Collins-Smith was found dead in June last year at her range in the town 140 miles from Little Rock . Her former aide and shut friend, Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell, 49, was arrested shortly afterward.
After months in jail, she admitted to killing the previous senator, CNN affiliate KATV reported. "I visited Linda's house, and that i intentionally killed her then hid the body," she told the judge Thursday as a part of a plea deal, consistent with the affiliate.
The victim's family said O'Donnell was stealing money from the senator and got angry when she was asked about it.
"Our family has found swift justice by way of a plea deal," the family said during a statement. "No amount of punishment will ever fill that void that Rebecca O'Donnell made in our lives the day she killed our mother. Today we discover some shred of peace that O'Donnell are going to be put away in prison for a really while , unable to harm anyone else."
O'Donnell was charged with capital murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. She was sentenced to 40 years for first-degree murder and three years for abuse of a corpse, the affiliate reported.
Additional charges
O'Donnell was also facing additional charges after she attempted to rent inmates to kill the victim's ex-husband. After she visited jail, she tried to possess Phil Smith and his wife killed, prosecutors said.
In October, she told one among the inmates she wanted Smith's death to seem sort of a suicide complete with a note. And rather than getting payment from her, she told the inmates to steal gold and silver from the couple's home. one among the inmates was the suspect's cellmate for 3 months, consistent with an affidavit.
O'Donnell told the inmates she was targeting Smith because he had set her up. She also asked the inmates to seek out her car in police custody and burn it to eliminate evidence that she claimed was planted, the affidavit states.
A series of latest charges were filed against her supported information from the jailhouse informants. At the time, prosecutors said that they had video evidence.
In the murder-for-hire plot, O'Donnell was charged with solicitation to commit capital murder, and solicitation to commit tampering with physical evidence while in custody of the Jackson County Jail, consistent with court documents.
She pleaded "no contest" to the 2 counts and got seven years for every , consistent with the affiliate. The sentences will run concurrently, which suggests a complete of fifty years in prison. She'll be eligible for parole but the victim's family said they decide to oppose it.
Her family has previously said it's standing by her and believes she's acquitted .
Collins-Smith was a Republican senator between 2015 and 2019.
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