CONVICTION OVERTURNED AK - Kent Leppink, 36, murdered, Hope, 2 May 1996

Hi everyone. First of all let me say this is my first time to post on here. So, Hello . I have read each and every post on this thread. They are all full of info and good "sleuthing". Thank you for putting time and energy into your posts, the information is interesting.
I first heard about this case on the recent 48 hours episode just a couple of weeks ago. I found it fascinating. The story and the characters are all interesting. Mechele herself is the most fascinating to me. Although everyone involved seems to have a secret of some kind. This is the stuff of a great mystery novel....but it's real life! Fascintating!
I usually give people the benefit of the doubt. It is hard to blame someone for murder when you don't have a smoking gun or eye witness. But, I have to say, I think Mechele is guitly as all get out. Her personality is unbelievable to me! Wow! What a piece of work, huh? OF course, I don't assume her guilt based on personality, It is the facts of the case that lead me to that conclusion; cicumstantial as it is...It may not be enough for a conviction, but it is enough for me to think she's guilty.
I know most will disagree with me on this, but I think the movie "The Last Seduction" is relevant. I don't know whether or not it should be admissable in court, but the fact that Mechele viewed the femme fatale in the movie as her 'hero', who she wanted to be just like, is a view inside of Mechele's, uhm, dysfucntional mind.
Something I noticed and found very interesting, was what Mechele chose to wear on the day of the jury verdict in her trial... I noticed in the clip of 'The Last Seduction', that the femme fatale was wearing a black turtleneck, her dark hair parted to the side and straight, when she got away with murder. This is how Mechele was dressed and her hair coiffed on the day on the verdict, The day she thought she was going to get away with murder. I know, it sounds far fetched and grasping, but if Mechele does have a narcissisitc personality and sociopathic tendencies, it is possible that she was living out some sort of fantasy. Why chose to wear the same clothing as in the movie? Remember, she said she thought the verdict was going to be not guilty. She thought she was going to get away with murder. I believe she was shocked to hear a guilty verdict.

I look forward to hearing more posts from all of you. Thanks for starting the thread!!

One last thing that I wanted to say, is I think the things Mechele said about Kent in his death and the way she mocks his family in the email to her mom, are disgusting. While she is a fascinating personality, she is, IMHO, a disgusting person. These types of comments and the telling look inside of her personal emails, show a person who lacks conscience IMO.

Again, thank you everyone so much for the time and effort you have put into your posts and all the research!

Welcome homehearties! Great first post. I absolutely agree with you. I didn't know about the court outfit connection, so that is super interesting. It makes total sense to me. She tries to pull off the nice-girl act, but it always falls far short of her desired result. She always lets slip with pieces of her real personality, which is definitely not pretty. Hope to see more posts from you. It's great to have another viewpoint join the discussion. WS is a great site and I think you will enjoy it here. As you can tell by previous posts, we have some resident Mechele experts here. I'm not one of them, but love this thread and follow it faithfully.

Thank you for the welcome Belinda! I definitely plan on following this thread, and so far what I've seen of WS is awesome!

Great post Home. I am especially interested in your observation about her clothing and the movie. I wonder if the jury made the connection?

I think Mechelle hurts herself with the "little girl voice" which is a common affectation of psychopaths who want to appear harmless and innocent. It was quite interesting to see her use a normal voice to address the court at her sentencing. But the real Mechelle is capable of astonishing selfishness and feels justified in manipulating and using anyone to get her way. The little girl act is a tool she uses to manipulate men; that and sex or the possibility of sex. I think she strung both Kent and John on never sleeping with Kent and screwing John once right before the murder to get him with the program (he sends her an email shortly before where he says he finally knows what it is like to spend the night with someone you love). But poor Kent never even got to sleep with his little psycho.

I noted with interest her mother's statement that when Mechelle returned to Louisiana she sat down with the family and explained that she was going to have to strip for a living. As if this is a normal conversation one has with a daughter. Her mother seemed fine with Mechelle manipulating Kent into thinking she was going to marry him. I think her mother created and fed the beast. Mechelle's brainwashed or brainless hubby went to Tulane. What do you want to bet he met her at a topless club?

Thanks Texas!
I, too, have been curious about her family and her mom's role in all of this. Did her mom know she was stringing 3 men along? Was this supported and/or condoned by her family? What was Mechele like as a child? She moved away at quite a young age...
The email that Mechele sent to her mom (the HAHAHAHAHAHAH one) is so off the wall. It makes you wonder. As a mom, I can understand the desire to be behind your child no matter what. But is her mother just another victim of Mechele's manipulation? Is she simply just standing behind her child. I can't imagine what it would be like to discover your child is rotten to the core.

Hello Home. I suspect Mechelle's Mom did little to show her the right path. The HAHAHA email proves that her mother was in on the "joke." What she was doing to Kent was lying to him about their relationship to get money out of him. That is no joke. Instead of telling her daughter it is wrong to use people that way, mom complimented her on her imagination. This is the stripper mentality - the men are simply "marks" and anything is justifiable because they look on these poor lonely guys with scorn. I think one of the strippers who knew Mechelle in Alaska asked "what is she supposed to do, give back the things men gave her?" The answer is "yes" - any decent woman would not accept such gifts much less fake an interest in marriage.

Has Mechelle changed? She slept with Scott when her doc hubby was deployed. She also slept with the family doctor during this period according to his testimony at the trial. She has not changed at all.

Her mother may be blind to some of this but not all of it. I suspect mom passed on her on values to Mechelle. Otherwise, why would any daughter brag to her mother about how she is manipulating a guy who thinks he is in love, even to the point of pretending she is interested in marriage?

Yeah, I agree Texas. The recipient of that email(mom) must have been privy to what was going on. How despicable. I honestly cannot put into words how despicable I think that behavior is. And I think you're right. She must have been raised like that.

<<As for the crab, that topic is relevant and I stand by my words. People defending Mechele have touted her alleged vegetarianism as some sort of defense like, "she couldn't possibly have killed someone--she can't even eat chicken!" So seeing her eating crab made me stop and go :waitasec: >>
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I agree with you on this one. Several people have said Mechelle could not kill because she was a vegetarian and loved animals. Hitler was a well known vegetarian who loved his dogs. The argument is just ludicrous.

Hi all, this is my first post as well. I've been trying to find a message board with people currently discussing the case-especially after her verdict was overturned and there will be a new trial. I'm glad I found this site! I'm still somewhat surprised that she's out on bail. Nancy, you've done a fine job hosting this thread and keeping it alive and well. Lots of thought provoking posts from you as well as everyone else. I'm still trying to digest the contents of the HAHAHA email to her mother...incredible. Hadn't seen that before. The other one to Leppink certainly doesn't paint a pretty picture either. Will write more when I have time, this case has got to be one of the most bizarre murder mysteries ever.

Welcome to texas and alaskanblue! Glad to have you onboard! This is THE best place to find fascinating conversation and information about Mechelle. I was never that interested in this case before I came to WS. Now I'm hooked due to our resident experts here.

Will write more when I have time, this case has got to be one of the most bizarre murder mysteries ever.

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Respectfully snipped from alaskanblue. You will find many fascinating cases on WS. I, personally, think this is one of the best, but we have some real lulu's on here.

Just recently saw this case on Snapped! She is a real piece of work!:razz: Can't believe she led on 3 men at the same time!!! :doh::banghead:Also can't believe her conviction was overturned because Kent's letter telling his parents if he died, it was her, was inadmissable!!!:behindbar:behindbar:behindbar

Mia said:

. Also, the "Great Alaskan Bush Company"??? Subtle name for a strip club.

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Blondie in Spokane said:

Mia...Lol...I agree...the spelling of her name annoys* me, too!

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Yup! It's Mechele, not Michelle- with the emphasis BBM on ME!
Also, I totally agree with the poster ( it's not petty) to point out that how in the world did she get a Master's Degree when the woman can't even spell or compose a gramatically correct sentence to save her life???

Thanks for the welcome Belinda! Having never seen some of the emails between her, Leppink and Carlin before I came away more amazed than ever at how under her spell they were. There was basically nothing they wouldn't do to be with her. It appears that Leppink had practically his last dime on her in that one email. The absolute disdain that she has for him is readily apparent and chilling. I find them both a bit pathetic and extremely naive. I mean, we are talking about a stripper here, are we not? I wonder if she ever has a passing thought of the two men now dead as a result of involvement with her...possibly, but highly doubtful.

I followed the case in the papers and on occasional TV news when it was going on. I have to admit I was a bit swayed by the story about how she viewed Linda Fiorentino's character in "The Last Seduction" as someone she'd like to be. I did watch the movie and was quite astonished at the ending. I was trying to keep an open mind and really didn't consider her dancing at the Bush Co. as making her look more guilty. Then I come to find out on the 48 Hours show that Aspiotis lied about watching the movie with Linehan, when in her diary she wrote she watched it with her husband. I'm not even sure that she and Linehan ever discussed the movie as well. When I saw the interview with Aspiotis I did sense there was an axe to grind on her part. No love lost between those women. Yet some of the media still continues to push this story as fact. The Leppink letter and the Hope note were really what made my mind up. She had to have had some involvement in the murder. The testimony of her sister about her computer and the remarks she made about Leppink were also pretty damaging. Of course the testimony by Carlin IV on the washing of the gun was big and very pivotal. But I still didn't think they had enough evidence to convict her, I was actually surprised to hear that she'd been found guilty.

Now it appears that the Leppink letter will be thrown out and I wonder what additional evidence the prosecution can come up with in the second trial. I do remember that there was a detail about the sets of footprints, did the police ever get a shoe size off of the ones coming back down the road? I seem to faintly recall that the snow had melted some...They had to have taken some crime scene pics of them. It's so unfortunate that the Desert Eagle was never found, I wish they'd found out about Carlin throwing it in the trash earlier. Perhaps they could've retrieved it from the landfill. I found Mechele's statements on those tapes in Wasilla very strange. I wish I could've deciphered some of those garbled and faint sections of the interviews, her crying after hearing Kent was dead sounded contrived to me. It certainly took her long enough for it to sink in after she was informed--most likely trying to figure out how to conjure up some tears. And I also agree that the fact that they were going through Leppink's belongings before they were even told of his death was really, really suspicious. I hope that the prosecution uses that in the second trial. As someone else posted earlier, if Carlin's son can take the stand and disclose even more this time around it'd be helpful. I wonder if he still regards her as a "big sister"...

I, like many of you, am sort of blown away that Mechele would be having anything to do with Facebook or twitter at this point. I guess she just can't help herself but she has to know that the internet is a minefield for her. I think it's safe to say that she has some narcissistic qualities. The deleted Facebook post from her stripper friend in New Orleans certainly is intriguing. And yes, there appears to be a real spin machine going on trying to downplay her dancing activites-that's interesting. This affair with Scott Hilke while her husband was in Iraq, this is true? If so, wow--sounds like she hasn't changed all of her ways.

Since I live here in Anchorage, when I heard about the overturning of her conviction it really piqued my interest in the case moreso than before. After seeing the "48 hours" and "Snapped" shows a couple of months ago, they really opened my eyes. I thought back to the 90's and realized that the few times that I'd been in the Bush Co. were before '94 so I never saw her there. Like many of you, I find that hanging out in strip clubs regularly is sort of pathetic and odd-much like throwing your money into a roaring fire, but with a better view of course!

It looks like the trial won't be starting until early next year. It'll be interesting to see what more developments unfold.

Filed August 17, 2010 by the state, this motion is a "Request For a Court Order Releasing Defendant's Institutional File to the Parties."

You can find it here, after clicking "State's Motions" on the left side:

www.mechelelinehan.com

You can go directly to the pdf by clicking here:

http://mechelelinehan.com/uploads/statesfirstmotion.PDF

I am not a lawyer. However, I am qualified to quote a few interesting nuggets from the motion (I added the bolding):

Comes now, the State of Alaska...hereby files this, the state's request for a court order releasing the defendant's Department of Corrections institutional files to the parties.

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"After Ms. Linehan had been released [from Hiland Mountain Correctional Center], the state was contacted by an individual, M.B., who indicated that she had relevant information regarding the case against Linehan.

M.B. was subsequently interviewed...[t]he information provided by M.B. related to the witness's interaction with Linehan while they were jointly housed at the Hiland facility. M.B. indicated that Linehan had a strong tendency to manipulate other inmates and she had allegedly made some statements regarding certain aspects of the murder case.

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But there wasn't just one person stressing the need to look into Mechele's prison behavior:

The state prosecutor's office was recently contacted by the institutional probation officer that was involved in supervising Linehan while at Hiland. The officer informed the state that Ms. Linehan's institutional file has relevant information and docuemtnation regarding the case against Ms. Linehan.

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These documents likely contain both disciplinary matters and institutional observations regarding Ms. Linehan while she was incarcerated at Hiland facility....Ms. Linehan has no recognizable privacy interest in these documents that would prevent disclosure to the prosecution.

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I'm not exactly sure what this means. I hope Nancy comes back soon so she can educate us

Here's the link to the Linehan case on the State of Alaska public access site:

http://www.courtrecords.alaska.gov/pa/pa.urd/pamw2000.docket_lst?54330965

09/07/2010 Motion to Withdraw as Counsel Attorney: Public Defender Agency (PD3AN) Mechele K Linehan (Defendant); Filing Party: Linehan, Mechele K Case Motion #37

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So is this a formality of her previous attorney(s) withdrawing b/c she's indigent know and getting a public defender? Or is this the public defender withdrawing for some other reason?? Anyone got any insight here?

flourish said:

Filed August 17, 2010 by the state, this motion is a "Request For a Court Order Releasing Defendant's Institutional File to the Parties."

You can find it here, after clicking "State's Motions" on the left side:

www.mechelelinehan.com

You can go directly to the pdf by clicking here:

http://mechelelinehan.com/uploads/statesfirstmotion.PDF

I am not a lawyer. However, I am qualified to quote a few interesting nuggets from the motion (I added the bolding):

But there wasn't just one person stressing the need to look into Mechele's prison behavior:

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Hey Flourish. Don't you just know that Mechele's actions and words in prison are going to come back and haunt her. You don't learn that manipulative behaviour overnight and you can't switch it off. I believe it is entrenched into her very being. I can't wait until we know more about the jail records.

Thank you for the updates. I had been keeping an eye out but missed these.

Thanks for the update! I wonder what interesting info comes out of this. I wonder what she may have divulged in her conversations at Hiland.

Thank you for the interesting updates flourish~
so she will be on her 3rd attorney soon? Very curious what those Hiland documents say
hi alaskanblue and Linas

Very thoughtful post there Blue. I agree with most everything you say.

Yes, Leppink is somewhat pathetic the way he chased a stripper, and naive, but I would not apply either term to her. I think she is calculating and manipulative, but maybe not that smart. What is pathetic about her is her apparent lack of conscience.

I think the appellate court made an error in reversing the trial court. If there was testimony that she liked the movie, regardless of what the diary said, I think it is relevant and should be admissible. The jury can judge the credibility of it, and I doubt it had a big influence on the verdict. Sure was cheeky of her to dress in that black turtleneck when the verdict was announced. That was no accident - she dressed just like Fiorentino in the scene in the movie where she is found not guilty. This girl is a piece of work.

I believe the uncontroverted testimony from both Scott and the doc at trial was that they bedded her while hubby was defending the hearth in Iraq. What is it with these guys? Scott is lucky he isn't dead, and the doc must be fairly uninformed to go down that road.

I got a laugh out of "throwing your money into a fire, but with a better view. " So I've been told ...