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

otto said:

What a great story! Black widow in action.

I think the defence hoped that the squeaky clean husband would gloss over the wife, but I don't think anything can make Mechele clean.

:floorlaugh::floorlaugh Very Funny

I like the judge's comments about there being two Mechele's.

I actually feel a little sorry for Carlin. His wife died of cancer, and he was really vulnerable. Along comes a young, gold digging, nude dancer, and his life takes a very bad turn.

Yep, she sure knew how to spot a good mark and work her way in... and still seems to take advantage of that particular skill


I feel sorry for her husband. He's a bit of a homely guy, but he's a doctor ... someone that could never believe that he was targeted by someone like a black widow. He is a bright guy, but even bright guys can be swindled.

They got married the day after he graduated from med school.


Did Mechele or her husband write her statement to the Judge after the trial? She seems to trip over the words a little too much for someone that had the words flow from her heart.

Her mother has alleged that Mechele was non-consensually sedated, possibly by thorozine, prior to her sentencing. I thought it looked like she might have had notes...from a lawyer or maybe they let you bring notes in, I don't know.


Is that Mechele's mom sitting behind her in the courtroom?

I think the woman you're thinking about is Colin's mother.


What a truly tragic event for Kent Leppink. He strikes me as so many guys ... shy, afraid of women, unsure if he'll be accepted, tripping over himself trying to make her happy. Mechele's email to her mother says it all ... for her, it was a big joke to take advantage of him, to torture him, to ultimately arrange for his murder, and to eventually - as her friend said - change her life to cover her tracks. She saw Kent as the ultimate lottery payoff ... one million in life insurance. I would have loved to have seen the expression on her face when she learned that he had changed the beneficiary a week before her plan was executed.

RBBM Yeah that email to her mom was brutal! (Not to mention her poor spelling and language skills).


I have to wonder if her husband will ever look at the evidence objectively; whether he will ever ask himself why she wrote the Hope note, why she participated in luring Kent to Hope, whether he will ever ask himself why she bought an insurance policy for Kent shortly before he was murdered (claiming it was a wedding gift from her grandfather), whether he will ever protect his daughter from the black widow he married.

He's been standing behind her for a l o n g time. He's already rationalized it all. Even if he gets to the point where he realizes he's been had, how could he possibly say that in public? If he were to leave her, though, I think he would do it quietly, and after the retrial.

Also, the life insurance policy has tried to be explained away as having to do with a joint business venture or some such thing.

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Again, I am in green and RBBM

otto said:

I think everyone will notice how she is as distant from her husband as she was from Kent Leppink. In the photos, he looks engaged, but she is always coldly staring into the camera, or away (like in the birth photo). It's the same in the Leppink photos of Mechele and Kent ... he's engaged, she's looking elsewhere. When the Judge says that her husband can join her for the reading of the verdict, she has her arm firmly around that of her lawyer, not her husband. He seems to be standing there a bit like he's by himself, awkward, and unconnected.

Totally! and later when she's sitting down, and he basically collapses at her feet, she does this weird...gathering-type motion to bring him closer to her but without looking at him. I keep in mind she's in shock, but still...

When her husband is speaking about her in the courtroom, she seems to have such a hard expression on her face. In fact, she has a hard expression on her face most of the time, unless she's cuing for a cry. He seems to be truly hugging her, but she is already disconnected.

She later claimed that her lawyers told her to act "stoic," so she acted "stoic." That kind of statement, IMHO, adds credence to the idea that she's a "chameleon," who switches her demeanor, etc., to fit her situation and agenda. It's almost like she doesn't have appropriate, or any, feelings about things, and has to constantly look for cues from others. Reminds me of Casey Anthony in that way.

Maybe that's why her husband keeps hanging on ... always waiting for a genuine response, one that will never happen.

Well put, and probably spot on, otto-man.


Her husband was a mark, just like all the other guys she has had in her life. There is always a hidden agenda or ulterior motive with Mechele, and her husband, the doctor, is nothing more than a stepping stone in not only distancing herself from her sordid past, but in painting her with something good.

Again, spot on.


Why does her husband not mind that she's sleeping with other men while they are married? Is he so brainwashed that he doesn't mind, that he doesn't care if he daughter has that as a role model, that it's okay for him to be dragged through her mud?

He seems to be ...ahem....a very ...forgiving man. :innocent:

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flourish said:

Again, I am in green and RBBM



Glad to have your input, otto!!:rocker:

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Again, RBBM, and my comments in green
(Oh, and many of these answers are already in the thread...I know it's long, but it's worth it)

otto said:

Wouldn't it have been in her best interests to use her own name while traveling to visit Scott Hilke if only to ensure that she had a solid alibi for the day that Kent was shot?

Well, she and her supporters claim that Kent was so obsessed with her that she was worried he would follow her to Lake Tahoe (where she was seeing Scott). However, I'm saying how do we know she didn't buy a ticket in her own name for the later arrival home date, and an additional ticket in an alias which arrived a couple of days earlier...


It was her bad luck that Kent's body was found so quickly, but assuming that the report would be that Kent disappeared while she was away for the weekend - perhaps depressed and sad and suicidal - then it would be best for her to have a record of being out of town. As it was, there was no report about a missing Kent, and no opportunity for her to spin a web about him.

Her supporters often say that the fact that Kent was killed somewhere so remote that his body was unlikely to be found immediately points to Mechele's innocence, because she'd need to body to be found in order to cash in on the insurance. I've wondered if there wasn't a plan to ensure the body was found, but it was discarded because they didn't need it---the electrical crew got there quicker...??


Interesting thought about killing Kent herself - took me a minute to catch your drift ... that does seem to be what Carlin was telling Dateline ... that there were no imprints in the mud behind Kent, so it had to be someone that weighed less than he did. Still, Carlin was not exactly forthcoming in any of his testimony.


Another point that her supporters discuss is the shoe sizes of prints found there. Apparently, Carlin had giant, square feet (EEE width). I'm not exactly sure on any of the details of the shoe prints found on the scene, so I can't really help there. That's something I hope to learn more about during the upcoming retrial.


She did say the gun was big ... but ... did she ever shoot guns while in Alaska?

In the only book written about this case, discussed upthread, the author claims that there were witnesses that place Mechele at a local shooting range practicing with a big black gun. However, the book and its author are lacking in credibility, so until I see official testimony, I'm assuming that's a rumor (?) However, I don't think it would be physically impossible for her to shoot that gun. As a petite young lady, I shot some big .44's and didn't end up with any bruises, and I didn't have the kind of arm muscles working a pole can give ya :croc:


The Hope note is about luring Kent to Hope. Have you checked whether the timeline between 2:19 and 2 hours later gives Carlin enough time to drive Kent to Hope, kill him, and drive back to use the computer? John said that Kent was on the computer until 2:19, and then he was on the computer 2 hours later. The interviewer asks if his son was on the computer two hours later, and that is not answered. I'm not familiar with the Anchorage/Hope travel time.

The time has been disputed. It appears that it is at least close enough to warrant ample suspicion. When I have more time, perhaps I can look into that more



I get the impression that Carlin IV was a reluctant witness, but that he did acknowledge that he saw the gun in the sink. His father gives more information. I think the gun is probably buried in the yard, because when the dateline guy asks if he buried the gun in the yard because he was scared, he says that he was scared of Mechele. This was after he said that he threw the gun in the dumpster, but he doesn't disagree when asked why he buried it in the yard. Someone should take a metal detector to the yard ... see if it's there. If it is, then it could come back to having been buried by Mechele or John ... kind of strengthening the case against her. Although John says that he buried the gun, or put it in the dumpster, his conviction is vacated by his death ... but if Mechele wants to introduce his testimony in her appeal, wouldn't that open the door to the whole can of worms?

I'm gonna have to re-watch before I can answer that. I want to see all the context.

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otto said:

Is Mechele still living and working comfortably in Anchorage while the appeal is stalled, or is she in jail? Last I heard she was on bail, working, living a relatively normal life albeit without her family or the income of a stripper.

She is out on bail and only allowed to stay in the Anchorage area and not near the airport. She has an electronic monitoring ankle device. She wants a job, IMHO acts as though she is entitled to have a job, and stated she had a job offer, but from what I can tell, she hasn't followed through with the paperwork or, if she has, it's been denied. The facebook free Mechele site and/or the free Mechele blog indicated that she was denied the ability to go to Washington for Christmas, that she enjoys shopping and going to local bakeries and likes to buy hats and hang out with her dogs. Her daughter spent time with her this summer, but is presumably back in Washington for school. I really don't know.


It's interesting that her husband did not move to Anchorage to be with her. Any thought on that? It can't be that he couldn't set up a practice in Anchorage or that the military wouldn't let him move.


They had opened up a new business before she was arrested, so presumably he's watching over that as well as any other military obligations he may still have...I don't know what his current status is. They do own a house there, so perhaps they want to ensure the daughter has a more stable life in the same house. Also, they presume Mechele will be coming home to that house soon. Also, he has filed bankruptcy. I really can't say, though, that's all just my speculation.


Maybe he's not giving her a complete pass after all, but instead standing by her during this trying time ... being a faithful husband to an unfaithful, murdering wife.


Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps... :crazy: :innocent:


Have the friends that initially stood by Mechele moved on?

I don't know.


Life goes on ... have people begun to shed their emotional attachments to the manipulative "fur wearing animal lover", to see the silver tongued black widow for who she is?


Supposedly, there is an ex-boyfriend in New Jersey, and according to the book, she called him the night before the trial and asked him not to talk to anyone about her.



When will her daughter question the facts of the case?


Well, her daughter is still young...11 or 12, I think. Hopefully, she doesn't know much about the case at all at this point. However, I shudder to think how this may effect her in the long-term.

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Order Re: Defense Motion for Discovery Re State's Motion to Release Institutional File and State's Request for Court Order Releasing Defendant's Institutional File to the Parties

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otto said:

I have to say that Kent, sad as it is, could see what was happening, could see it coming, knew who was behind it, but was so controlled by, and obsessed with, Mechele that he was unable to help himself. At least he was able to help himself insofar as to transfer the life insurance policy out of her name and write to his parents to give them a heads up about the situation, but he was unable to walk away and keep himself alive. He must have trusted that Carlin, whom he believed knew of the location of the cabin, would take him to Mechele, that he could then know for sure that things were not as he had hoped. It is like he hung on to that last thread of hope that they could be together, but when he transferred the policy and wrote to his parents, it was like he was finally coming to terms with the reality of the situation (there would be no marriage), coming out of her spell and was making the right decisions. Mechele, probably sensing that she was losing control, probably became desperate to put the plan in motion that week.


Yep. People say, "well if he was so scared why did he go up there at all?" I figure he was at the point where he just needed to know for certain that their relationship was over, instead of relying on Mechele's passive-aggressive behavior (evasiveness, etc.)


I agree that the booking dates of the plane tickets and reservations would be very interesting. Did she book the flights before or after the insurance policy was changed ... or at about the same time?

Not sure

When did Mechele learn that Kent's father was visiting.

Good question. I don't know

Killing Kent right after his father left was good planning, as it would be understandable on his parent's behalf if Kent went silent for a couple of days ... since they had just had a visit. Did his father go to Anchorage for a visit because he was concerned? Kent was unable to produce his fiance during the visit, and the father expressed concern, but Kent said that he had it all under control. Everyone knew he didn't.

I think Mechele Hughes Linehan should serve 99 years in jail for taking advantage of such a naive guy, someone that would go to the end of the earth for a woman he loved, someone that saw his own demise, but who was so smitten he couldn't help himself.


It sure does appear that she willfully and knowingly and with malicious intent, engaged in relationships with several men in ways that benefited her more than them. I suspect she didn't even actually sleep with most of them, because it's easier to keep interest with ongoing teasing seduction. MOO


I think her husband is, in a way, as vulnerable as Kent. I think he is logical enough to review the facts and see that there are far too many irregularities in the big picture for everything to be on the up and up, but at the same time ... he is smitten. It doesn't matter what he sees, and what he knows, just like Kent, he cannot help but want more of her. It resulted in Kent walking to his own death in the remote Alaskan landscape, the murder of her accomplice in jail, and her husband sacrificing his life to support her existence in jail. Sad. I guess her husband is going to continue with the botox and facial work while she is in jail ... but ... what happens the day he realizes that he will never feel a genuine embrace from her, that she is a facade with a hollow interior, that he has wasted his life, and compromised that of his daughter, for an illusion?


Who even knows if that day will every happen...he's already been a lot with her and put up with it....I think he'll go the lengths.


I'm pretty sure that without her husband, she would be a madling, like Knox ... women that spin for an audience, but wilt quickly without one.

I love the wording there, and what an interesting observation. This story is a doozy, that's for true!

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Kent's friend described him "as someone who was often quiet, but when he did speak he was a jokester with an intelligent brand of humor."

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flourish said:

People say, "well if he was so scared why did he go up there at all?" I figure he was at the point where he just needed to know for certain that their relationship was over, instead of relying on Mechele's passive-aggressive behavior (evasiveness, etc.)

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flourish said:

Just wanted to quickly add a link to this Anchorage Daily News (adn) article that focuses on Kent, not Mechele. I just stumbled across this older article which talks more about the man he was before becoming the oft-overlooked and disparaged victim of a greedy con woman. MOO

http://www.adn.com/2007/10/01/117389/slain-mans-friends-dispute-portrayal.html

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darnudes said:

What on earth do you think Kent learned or how did he learn it, that one or all of them wished to do him harm? Have we ever known this and I've forgotten?

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otto said:

What a great story! Black widow in action.

I think the defence hoped that the squeaky clean husband would gloss over the wife, but I don't think anything can make Mechele clean.

I like the judge's comments about there being two Mechele's.

I actually feel a little sorry for Carlin. His wife died of cancer, and he was really vulnerable. Along comes a young, gold digging, nude dancer, and his life takes a very bad turn.

I feel sorry for her husband. He's a bit of a homely guy, but he's a doctor ... someone that could never believe that he was targeted by someone like a black widow. He is a bright guy, but even bright guys can be swindled.

Did Mechele or her husband write her statement to the Judge after the trial? She seems to trip over the words a little too much for someone that had the words flow from her heart.

Is that Mechele's mom sitting behind her in the courtroom?

What a truly tragic event for Kent Leppink. He strikes me as so many guys ... shy, afraid of women, unsure if he'll be accepted, tripping over himself trying to make her happy. Mechele's email to her mother says it all ... for her, it was a big joke to take advantage of him, to torture him, to ultimately arrange for his murder, and to eventually - as her friend said - change her life to cover her tracks. She saw Kent as the ultimate lottery payoff ... one million in life insurance. I would have loved to have seen the expression on her face when she learned that he had changed the beneficiary a week before her plan was executed.

I have to wonder if her husband will ever look at the evidence objectively; whether he will ever ask himself why she wrote the Hope note, why she participated in luring Kent to Hope, whether he will ever ask himself why she bought an insurance policy for Kent shortly before he was murdered (claiming it was a wedding gift from her grandfather), whether he will ever protect his daughter from the black widow he married.

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txsvicki said:

Have you ever read any of the things that Carlin's late wife's children have to say about him and what they supposedly believe he did to their mother? I'm not sure if we can repeat things read at online newspaper comment sections or not, but he didn't seem to be a very good guy at all and very capable of a murder plot either alone or in cahoots with another. I feel sorry for her husband. He's a cute guy, and would look much better without all the stress he was under.

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Nancy2441 said:

I just stumbled upon this thread last night. It will take me awhile to read through all the posts. I saw this case on 48 Hours. I have been really intrigued ever since. I think Mechele is one of the scariest sociopaths I have ever seen. The fact that she was able to highly manipulate so many men (including her Dr. husband) is testament to what a dangerous individual she really is. IMOO

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darnudes said:

Thanks for all the updates Flourish!

I would love to see those files, do you think we will?

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