Whether her enemies agree or not that Mechele believed Kent was stalking her, Mechele was avoiding Kent while she was on trips to see Scott.
"On the Hope note, he [Carlin] said, 'In my mind -- and I wrote it -- it's nothing.' It was just a diversion, he said, written so Linehan could visit a boyfriend in California and not have Leppink follow her, as he had before." 10/23/2007 ADNews Jury finds Olympia mother guilty in decade-old slaying
"About the same time, Linehan also had a passport and driver's license in her sister's name, but with her own photos, defense attorneys showed during cross-examination." 3/28/2007 ADNews STRIPPER: First defendant in Hope killing points to greedy girlfriend and her several other relationships.
"Hilke testified that Linehan told him disparaging things about Leppink, including that he stole her love letters, watched them have sex while they were living in Wasilla and Leppink was staying with them, and that he took $500 from Hilke's bank account. She said she traveled under the alias Sue Wong to EVADE LEPPINK'S STALKING while she tried to pull away from him." 9/28/2007 ADNews Prosecutors contend Linehan based crime on film
"In some of the last correspondence between Linehan and Leppink, Linehan was mad at him. In one e-mail she wrote: 'I knew you were smoking pot, taking those pills, and drinking. If you were trying to piss me off it worked but you hurt me more because you damaged the agreement we had about drugs and hurt our trust.'" 10/10/2007 ADNews Both sides cite e-mails in Linehan trial
"Carlin says the prosecution's theory is wrong. He says he knew Linehan would get nothing if Leppink died. He, in fact, drove Leppink to his lawyer's the day Leppink tore up his will. 'He wanted me to know ... for me to tell Mechele, so she would call him,' Carlin said." 10/19/2007 ADNews Man convicted of killing Leppink disputes testimony
"Leppink became obsessed with Linehan, though, to the point where she traveled under a different name to keep him from following her, according to trial testimony." 3/27/2008 ADNews Linehan faces up to 99 years
"FACT: Mechele sent an email to her Mom about a bogus trip to Homer. The same place Leppink was murdered. I know, the FACTS aren't as exciting as your stories and lack the 'ifs'." 5/3/2010 ADNews commenter: Nostalgia1
[NOTE: Homer is further from Hope than Anchorage is.]
"Leppinks mother, Betsy Leppink, also testified about conversations she had with Leppink in April 1996. Mrs. Leppink testified that she received a telephone call from her son toward the end of April. Leppink told her that he was calling from Girdwood, and that he was on his way to Hope. He added, Mom, you know [that]
often I can't find Mechele. She's missing
again...." ap-2253 Linehan v. State (02/05/2010)
(
underlined bold added for emphasis)
"In fact, according to the defense, Mechele was convinced a snooping Kent had discovered her car at the Anchorage airport and knew she wasn't in Hope. And therefore she wrote this to Carlin from Tahoe: E-mail Mechele to Carlin: 'Tell T.T. I flew to Barrow... if you see him tell him Brett got hurt and I went to take care of the girls...'" 5/22/2009 NBC Dateline
"WELL, I HAVE TO SAY I AM WONDERING WHAT DID HE SAY WHEN YOU SAID I WAS 2 1/2 HOURS AWAY." "Seychelles email from Mechele to John on 4/28/1996.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25877670/
"Mr. Riddell testified that the flight to Barrow to Anchorage was 2.5 hours total transit time." 5/29/2009 Free Mechele Blogspot Colin's blog
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25877670/