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Ex-aide pleads guilty to murder of Arkansas state senator

Linda Collins, 57, was found dead in June 2019 at her Arkansas residence. File Photo courtesy of Arkansas GOP/Twitter
Linda Collins, 57, was found dead in June 2019 at her Arkansas residence. File Photo courtesy of Arkansas GOP/Twitter

Aug. 6 (UPI) -- An Arkansas woman pleaded guilty Thursday to killing state Sen. Linda Collins as part of an agreement that will put her behind bars for 50 years.

Rebecca "Becky" Lynn O'Donnell pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse.

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"I went to Linda's house and I intentionally killed her and then hid the body," she said in a Little Rock court, according to KATV-TV.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that O'Donnell didn't provide a motive for the slaying, but prosecutors said it may have involved money.

Collins' body was found in June 2019 in her Pocahontas residence, about 145 miles northeast of Little Rock. Police arrested O'Donnell a week later.

The two women were friends and O'Donnell worked as a campaign aide for Collins.

Collins, who was 57 at the time of her death, was first elected to the state House in 2010 as a Democrat but switched parties in 2011. She was defeated for re-election in May 2018 in the Republican primary.

While imprisoned in the Jackson County jail, O'Donnell attempted to recruit fellow inmates to kill Collins' former husband, Phil Smith, and frame him for her death, police said. O'Donnell pleaded no contest to murder solicitation Thursday and was sentenced to seven years in prison on those charges.

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The remaining 43-year sentence was for the murder and abuse of a corpse charges. She will be eligible for parole.

O'Donnell previously pleaded not guilty to capital murder, but the state reduced the charge to first-degree murder as part of the deal.

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