and there they are. There's notification, notification, notification. And I just remember I picked up the phone and I, you know, I called the lead investigator and I was like, the cameras were there. So if the cameras had been up and running on the day Linda was murdered, investigators needed to get their hands on that footage. Coming up... We speculated that those cameras possibly recorded the actual murder.

Was Linda's killing caught on tape? They finally get the images on the computer screen and they put it on a projector so everybody in the room can see it. What were investigators about to witness? Under this one? This is odd. It had been 10 days since Linda's body was discovered. Yep.

Her family and friends were preparing for her visitation and memorial service at the church. But things were about to take a surreal turn. Some of the parking lot was sectioned off from media. We had undercover agents that were in plainclothes. The church even had a group of able-bodied men that were part of the security team. And so we had this big multi-level of security for this visitation. The security was put in place because rumors were swirling about a planned protest outside the church. Who was going to be up in arms?

People that thought there was some conspiracy. That this was a cover-up? It was a cover-up. Sheriff Bell was more concerned about what might happen inside the church, his church. Our pastor had approached me and asked me the question. He said, are we safe? I told the pastor, if something doesn't change, you're going to shake hands with the killer. Wow.

That got his attention. Absolutely. Questions followed? A lot of questions. But you weren't given any answers? I couldn't give him any answers. That's all I could tell him. The sheriff believed Linda's killer was someone she knew, someone who would likely show up that day.

At the same time, back at the station, investigators were looking at a key piece of evidence. Remember, Tate told detectives that the security cameras outside her mother's home had been triggered the day she was likely murdered. We speculated that those cameras possibly recorded the actual murder or at least recorded the events leading up to the murder. The cameras were missing. Sheriff Bell felt Linda's killer or killers must have taken them from the crime scene. However, the footage could be accessed online. Investigators learned that someone someone they couldn't tell who had logged into Linda's account after she died,

perhaps the killer trying to delete the footage. If any still existed, they needed to find it. So we reached out to the camera company, and we served them with subpoenas and search warrants. And a couple days later, we received a package from FedEx at the sheriff's office that had a thumb drive in it that had all of the information that was on the cloud on Linda's camera system. The package arrived the same day as Linda's visitation. And so, as mourners prepared to gather at the church,

Sheriff Bell and the other investigators moved into high gear, screening the security camera footage. And we're gathered around with our IT people, and they're trying to get all this footage downloaded and get it going. So they finally get the images on the computer screen, and they put it on a projector so everybody in the room can see it. And we're going through that in real time with them. You don't know what you're going to see. Right. There's no table of contents with this thing. Right. Clip by clip, the videos played, revealing a timeline to investigators. They could see Linda at home that afternoon talking with her assistant, Becky.

Look. It has a delay in sending. It's what's happened. Then after a few minutes, Becky left Linda's house, saying goodbye, just as she told investigators. Cut to three hours later. That's when the camera on the garage revealed something frightening. The sound of blood-curdling screams. Linda's. The outside camera actually recorded the audio of the actual murder itself. We aren't playing it here, but the camera's microphone had captured the last moments of Linda's life as she was being brutally murdered. There was also this video taken the night of the murder.

Someone or someones hiding under a white sheet, sneaking back into the house. And as the team continued to watch the videos, it became abundantly clear to them who killed Linda. That was a moment when all of the investigators were like, this is our killer. But they had no time to celebrate because they knew the suspect would most certainly show up at the visitation only minutes away. They needed to make an arrest now. At that point, I left, took a couple of deputies with me and a couple of state troopers, and we set up surveillance, knowing that our investigators are in the process of preparing an arrest warrant. The sheriff and his team scoped out the suspect's house, waiting for news that the warrant greenlighting

the arrest had been signed. So we're in the middle of a cornfield watching, and all of a sudden a vehicle pulls out, and they're leaving and heading in the direction of the church. It's showtime, huh? We are rolling. The truck carrying the suspect began the roughly 15-mile drive from the house to the church, by then filled with mourners.

And so we're meeting and greeting all the family and friends and crying and hugging. And there was a whole group from Little Rock of senators and stuff that came in. And, you know, here we are trying to do that and just grieve and just memorialize our mother. They were unaware that Linda's alleged killer was heading straight for them.

But the sheriff knew exactly what was about to happen, and it was an affront. We are headed toward the church, which was a church where I go to church at, and a church where Linda went to church, and her entire family went to church, and to walk in there like nothing had happened. Not on his watch.

So we're following the vehicle, and I've got a parade of unmarked vehicles behind me of state troopers and deputies. And we're following along, and I'm on the phone with the lead investigator from the state police, asking him, where are you at on this warrant? Because we are headed to the church. And I would give him a play by play. You know, we're five minutes out. We're three minutes out. And finally, I told the investigator, I said, we are within a mile of the church. Where are you at on this warrant? At

that point, the investigator told me the judge just signed the warrant. You're good to go. So I told the deputy that was driving the vehicle I was in, I said, light them up. Coming up. The police come to us and said, we're sorry to interrupt. Police deliver the news that will stun everyone. We were just as surprised as everybody else was. Didn't compute to you. Didn't make sense. How is this possible? When Dateline continues... Sheriff Kevin Bell and his team of deputies and state police

were convinced they knew who had killed Linda Collins. They were now following that suspect, the passenger in a truck headed toward Linda's visitation, and they needed to make the arrest before the alleged killer got there. So all of a sudden, here comes a blue light, and you got it on the dash. Correct. And nothing happened.

They didn't stop. And now they were getting closer and closer to the church. Time was running out. And I told my deputy, I said, well, I don't know what's fixing to happen, but it's fixing to go down right here. Finally, the truck stopped. Deputies and state police surrounded it, guns drawn.

What are the words? We've done what's called a felony traffic stop, ordered them to get out of the vehicle and, you know, to walk back to us backwards and show us your hands, you know, the whole deal, because we don't know if they're armed. Thankfully, the situation did not escalate. We were able to take her into custody.

And you cuffed her right there? Yes, sir. Her, a female suspect, not Phil Smith, the ex-husband. It was someone you've already met, none other than Becky O'Donnell, Linda's seemingly loyal friend and employee. There she sat, now shackled in the county jail, with no idea about the evidence the investigators had against her. An unlikely suspect for sure, but there was no confusion on the part of the investigators. They believed Becky was their killer. You're under the risk of the murder, Linda. You understand that? We got you. We got you. After the arrest, Sheriff Bell had driven straight to the church. While we were there, halfway through, the police came to us and said,

we're sorry to interrupt. The family was escorted into a back room, where they were met by several high-ranking law enforcement officials, including Sheriff Bell. I wanted to make sure that Linda's family found out from me what had just taken place before they heard it from anywhere else. They said, you know, we've arrested her, and I think I said, for what? And that was when they said, for the murder of your mom. Right. We were just as surprised as I suppose everybody else was.

And it was a very emotional moment for all our parts at that time that we've got this person in custody. But the authorities weren't ready to let the public know, not just yet. So the family went back out into the church. We're there at a visitation. It's an overwhelming situation as it is. And you're expected to take in this information, and then they kind of tell you to go back out, you know, to your visitation and try to act normal. And act like you don't know anything. Yeah, act like you don't know that this arrest just happened.

The family did tell Ken Yang, Linda's friend, who was also acting as the family spokesperson. Ken says it never crossed his mind that Becky O'Donnell was Linda's killer. Everyone thought the ex-husband and then maybe some mystery person they just, Linda kept from us or some random murder of a state senator. But not the lady that ran the books at the motel. No, not the lady that she considered a good friend, that she trusted with her campaign, trusted with her hotel. Never crossed my mind.

Breaking news tonight out of northeast Arkansas. Word of the arrest broke later that night and became the lead story on the local news. Details still limited, but we're told a woman was arrested in Pocahontas today. KK4's Mitch McCoy joining us now live. Reporter Mitch McCoy says Becky O'Donnell wasn't on anyone's list of potential suspects, and certainly not those of the armchair detectives who'd filled the void of information with conjecture and conspiracies.

He admits he had no idea who she was. There's been so much speculation that it was going to be Phil. And so I remember searching Rebecca O'Donnell on Facebook, and the first picture that pops up is this beautiful, heartwarming picture of the two of them, Linda and Becky, from the campaign days. Didn't compute to you? Didn't make sense? It didn't make sense. It was like, this is just out of left field. You know, how is this possible? But possible it was. That's because investigators

had learned a whole lot more about Becky O'Donnell. It turned out Linda's once-trusted aide was a keeper of dark secrets. Lots of them. Coming up, Becky's motive for murder. What could it be? Something's wrong with the books here. It makes no sense at all. I knew that the handwriting on there was not Mom's. And what else had she been hiding? Becky O'Donnell had been arrested for the murder of Linda Collins. A shock to so many, but for the investigators, Becky had been on their radar from the very beginning.

You know, I talked to Tim and Becky, and I got to tell you something, Butch. There's things that ain't adding up there either. Becky was interviewed and made herself out to be very emotional. I can't think that she's going to get mad at me for telling this stuff. No. And the investigators afterwards said that she appeared to be crying, but no tears were coming out of her eyes. So a red flag immediately and a few other things that Becky had said during that interview. Investigators learned that Becky had lied to them about losing her cell phone. Do you have a home phone?

No. Just a cell? Yeah, I lost that today. You lost it? Today? Records indicated she was still using it after she said she'd lost it. They picked up on other inconsistencies, too, and questioned her story about seeing Linda for the last time. Remember, Becky said they'd gotten into a fight. When I left, she was mad at

me. Why was she mad at you? Because it was budding in her personal life. After that argument, Becky said they talked one more time on the phone, but she hadn't seen her since, though she did tell police she went to the house to check on her. What day was that that you went back to her house? I don't know. In his police interview, Tim, the fiancé, said Becky had gone by more than once. Becky's been going by our house about every day, knocking on the door and, you know, calling her and texting her and, hey, you know, answer, we're getting worried. Remember, Linda's son Butch first went to her house on Monday, the day before they found her body.

And when he arrived, he saw Becky there too. She was knocking at the door, but he recalled, Becky was acting a little odd. What's the demeanor you're seeing in her? It's just like a rushed demeanor. No, not really any interest in me at all. More of a just trying to see if she could, I guess, get a hold of Mom. This wasn't the first time Butch said his interactions with Becky had struck him as bizarre.

I felt like for a while there was something fishy between the two of them. Butch told police his mother's friendship with both Becky and Tim seemed to come out of the blue around the time of Linda's divorce from Phil. I'd never heard of these people until divorce time, and all of a sudden they were all up there in the business and helping move furniture and do stuff, and I'd never met these people before. But Becky started doing much more than move furniture. From my understanding, she had started off driving her places

or running errands for them, and that kind of turned into, hey, I really need somebody to go and kind of do some books for me at the office. And so she sort of took over a pseudo-management role. She's like the right-hand assistant, huh? Right, right. Looking back, had you become a little bit suspicious of why Becky and her fiancé Tim had become so close to your mother? Absolutely.

What were the things that made you wonder? The ability for her to move in so quickly when Mom was always so protective of her personal information, her money. You know, she was always so cautious. I mean, it took forever for her to allow me and Butch to take care of that stuff. What floored both Tate and Butch was a legal arrangement that Linda made during the divorce. She gave Tim power of attorney. Tim told police Linda needed someone to legally handle business and financial affairs since she traveled frequently, and she trusted him. You thought that was strange or not? Oh yeah, absolutely.

Something else strange. In the days before Linda's death, Butch told police that money was missing from their grandfather's account, an account his mother had access to. My grandpa just recently started seeing money coming out of his account that he didn't authorize. My mom wouldn't just take from my grandpa unless it's not something that she's ever done. So what's happened with your grandpa's instinct that something's wrong with the books here?

For money to be taken from my grandpa, his personal account, it makes no sense at all. Then their grandfather showed Tate pictures of the checks. I knew that the handwriting on there was not mom's handwriting. Your grandpa says something's off here. Yeah, and he was concerned. What did he think was happening when he looked at the ledgers? He thought, you know, obviously we knew that Becky had access to the accounts. But Becky was, after all, Linda's always their personal assistant. So when police asked Becky about those checks, she shrugged it off. Of course she'd sign them, with Linda's permission. A lot of times Linda had me sign checks or something or go get her cash

or something. But she was on her account where she could sign, you could sign her checks. No, she would just have me sign her name. Oh, you were signing her name? Yeah. Oh, Becky, that's not a smart thing to do. Not smart, and police say not true. Investigators believe Becky may have stolen upwards of $50,000 from Linda. So Becky, the employee, it turned out, had been stealing from Linda, what, for a while, huh? For a long time.

And it didn't pop up just until those final weeks. Right. And my theory on that is that Becky had been stealing from Linda in the motel and the business. And Linda may not have realized that because she was traveling and busy. Police theorized that Linda, tipped off by Tate about the suspicious checks, wanted to talk to Becky about them. And that conversation turned deadly. We believe that Mom had confronted her about the stolen money, the money from my grandpa's account, and probably had found some other money from the motel that was missing.

And so I think Mom confronted her about it, and in a fit of rage between the two of them, then she grabbed a knife and killed her. There's no video showing it happen, but investigators believe Becky stabbed Linda in the kitchen multiple times, then moved her body outside and hid it under that tarp. It wasn't a stretch for Sheriff Bell to come to that conclusion, because he knew something about Becky's past.

She'd once been arrested and put on probation for theft, and that wasn't all. She had actually plotted to kill her ex-husband at one time. You heard that right. In 2007, Becky's husband at the time told police that Becky was trying to have him killed. A friend came forward and said Becky was offering $50,000 for the hit. Becky admitted to authorities that she had talked about killing her husband, but claimed she was drunk and not serious. No charges were filed in the case. But it stuck with Sheriff Bell, who recognized Becky when Tim introduced them at a 2018 campaign event. This guy's saying, meet my fiance, and your wheels are going around. My wheels are turning, and I'm thinking, how in the world did Linda get mixed up

with this person? Oh, man. Of course, you know, there's no way to look into the future. But as convinced as the sheriff was that Becky had murdered Linda, there was someone else just as convinced she was innocent. Her fiancé, Tim. Did you entertain the thought, well, maybe it could be Becky? Never entered my brain. Maybe there's something I can't put together here, but... Never entered my brain.

And who knew Becky better than Tim? Shocked and outraged over her arrest, he set off to clear her name and bring her home. Little did he know that the high hill he was climbing would tumble around him in catastrophic fashion. Coming up... The stuff they have made up of me right now. If I was on the outside looking in, I would say, oh, wow. Linda said who was going to kill her. And that was not Becky.

She said that Phil was going to kill her. Someone was being framed. That's what it felt like. When Dateline continues. Authorities believe they had Linda Collins' killer in custody, but Becky O'Donnell's fiancé, Tim Loggins, thought the whole thing stacked, starting with the arrest. Tim was driving the truck Becky was riding in when she was taken into custody. He says he stopped immediately once he noticed the flashing lights behind him. I saw the blue lights come on, and I saw an unmarked fly by me and basically was surrounded by law enforcement, full-on felony stop.

Again, you know the drill. Yes. You'd been on the other side of this,. Again, you know the drill. Yes. You'd been on the other side of this, Tim. You had worn the uniform. Yes. And here were guys who probably knew by first name basis, certainly knew Sheriff Bell, and there he is. Yes. Tim says he was cuffed along with Becky, but the sheriff had his removed. Tim says the sheriff then told him he wasn't being arrested or charged with anything, but Becky was going down for Linda's murder. I told him he had the wrong person, and he knew it.

And he said, no, I got the right person. Tim still fumes at the dramatics of the arrest. All they had to do was say, Tim, bring Becky to the station, and I'd have done it. I felt like an injustice had been done. I felt like they had made a public spectacle on this arrest just outside the church that was unnecessary. I'm still mad about that, by the way.

Becky pleaded not guilty and was held in jail pending trial. She faced the death penalty if convicted. She maintained her innocence. She was broken, obviously. Tim says he spoke with Becky as often as he could to strategize her defense and to keep her spirits up. I love you. I love you.

I believe in you. You got a lot of people out here. I know that, honey. Tim says that as he learned about some of the evidence against Becky, it appeared the prosecution's case was on very thin ice. What's the allegation go? She's stealing with both hands from her boss? They're saying she's stealing. She was doing what was part of her job, and that's how she explained it to me. Well, they're saying I stole money, but I went to Walmart and made a run for

the motel. I didn't steal anything. I mean, and I'd seen her do that. I'd literally seen Linda hand her her credit card and say, go do this. That's not a motive for murder. That made no sense to me. Because I knew that Linda had granted her some permissions to do that sort of thing. And yet she was the last person known to have seen her. Yes. She admitted there'd been some sort of a dispute, an argument between them.

Yes. And she lied to them about her cell phone. She said she'd lost it and she hadn't. Cops don't like to be lied to. As a uniformed guy, you know that totally. Absolutely. So she's getting herself in a jam here. Yes.

A jam, sure, admits Tim. But none of it was evidence Becky committed murder. No, for Tim, it felt like something else. Like Becky was a patsy, set up to take the fall for the real killer. It felt like there was a cover-up, that my friend had been murdered and justice wasn't going to be served and someone was being framed. That's what it felt like. And behind bars, the alleged frame-up job seemed to have Becky rattled.

They did that good, did that powerful. The stuff they have made up on me right now. If I was on the outside looking in, I would say, oh, wow. Okay? Erin Casanelli is Tim's attorney. Tim was concerned that there was a cover-up and that they were trying to protect her ex-husband to the detriment of Becky. Tim still thought the real killer was Linda's ex-husband.

Linda said who was going to kill her, and she was killed. And that was not Becky? She said that Phil was going to kill her. She said that repeatedly, over and over. But Phil Smith had been cleared by authorities. We felt pretty comfortable with Phil very early on in the investigation that he was not involved in it. Even so, Tim was unmoved.

And according to his attorney, the man who had spent nearly 30 years in law enforcement was fast losing faith in his profession. He couldn't believe that he had dedicated his life to a system that was going to make such a grave error in convicting an innocent person. Tim wasn't alone in thinking something potentially sinister was afoot. Because while the evidence in the case was kept sealed away from the public, every development was closely followed, reported on, and speculated about. There were headlines coming out for months, and it was, this judge has recused himself from the case. Now we have this prosecutor recusing himself.

What's that about? Then we have another judge recusing himself. What's going on? And that added to the conspiracy theories behind her death and who all is involved in Linda's murder. And the recusals of each of these figures contributed to the rumor mill here. But if the rumor mill agreed with Tim that there was more to this story, Tim bristled at the direction in which some of the conspiracies were pointing.

You know, Tim, there's another way they tell this story. And I'm talking about the court of public opinion who thinks that you're in on this all the way. Do you go back to the house with her? Do you help her move the body? Because people wonder how Becky by herself can move. There's a reason they call it dead weight that she would have been able to wrangle that body outside without help. I know there's a certain percentage of people that don't know me on the outside looking in that said, yeah,

he probably had something to do with it. I get that. Let me put it to you direct him. Were you there? Did you help afterwards? Did you move the body? Asked and answered, and the answer is the same. Negative, I did not. Seven months to the day after Becky O'Donnell was arrested for allegedly killing Linda, the case took a bizarre turn when startling new charges were brought against her, including solicitation to commit capital murder. She was going to try to arrange the killing of Phil Smith and make it appear to be a suicide, and Phil Smith take responsibility for the killing of Linda.

So they're going to put a note on his desk or in his hand or something saying, I killed Linda. Yes. The suicide note was to be Becky's ticket to freedom. At least that was the tale told by jailhouse informants, plural, who came forward to claim that Becky was trying to hire them to kill not just Phil, but also his wife as well as the judge and prosecutor. She also planned to have any evidence against her destroyed.

Put viruses in the computer to destroy the case well? Blow up her car. In the impound lot? Yeah, she was going to whatever length possible to destroy whoever and whatever could get in her way of her freedom. Becky pleaded not guilty. And to Tim, it was just further proof that the fix was in. She was in there being a James Bond villain, right? She was going to destroy property.

She was going to kill judges. She was going to kill prosecutors. She was going to have her little minions go out there from the jail and take care of business for her, including killing the ex-husband. That was insane to me. It was so insane that I didn't believe a word of it. I thought that that showed the desperation of the prosecutors.

They were so desperate, they didn't have enough evidence, that they were just willing to listen to some jailhouse snitches. Tim remained steadfast in his defense of Becky. The authorities, meanwhile, were resolute that Becky would be held accountable for killing Linda. But before the case could reach trial, a key piece of evidence would force the shocking truth to be revealed. There was one image that turned out to be the smoking gun in this case. Coming up. Have you ever had an investigative moment like that?

No, that was a high-five moment. The single image that solved the mystery. Becky's face drops. And I still don't even have words to describe what that facial expression means. The summer of 2020. A year after Linda's murder, it seemed like Becky O'Donnell was on her way to trial. She's saying I didn't do it. Correct. Wrong person.

Yes. That's Becky. But law enforcement was 100% sure Becky was the right person. It has a delay in sending. That's what's happened. And the reason why goes back to that home security camera video they'd recovered. Yes, it had captured the awful sounds of Linda being killed and video of the killer disguised in a sheet.

But there was more. The day they downloaded it, they discovered a look-at-me piece of video that wrapped this case up in a bow for the investigators and prosecutors. Lo and behold, what do you see? Well, it pops up. There's Becky O'Donnell holding a bloody knife. The camera, as Becky took it down to try and cover her tracks, had actually captured this footage of her inside the house. Here is Becky with hands on the murder weapon, putting it into a bag,

at the bottom of which was one of those security cameras running on battery, seeing everything. An investigator's dream. Have you ever had an investigative moment like that? No. That was a high-five moment for all of us investigators. No question it's her. No question it's her. Looks like Becky. It is Becky. It's a direct shot of Becky's face. You can see the knife in her hand. You can see the blood on the knife. You can actually see her lip starting to quiver as she's placing this camera inside some kind of a bag, a handbag like a purse. And when she dropped it into that bag, as luck would have it, the camera is pointing up toward the ceiling.

It was this image that investigators showed Becky after her arrest. We got you. We got you. Becky's face drops. And I still don't even have words to describe what that facial expression means. With evidence like that, it was hard to imagine Becky's attorneys would be able to mount much of a defense. So that's say goodnight, right? Yes. I mean, these are not dumb guys. They. So that's say goodnight, right? Yes. I mean, these are not dumb guys.

They're lawyers that know what they're up against. Yes. So behind the scenes, they were talking to Becky about a plea deal. Of course, Tim Loggins, Becky's staunchest defender, knew nothing about any deal or that video. He was still fully behind her. But then one day, Becky's attorneys contacted his attorney and asked to meet. He didn't know what to expect.

Her entire team was there, investigators and all, and they had a nondisclosure form that they wanted me to sign. It was an odd request. There was something Becky wanted Tim to know, but he had to keep it to himself for the time being. Tim signed the form, and then came the words that he never thought he'd hear in a million years. Becky confessed. Her attorneys looked at me and said, Tim, Becky wanted me to tell you that she murdered Linda. Right between the eyes, huh?

Yeah. I was shocked. I was hurt. I was mad. Here's someone that's told me this whole time how innocent she is and how she's being framed and set up and, and oh, now, by the way, I did it. Yeah, I was upset. The moment was hard for Tim's attorney to even watch. I have probably never seen somebody so shocked and upset since I started practicing law. I mean, he was beside himself. Tim had been so convinced that Phil was Linda's killer. And here it was his own fiancee who had been guilty all along. What did you miss in her? How did she bamboozle you? The world's greatest actress or sociopath.

I mean, obviously I missed everything. So you were sleeping and spending your life with a stab and slash killer? Yes. Had no clue. That's why the range of emotions when I found out she did it. I mean, am I that big a fool? After several months of negotiations, Becky and the prosecutors came to an agreement. Becky would plead guilty to first-degree murder, which would mean the death penalty was off the table. Linda's friend Ken wasn't thrilled.

Are you happy with that? Is that justice? Becky O'Donnell deserves a needle in her arm. Tomorrow. Butch wanted Becky to get the death penalty too, but the prosecutors needed to prove premeditation. They told them they didn't have that. So in the state of Arkansas, without having that, like that email or text message saying,

you know, tonight's the night I'm going to do it, to get a death penalty is almost impossible. On August 6, 2020, Becky O'Donnell was sentenced. She stood before a judge and said, I intentionally killed Linda Collins. She also pleaded no contest to two charges of solicitation to commit murder for the hits for hire she tried to orchestrate from jail. Yes, those stories were true too. She received 50 years in prison. Ma'am, do you have anything to say to the family or friends of Linda? Afterwards, Tate and Butch addressed the media. We realized that no matter what punishment Rebecca O'Donnell receives, it will never be enough. It will never bring my grandpa's daughter back or our mother back or our children's

grandmother back. Despite all the speculation about Tim Loggins playing a role in Linda's murder, he was never charged. The police say he had nothing to do with the murder or the theft of Linda's money. So how do you feel about the court of public opinion hanging you for this thing? I cannot describe to you how hurtful it is for someone to think you're guilty of such a heinous crime when you know you're not. Perhaps Linda's ex-husband Phil, who Tim pointed the finger at, feels that way too. In a statement to Dateline, Phil Smith denied having anything to do with Linda's murder, saying, I understand that as a former spouse coming out of a bitter divorce, I had to be the initial prime suspect.

I knew that I did not commit, solicit, desire, or have any knowledge of the terrible deed. He said her murder was a depraved and evil act that devastated not only her very life, but also the lives of her family and friends who loved her. Friends like Ken Yang. You know, I miss her hug. You know, she'd come up to my chest and embrace me, and I miss Linda Collins' hug. In spring 2021, Linda's former colleagues in Little Rock honored her on the floor of

the Senate by adopting a memorial resolution in her name. All those in favor say aye. Aye. She received a standing ovation. But perhaps the people who miss Linda the most are her kids and grandkids, which still remembers how hard it was to tell his children that Grandma Linda wasn't coming back. You know, I just sat him down on the couch and said, Hey, buddies, you're not going to get to see your grandma no more somebody killed her and

there's just not I hate it, of course I was breaking down crying it's my mom and to try to tell two little kids that their grandma their best friend had been taken away from them and they just started getting to know her was just one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

But in that void of loss, there is a legacy of a woman who cared deeply about her community and spent her entire life trying to make it better. You were saying back at the beginning, faith, family, state of Arkansas, and we added grandchildren. Grandchildren. Is that a good legacy? Absolutely. Yeah. She just loved people, and she loved life, and she just lived it to the fullest. That's all for this edition of Dateline. We'll see you again next Friday at 9,

8 Central, and of course, I'll see you each weeknight for NBC Nightly News. I'm Lester Holt. For all of us at NBC News, good night.