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		</div><h6><span style="color: #423737;">Rebecca Lynn O&#8217;Donnell pled guilty on Thursday to first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the June 2019 death of Arkansas Senator Linda Collins</span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #423737;">The former Arkansas GOP Senator was found stabbed to death last year outside her home in Pocahontas last year</span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #423737;">Prosecutors in April said O&#8217;Donnell killed Collins for money </span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #423737;">O&#8217;Donnell, 49, a former Campaign aide admitted to killing Sen. Collins before trying to recruit fellow inmates in murder-for-hire plot against victim&#8217;s ex-husband, as well as a judge and prosecutor</span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #423737;">Rebecca Lynn O&#8217;Donnell pleaded guilty on Thursday to first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the June 2019 death of Linda Collins </span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #423737;">She also pleaded no contest in a separate case where she was charged with asking fellow inmates to kill Collins&#8217; ex-husband and two others while in jail </span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #423737;">O&#8217;Donnell admitted she tried to recruit female inmates at her prison to help kill prosecutor Henry Boyce and judge Harold Erwin, both involved in her murder trial </span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #423737;">Boyce and Erwin who had been overseeing the trial, both recused themselves from the case. </span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #423737;">O&#8217;Donnell was sentenced to 50 years in prison under a deal with prosecutors </span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #423737;">The killer and the victim were known to be friends before the slaying </span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #423737;">O&#8217;Donnell had worked on Collins&#8217; unsuccessful reelection campaign in 2018 and was a witness in the former lawmaker&#8217;s divorce proceedings </span></h6>
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<h6 class="imageCaption"><img class="" src="https://i0.wp.com/konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Rebecca-Lynn-ODonnell-left-and-Linda-Collins-Smith-2.png?ssl=1&;w=900" width="854" height="851" /><strong>Rebecca Lynn O&#8217;Donnell, [left] pleaded guilty on Thursday to first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the June 2019 murder of her employer and friend, former Arkansas GOP Senator Linda Collins [right] </strong></h6>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font">A campaign aide pled guilty to killing former Arkansas Senator Linda Collins before trying to recruit female inmates, while in custody to kill the victim&#8217;s ex-husband, as well as a judge and prosecutor linked to her murder trial.<br />
Rebecca Lynn O&#8217;Donnell, 49, pled guilty on Thursday to first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the June 2019 death of the state senator.<br />
O&#8217;Donnell also pled no contest to two counts of criminal solicitation in a separate case where she was charged with asking fellow inmates to kill Collins&#8217; ex-husband and two others while she was in jail.<br />
She was sentenced to 50 years in prison under a deal with prosecutors.<br />
Collins, who went by Collins-Smith in the Legislature, was found stabbed to death last year outside her home in Pocahontas, which is about 130 miles northeast of Little Rock.<br />
The victim&#8217;s son and father found her body wrapped in a blanket under a tarp in her driveway.</p>
<h6 class="imageCaption"><strong><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-352313" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Rebecca-Lynn-ODonnell-right-convicted-for-murder-of-Senator-Linda-Collins-left-2.jpg" alt="Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell, [right], convicted for murder of Senator Linda Collins [left] 2" width="690" height="569" /></span>O&#8217;Donnell [right] on Thursday admitted to intentionally killing her friend Collins [left], and then hiding her body. She had worked on Collins&#8217; unsuccessful reelection campaign in 2018 and was a witness in the former lawmaker&#8217;s divorce proceedings</strong></h6>
<p class="mol-para-with-font">At trial in April, prosecutors said O&#8217;Donnell confessed the motive was money. She was originally charged with capital murder and prosecutors last year indicated that they planned to seek the death penalty.<br />
She changed her initial plea of not guilty to enter a guilty plea during the court hearing on Thursday, before she was sentenced.<br />
O&#8217;Donnell admitted to intentionally killing her friend and then hiding her body.<br />
O&#8217;Donnell and Collins were known to be friends before the slaying.<br />
She had worked on Collins&#8217; unsuccessful reelection campaign in 2018 and was a witness in the former lawmaker&#8217;s divorce proceedings. Collins divorced retired Circuit Judge Philip Smith in 2018.</p>
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<h6 class="imageCaption"><strong> <span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-346126" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Rebecca-ODonnell-4.jpg" alt="Rebecca O'Donnell 4" width="800" height="600" /></span>Video footage from Collins&#8217; security system showed O&#8217;Donnell [orange regulation suit], removing security cameras from inside the former lawmaker&#8217;s residence on May 28 &#8211; the day she was last seen alive</strong></h6>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font">After Collins&#8217; body was discovered, investigators determined that she had last been seen alive on May 28 &#8211; just days before she was found.<br />
Video footage from Collins&#8217; security system showed O&#8217;Donnell removing security cameras from inside the former lawmaker&#8217;s residence that same day she was last seen alive.<br />
After O&#8217;Donnell was arrested and jailed, she was accused of plotting more killings. She reportedly tried to recruit female inmates at her prison to help kill the victim&#8217;s ex-husband retired judge Phil Smith.</p>
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<h6><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-352328" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Rebecca-Lynn-ODonnell-left-also-solicited-the-death-of-Phil-Smith-right-1.jpg" alt="Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell, [left], also solicited the death of Phil Smith [right] 1" width="722" height="487" /><strong>O&#8217;Donnell [left] also pleaded no contest to two counts of criminal solicitation in a separate case where she was charged with asking fellow inmates to kill Sen. Collins&#8217; ex-husband, Phil Smith [right], and two others while she was in jail </strong></h6>
<h6><strong><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;"><img class="alignnone wp-image-340636" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Rebecca-Becky-ODonnell-1.jpg" alt="Rebecca 'Becky' O'Donnell 1" width="703" height="528" /></span>After O&#8217;Donnell [photo] was arrested and jailed, she was accused of trying to recruit female inmates at her prison to help kill prosecutor Henry Boyce and judge Harold Erwin</strong></h6>
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<div><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">She is also accused of trying to recruit female inmates at her prison to help kill prosecutor Henry Boyce and judge Harold Erwin, both involved in her murder trial.</span><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;"> </span></div>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font">Boyce and Erwin who had been overseeing the trial, both recused themselves from the case.<br />
&#8216;No amount of punishment will ever fill that void that Rebecca O&#8217;Donnell made in our lives the day she killed our mother,&#8217; Tate Williams, Collins&#8217; daughter, said after the hearing.<br />
&#8216;Today we find some shred of peace that Rebecca O&#8217;Donnell will be put away in prison for a very long time, unable to hurt anyone else.&#8217;<br />
Collins&#8217; son, Butch Smith, who found his mother&#8217;s body outside her home, said: &#8216;The plea deal was not what my first choice would have been, but at least we do have a guaranteed amount of time that she will be imprisoned for and we will have the ability as the victim&#8217;s family to argue against her release at her parole hearings.&#8217;</p>
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<h6><strong> <span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;"><img class="alignnone wp-image-320930" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Linda-Collins-Smith-5.png" alt="Linda Collins-Smith 5" width="783" height="591" /></span>Arkansas state Sen. Collins was originally elected to the State House as a Democrat in 2010. She switched parties and became a Republican in 2011, a year before the GOP won control of both chambers of the Legislature. She was elected to the Senate in 2014 </strong></h6>
<p><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">Collins served one term in the state House and was originally elected as a Democrat in 2010.<br />
She switched parties and became a Republican in 2011, a year before the GOP won control of both chambers of the Legislature.<br />
She was elected to the state Senate in 2014 and was one of the most conservative lawmakers in the majority-GOP chamber. </span></div>
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Campaign aide Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell sentenced 50 years after admitting to killing Arkansas Sen. Linda Collins, before jails house murder-for-hire plot targeting victim’s ex-husband, a judge and prosecutor in her case
