POCAHONTAS, Ark. – With four judges and counting and now a new prosecutor forthcoming too, changes have been plentiful in the investigation into the murder of former State Senator Linda Collins.
Last week, Prosecutor Henry Boyce dropped out of the case and made a request for a special prosecutor to be assigned.
On Monday, the family of Linda Collins’ released a statement concerning the status of Linda Collins’ murder case and the recent changes. Statement from family as follows:
“Due to the changes last week, we felt the need to make a public statement in regard to the status of the murder case of our mother, Linda Collins. We continue to feel very confident in the work the Arkansas State Police and the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department have done in the investigation of this case. We want to stress that the case brought by the State against the woman accused is strong, regardless of those who have recused from this case. Ultimately, we want the focus of this case to remain on bringing justice to Linda. Our hope is that Judge Fogleman will take the actions necessary to set this case back on track, and make it an urgent priority to provide transparency to the public in this case. Thank you all for your continued thoughts, prayers, and privacy to our family as the case moves forward.”
Curiously, both the family of the victim and the family of the accused now seem to have issues with the transparency in the case.
Following the initial reports of the crime, Boyce sought a gag order after NEA Report’s reporting. His office, which has refused to communicate with us in the past, forwarded the order to this reporter the day he acquired it (The order legally did not apply to a news reporter). Since then, the process has been unusually secretive, including the public still not knowing what evidence gave probable cause for investigators to charge the accused.
Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell, former best friend and campaign worker of Collins, is charged with capital murder in the case and potentially faces the death penalty.
Did your news organsition stop following this case? I have not seen anything else in NEAreports beyond this article.
Other outlets are somewhat keeping updates but I think NEAreports does a much better job.