Shivangi Sinha
In 2019, former Arkansas state senator Linda Collins’ father and son found her murdered outside their home. While the police didn’t have many leads at first, the investigation took a significant turn after they reviewed security footage. In a shocking discovery, the footage revealed Linda’s close friend, Rebecca O’Donnell, tampering with the CCTV cameras. O’Donnell ultimately confessed to the murder. The episode of NBC’s ‘Dateline’ titled ‘The Hands of a Killer’ delves into the bizarre manner in which the story unfolded following Rebecca’s arrest and examines the events that led to her conviction.
Rebecca Was Arrested While She Was Enroute Linda’s Memorial
Rebecca “Becky” Lynn O’Donnell was born and raised in Pocahontas, Arkansas. She entered the political field after meeting Linda Collins. It was Rebecca’s long-time partner, Tim Loggains, whom she knew from grade and high school, who introduced her to his friend, Linda. The two women quickly bonded over their shared political vision, and Linda saw Rebecca as a valuable ally. Rebecca became a key supporter and emerged as a leading figure during Linda’s political campaigns in 2014 and 2018. Their friendship strengthened throughout their victories and losses, and they often referred to each other as “sisters.”
In October 2018, when Linda went through a divorce with Philip Smith, Rebecca stood by her side, and her partner Loggains even served as her power of attorney throughout the case. However, underlying tensions existed. Allegations surfaced that the friends had financial disputes and that Linda apparently might have been stealing money from Rebecca. On June 4, 2019, when Linda’s son, Butch Smith, came to his mother’s house with his grandfather, they noticed a tarp in the driveway. Upon inspection, they discovered Linda’s body underneath, lying face down and wrapped in a comforter.
The police were immediately called, and they determined that Linda had died on May 28, 2019, and her body had been placed in the driveway afterward. She had been stabbed multiple times inside the house. With no eyewitnesses, the police relied on CCTV footage to piece together the events. The footage revealed that Rebecca was the last person seen with Linda, as they had gone for lunch on the day of the murder. It is alleged that Rebecca was caught tampering with the cameras inside the house just before Linda was killed. Since Philip had already been cleared of suspicion, the police focused on Rebecca. While Rebecca and Loggains were on their way to Linda’s memorial service, the police intercepted them and arrested Rebecca on charges of capital murder, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence.
Rebecca Threatened to Kill More People While in Prison
Rebecca was held on a non-bailable offense in the county jail. On July 30, 2019, she pleaded not guilty to the charges against her. Her cellmates reported that she kept a picture of Linda on her wall, telling them that Linda was her sister and she was innocent. However, soon after, a few cellmates approached investigators, claiming that Rebecca had asked them to kill Linda’s ex-husband, Philip, and his second wife, Mary. She had even hinted at targeting Judge Harold Erwin and the case’s prosecutor, Henry Boyce.
The investigators’ affidavit suggested that Rebecca had been approaching inmates who were set to be released and had even threatened that she could get them killed if they did not comply. She asked them to destroy her car, which held specific evidence, and promised to compensate them with bags of gold and silver that she knew were kept in Philip’s house. The police looked into her digital activities and found that she had indeed sold gold and silver coins, presumably taken from Linda’s house, in Little Rock and Memphis for $15,110 in three transactions in 2018. In light of these new findings, she was additionally charged with two counts of solicitation to commit capital murder and solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence on January 14, 2020.
Rebecca O’Donnell is Incarcerated Till Today
On August 6, 2020, Rebecca O’Donnell entered a plea deal and pleaded guilty to the charges of murder, tampering with physical evidence, and abuse of a corpse. She pleaded no contest to the counts of solicitation to commit capital murder and two counts of solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence. She told the judge that she had “intentionally” killed her friend and then hid her body. Although the death sentence or the possibility of no parole was on the table, because Rebecca pleaded guilty, she was handed a sentence of 50 years in prison.
Rebecca, now 53 years old, has been held at an undisclosed out-of-state agency since October 2020. Her location is not publicly available due to safety concerns. Initially, she was held at the McPherson Unit Prison in Newport, Arkansas. Her estimated date for becoming eligible for parole is 2049, but this is subject to change based on various factors. She has many years to serve before considering the possibility of release.
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