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LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) – Authorities announced Friday night the arrest of a woman from Arkansas related to the murder of a former senator, found dead in front of her home.
Arkansas State Police announced the arrest of 48-year-old Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell and Randolph County Sheriff's deputies in the death of former Senator Linda Collins. Police said that criminal proceedings were pending and did not say whether they were looking for other suspects in Collins' death.
Collins, 57, who had met Collins-Smith in the Legislative Assembly, was found dead on June 4 outside her home in Pocahontas, about 210 km northeast of Little Rock.
A spokesman for the state police refused to say where O'Donnell was. Randolph County Jail forwarded questions to the sheriff, who did not immediately respond to a call for comments. State police said they did not know when O'Donnell would appear in court.
Ken Yang, a former director of communications at Collins, said O'Donnell had been working on the last campaign of the former legislator and that both were friends. According to Yang, Collins' family did not comment immediately on the arrest, but could make a statement.
Collins served a term in the House of Representatives and was elected Democrat in 2010. But she changed sides and became a Republican in 2011, the year before the GOP victory in the hands of both Houses of Parliament. ;Legislative Assembly. She was elected to the state Senate in 2014 and was one of the most conservative legislators in the majority majority chamber. She lost her reelection to the Republican primary last year. Collins and her husband, Philip Smith, a retired circuit judge, divorced last year and were in the middle of a legal battle over their properties, including a motel.
Authorities published little details about Collins' murder and did not specify how or when the former legislator had been killed. Last week, a judge accepted a request from prosecutors to seal documents and statements obtained by the police during the investigation. Collins was active on social media, but his latest tweet was posted in late May.
Collins' funeral is scheduled for Saturday morning in Pocahontas. The two adult children of Collins and their father said Monday that they were saddened and irritated by the murder of the former legislator.
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