Arrest Made in Arkansas Senators Murder

Authorities said Friday night they’ve arrested Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell, 48 (right), in connection with the death of former state Sen. Linda Collins, 57 (left)

Police have arrested an ex-campaign staffer of the Arkansas former state senator who was found dead outside her own home in early June.

Authorities said Friday night they’ve arrested Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell, 48, of Pocahontas, Arkansas, in connection with the death of former state Sen. Linda Collins, 57.

Arkansas police said criminal charges were pending and did not say whether they were seeking any other suspects in Collins’ death.

Collins, 57, who went by Collins-Smith in the Legislature, was found dead June 4 outside her home in Pocahontas, about 130 miles (210 kilometers) northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas.

Authorities have released few details about Collins’ killing and have not said how or when the former lawmaker was killed.

Her body was discovered wrapped in a blanket, according to The Arkansas Times, and allegedly had a gunshot wound.

Sources claimed that Collins-Smith’s body had started to decompose, which made it difficult to identify.

Although active on social media, Collins’ last tweet was posted in late May.

Ken Yang, a former communications director for Collins, said that Collins’ neighbors heard gunshots a day or two before her body was discovered around 7.15pm on June 4.

A judge last week granted a request by prosecutors to seal documents and statements obtained by police during the investigation.

A State Police spokesman declined to say where O’Donnell was being held. The Randolph County jail referred questions to the sheriff, who did not immediately return a call seeking comment. State Police said it did not know when O’Donnell would appear in court.

Yang said O’Donnell had worked on Collins’ most recent campaign and that the two were friends.

On Friday night, Yang posted a statement from Collins’ family, regarding O’Donnell’s arrest on Facebook, which read in part: ‘We are sickened and upset that someone so close to Linda, would be involved in such a terrible, heartless crime.’

Collins served one term in the state House and was originally elected as a Democrat in 2010. But she switched parties and became a Republican in 2011, the year before the GOP won control of both chambers of the Legislature.

She was elected to the state Senate in 2014 and was one of the most conservative lawmakers in the majority-GOP chamber. She lost re-election in the Republican primary last year.

As a State Senator, Collins-Smith introduced or co-sponsored multiple bills seeking to expand the places where concealed weapons could be carried, including college and university campuses, the state Capitol, other state offices and courtrooms.

She was once quoted as telling the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: ‘You can’t be pro-gun enough in Arkansas.’ She had an 87 percent rating from the National rifle Association for her positions on gun rights.

Collins and her husband, retired Circuit Judge Philip Smith, divorced last year and were in the middle of a legal fight over their properties, including a motel.

In a statement released June 11, Collins’ two adult children and father said they were ‘surprised, upset, angered, and saddened’ by her death.

And her daughter-in-law, Jennifer McKenzie-Smith, wrote on Facebook: ‘Linda Collins loved her family. Now, a monster has taken her away from us.

Collins’ funeral is scheduled for Saturday morning in Pocahontas.