GUILTY AR - Former State Senator, Linda Collins-Smith, 57, found dead, June 2019 *ARREST*

[PlateSpinner]

This is only the 2nd case I have followed on Websleuths so I don’t have the thought process or legal knowledge as many of you.

How would another prisoner be able to murder Phil Smith? Do we assume they knew someone on the outside?

During the divorce trial, did LCS tell the judge she didn’t know what happened to the money? Surely her motive to kill Phil is not based on discovery of the missing money.
Unless, she is the dumbest person ever.
Do y’all have any idea why she would want Phil dead?

 

[Momof4RN]

This is only the 2nd case I have followed on Websleuths so I don’t have the thought process or legal knowledge as many of you.

How would another prisoner be able to murder Phil Smith? Do we assume they knew someone on the outside?

During the divorce trial, did LCS tell the judge she didn’t know what happened to the money? Surely her motive to kill Phil is not based on discovery of the missing money.
Unless, she is the dumbest person ever.
Do y’all have any idea why she would want Phil dead?

The affidavit also alleges that Emily Loggains, the daughter of O’Donnell’s fiancé, attempted to help bail out one of the inmates that O’Donnell recruited in the alleged murder plot. The inmate allegedly gave her cellphone to Loggains when Loggains visited the jail in November, in order to use the contacts to find someone to bail her out. Jail logs confirm that Loggains visited the jail on the day this exchange allegedly took place, the affidavit states.
Woman accused of killing Sen. Linda Collins faces new charges of soliciting murder of Collins' ex-husband, others - Arkansas Times


Three inmates said O'Donnell told them they could take a bag of gold and silver at Phil Smith's home as payment.
New twist in case of woman accused of killing former Arkansas state senator

O’Donnell reportedly told one of the women Smith had “set her up” and that he needed to be killed.
At one point, O’Donnell asked one of the women “if she knew any ‘Mexican people’ that would be willing to kill Phil.”
Rebecca O’Donnell pleads not guilty to criminal solicitation to commit capital murder & other charges
Hope that helps answer your questions

 

[Momof4RN]

The woman accused of killing a former Arkansas state senator has pleaded not guilty to new charges.

Snip

Defense attorney Lee Short dismissed the new charges almost immediately after they were filed, telling ABC News that high-profile homicide cases can bring jailhouse informants out of the woodwork.

"It's not surprising at all -- inmates do it all the time," Short told ABC News at the time. "In high-profile cases, especially homicides, people tend to seek opportunities to improve their situations by giving statements against people."

O'Donnell's lawyers on Wednesday waived a formal arraignment and entered a plea of not guilty.

Snip

Fogleman announced during court that he'd be filing a new order to seal, supplanting the previous two orders, stipulating that any document must undergo his review before being placed under seal.

A lot more about the gag order at link...
Woman accused of Arkansas state senator murders-for-hire plot pleads not guilty to new charges

 

[Momof4RN]

Hmm so shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out truth from an opportunity here.
1. Does Smith have a bag of gold and silver at his house? That wouldn’t be information inmates would know unless told by someone close to Smith or Collins.
2. Was inmates cell phone traced and used outside of jail on the day Loggains visited? Traced to any locations associated with Loggains?
3. They already have a suicide note allegedly written by RO. Handwriting specialist will be able to verify if it’s her handwriting.
Moo

 

[PlateSpinner]

The affidavit also alleges that Emily Loggains, the daughter of O’Donnell’s fiancé, attempted to help bail out one of the inmates that O’Donnell recruited in the alleged murder plot. The inmate allegedly gave her cellphone to Loggains when Loggains visited the jail in November, in order to use the contacts to find someone to bail her out. Jail logs confirm that Loggains visited the jail on the day this exchange allegedly took place, the affidavit states.
Woman accused of killing Sen. Linda Collins faces new charges of soliciting murder of Collins' ex-husband, others - Arkansas Times


Three inmates said O'Donnell told them they could take a bag of gold and silver at Phil Smith's home as payment.
New twist in case of woman accused of killing former Arkansas state senator

O’Donnell reportedly told one of the women Smith had “set her up” and that he needed to be killed.
At one point, O’Donnell asked one of the women “if she knew any ‘Mexican people’ that would be willing to kill Phil.”
Rebecca O’Donnell pleads not guilty to criminal solicitation to commit capital murder & other charges
Hope that helps answer your questions

It Loggains daughter did in fact try to bail out another inmate, that leads me to believe other people are involved in the scheme that led up to RO murdering SCS.

 

[Angleterre]

I have to say that my gut feeling is telling me that there is something not quite right and a little too convenient in the latest addition to the affidavit and it’s almost all a little too unbelievable . I could be totally wrong but something is “fishy “ and I don’t believe that all is as it seems! I await to be proven wrong however that cannot be guaranteed either because so much is being sealed and I bet that the majority of the trial will be subject to some kind of restrictions and that we shall never truly know the full circumstances and be told fact from fiction! All MOO but as a senior detective of very many years, I smell a rat !

 

[PlateSpinner]

I have to say that my gut feeling is telling me that there is something not quite right and a little too convenient in the latest addition to the affidavit and it’s almost all a little too unbelievable . I could be totally wrong but something is “fishy “ and I don’t believe that all is as it seems! I await to be proven wrong however that cannot be guaranteed either because so much is being sealed and I bet that the majority of the trial will be subject to some kind of restrictions and that we shall never truly know the full circumstances and be told fact from fiction! All MOO but as a senior detective of very many years, I smell a rat !

Is this unusual for everything to be sealed up so early in the case? We hardly know any details.

 

[Tobiano8th]

is there any public info anywhere as to motive? monetary (incl. robbery of course), adultery are the big two i'd think.

i saw this once but haven't gone back to it...... who had "power of attorney" over collins-smith finances? husband/fiance of suspect? why?

i see the LOL Clinton stuff............ i abhor the clintons because of who they are. but this deep conspiracy (murder list) stuff is outrageous.

 

[Tobiano8th]

ok,

tim loggaines, the defendent's boyfriend, had "power of attorney" over the victim's finances before her death.

racking my brain as to why.......... i'm thinking it might be to do financial stuff detrimental to the victim's former husband (i believe there was big financial dispute/law cases) while collins-smith could have "plausible deniabilility"........

as per all the secrecy/changes/recusals, i would say arkansas is very tight, insular place and she's former politician. the writer of the articles i read is married to the divorce judge (note that the suspected reason for the "power of attorney" is purely my own sleuthing, nothing to do with the judge's wife)......

imagine if the long-time mayor of a huge usa city was charged with murder. who could really act on that case locally?

 

[CertifiedNobody]

Please Open in Youtube App to read description, this is very important to figure out what's going on with this case. What relevance does this video

have in common with this video

?? watch them both All The Way Thru then re-think ALL you know. Also, make sure you read the description box.. it says a lot! Remember what he says about treating Linda like a sister around the 2:22 minute mark in the ABC interview? ALSO, look at his face, (IMO, it looks like he was in a hell of a cat fight just weeks prior) he puts Becky at the crime scene during the interview! (Who is this dude's attorney?) Pray for Justice 4 Linda!

 

[CertifiedNobody]

Another bit of information in the Linda Collins murder case; money alleged as a motive - Arkansas Times
Another bit of information in the Linda Collins murder case; money alleged as a motive - Arkansas Times

 

[Justanobody]

Money is called a motive in killing of of former Arkansas senator Records unveiled in Collins slaying | Prosecutors believe that the woman they charged with killing former state Sen. Linda Collins last year did so for monetary gain and to avoid arrest, according to new court filings. - Arkansas_Politics
Money is called a motive in killing of of former Arkansas senator Records unveiled in Collins slaying | Prosecutors believe that the woman they charged with killing former state Sen. Linda Collins last year did so for monetary gain and to avoid arrest, according to new court filings. : Arkansas_Politics

 

[Tobiano8th]

i'm pretty sure this is what most people thought in the back of their minds.... the whole granting someone else "financial power of attorney" when there's nothing wrong with you is strange........

obviously, i need to be careful as so far the boyfriend of the suspect with the "power of attorney" hasn't come into the story at all (yet?)

 

[Justanobody]

Please Open in Youtube App to read description, this is very important to figure out what's going on with this case. What relevance does this video

have in common with this video

?? watch them both All The Way Thru then re-think ALL you know. Also, make sure you read the description box.. it says a lot! Remember what he says about treating Linda like a sister around the 2:22 minute mark in the ABC interview? ALSO, look at his face, (IMO, it looks like he was in a hell of a cat fight just weeks prior) he puts Becky at the crime scene during the interview! (Who is this dude's attorney?) Pray for Justice 4 Linda!

Dial G for murder. Googling the case of Linda Collins - Arkansas Times
Dial G for murder. Googling the case of Linda Collins - Arkansas Times

 

[trujac]

Here's the latest news article about this case updated today--LE is now examining O'Donnell's mother's car for evidence. I guess the prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty against O'Donnell because of her lack of remorse in the face of a "mountain of evidence" that she coldheartedly murdered Collins-Smith. I wondered what TL is thinking now..if he is now having second thoughts and wish he hadn't come out in her defense on national television last year?
June 4th marks one year since former Sen. Linda Collins was found murdered outside her home

 

[trujac]

The Judge in this case has now authorized a full search of Collins Google searches 3 days prior to when she was last seen alive...that ought to reveal something about what was going on; hopefully, LE finds a smoking gun.

Judge approves search warrant for Collins’ Google account | News Break

 

[trujac]

The judge overseeing the case has imposed a gag order so rigid that defense lawyers and court staff refuse to discuss even the most mundane scheduling matters connected with it. Then, the judge, David Goodson, took himself off the case on Tuesday and asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to appoint a replacement, according to Supreme Court records.
On top of that, without warning or stated justification, jailers last week placed O’Donnell under the strictest detention protocols even as they admit the woman has been a model inmate since being arrested in June...

 

[trujac]

Momof4RN...Yes, I agree with your comments...when the news of Collin's death first broke last summer, I initially thought the murder was a crime of passion. Since then the story line of this case has taken on a life of its own with new sub plots and characters added to the mix. Everyone involved, from the Court Judge and the prosecutor, to the defendant and her fiance and his immediate family, the jail house snitches and so forth, all seem to have an undisclosed agenda. If small town politics and corruption are now part of the equation in the pursuit of justice for Collins, there is no telling what will finally be presented during BO's trial...the simple explanation that BO committed murder for financial gain seems to me to be only the tip of the iceberg.

 

[jellybeanz]

Whoa. Charged with soliciting to murder Collins' ex-husband and three others as well. What the heck?!

"The charges, filed in Jackson County, allege that Rebecca O'Donnell attempted to solicit the killing of Collins' ex-husband while being held in the county jail." As if she wasn't in enough deep doo-doo.

It's behind a paywall, but if you stop the page from fully loading you can read the article. Fun trick I discovered that actually works on a lot of sites.

Affidavit is here.

Oh my gosh! This woman is completely nuts!

Yup, complete looney tunes right there.

 

[MsArk]

I think I’m losing my mind. I know saw an article this morning about a hearing taking place today. Article said the investigation is almost complete, LE testifying today and trial is set for October. I can’t find it now I am looking for it! Has anyone else read about a hearing today?