The slaying of former state Sen. Linda Collins of Pocahontas will be featured on Friday's episode of the national prime-time crime television show Dateline NBC.
Collins was found stabbed to death at her Pocahontas home on June 4, 2019. Her body was found in the driveway, wrapped in a blanket and covered by a tarp.
The Dateline episode, reported by Dennis Murphy, will air at 8 p.m. on Friday on NBC and will include interviews with Collins' daughter, Heather Tate Williams, and son, Butch Smith, as well as Randolph County Sheriff Kevin Bell and state Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch.
Collins' friend and campaign worker Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell pleaded guilty in August 2020 to first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in exchange for a 50-year prison sentence. That includes her no-contest plea to solicitation of capital murder for trying to have Collins' ex-husband killed and framed for Collins' murder.
The plea agreement spared O'Donnell from facing the death penalty at trial.
O'Donnell never voiced a motive for killing Collins, and prosecutors have said only that the slaying was committed for "pecuniary gain."
In December, Arkansas State Police released portions of the investigative files in Collins' slaying after several news agencies requested the materials following O'Donnell's guilty plea.
Collins' two children and ex-husband had sued State Police and the Randolph County sheriff's office to get Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chip Welch to review the investigative files and redact personal materials irrelevant to the investigation.
The files show that O'Donnell traveled to two different businesses on three separate occasions in 2018 to sell gold and silver that once were stored in Collins' house. The items sold included a combination of jewelry and a variety of coins totaling $15,110.
The release of the remainder of the investigative file is still being debated in Welch's courtroom. Lawyers for news reporters and the family said in March that they are close to reaching an agreement on what materials from the investigation will be made public.