Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Dateline NBC looks into former Arkansas Senator Linda Collins’ murder and the case against her killer Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell. The upcoming episode “The Hands of a Killer” will air on the network this Friday, July 12, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET. A synopsis reads, “When a former Arkansas state senator is found fatally stabbed, investigators must determine if her murder is connected to her political career or her personal life. Dennis Murphy reports.”
In 2019, Linda Collins had returned from a trip to D.C., when her killer, Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell, murdered her. Collins’ family found her stabbed to death in her Pocahontas, Arkansas, home. Detectives then used surveillance footage from the security cameras on her property to implicate O’Donnell, the victim’s close friend, as the killer. She initially denied the allegations but later admitted to committing the crime.
Reportedly, Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in 2020. She then received a 50-year sentence and is serving time in an Interstate Compacts facility, per the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
Linda Collins’ killer: How did detectives catch Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell?
According to ABC News, detectives used surveillance footage from security cameras to find Linda Collins’ killer. Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell, who was also Collins’ close friend and former employee, stabbed her multiple times using a knife in 2019. The crime occurred at the former Arkansas senator’s Pocahontas home. After murdering the victim, O’Donnell hid the body and tampered with the security cameras on the property.
Collins’ son, Butch Smith, was the first to discover her body under a tarp in the driveway of the house. People Magazine reported that Butch later stated, “I was the one that found my mother’s body on June 4th 2019 at her home.” He claimed to have found her “lying face down wrapped in one of my old comforters and shoved under a tarp in her driveway. I will never not be able to see that picture burned into my brain.”
Sheriff Kevin Bell told ABC 20/20 during an interview, “Butch found his mother’s body in an advanced state of decomposition. Looking at the scene and the circumstances around it, it was obvious that it was a murder.”
Initially, authorities, as well as Linda Collins’ family, believed her ex-husband, Phil Smith, was the killer. The former couple had recently been through a contentious divorce after 20 years of marriage, which involved assets worth at least $2 million.
However, during the subsequent investigation, detectives learned about the security cameras in Collins’ home. While the cameras were spread across the property, the killer had destroyed them, but the security company had stored surveillance footage. Authorities then acquired a copy of the footage, which showed Becky O’Donnell with a bloody knife. The video also captured her destroying the security cameras.
Once authorities arrested Linda Collins’ killer, Becky O’Donnell, she faced multiple charges stemming from the case. These included capital murder, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. O’Donnell pleaded not guilty to these charges and claimed Collins’ ex-husband, Phil Smith, committed the crime.
Becky O’Donnell would later change her plea to guilty and strike a deal with prosecutors. She pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in Linda Collins’ murder case. In court, O’Donnell admitted that she “went to Linda’s house and I intentionally killed her, and then hid the body.” Additionally, she pleaded no contest to two counts of solicitation to commit capital murder in a separate county.
Reportedly, Linda Collins’ killer, Becky O’Donnell, received a 50-year prison sentence. She is now serving the term in an Interstate Compacts facility.
Dateline NBC’s episode on former Arkansas state senator Linda Collins’ murder case airs this Friday.
