Mechele Linehan came to Alaska in the mid‑1990s and worked as a dancer in a strip club. An attractive, charismatic young woman, she quickly gained the attention of patrons, including Kent Leppink, a Michigan native and fisherman. Leppink became romantically involved with her, as did another man named John Carlin. From roughly 1994 to 1996, Linehan was simultaneously in a relationship with both Leppink and Carlin. All three lived together in Anchorage, creating a tense and complex living situation.

Linehan was known for being charming and adept at manipulating those around her. According to the prosecution, she was named beneficiary of a $1 million life insurance policy held by Leppink, making her a person of interest after his murder. Leppink changed that beneficiary designation shortly before his death. The state would later claim this shift motivated the murder.

On May 2, 1996, Kent Leppink was found dead in Hope, Alaska. He had been shot three times with a .44 caliber Desert Eagle. At the time, Leppink was romantically involved with Linehan and shared a home with her and John Carlin. Leppink had recently changed the beneficiary of his life insurance policy, removing Linehan just days before he was murdered.

A handwritten letter he left for his parents expressed suspicion and stated that if he were to die under “suspicious circumstances,” the people responsible would likely be Linehan, Carlin, or another acquaintance. This letter became a pivotal piece of evidence in the state’s case.

In October 2007, Linehan was tried and convicted of conspiring with John Carlin to kill Leppink. The prosecution argued that Linehan had manipulated both men and arranged the murder to benefit from Leppink’s life insurance. She was sentenced to 99 years in prison and transferred to Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River, Alaska. Carlin was also convicted in April 2007, but he was later beaten to death in his prison cell at Spring Creek Correctional Center in October 2008.

On February 5, 2010, the Alaska Court of Appeals overturned Linehan’s conviction, ruling that key evidence — including Leppink’s posthumous letter and testimony about the film The Last Seduction — had been prejudicial and should not have been admitted at trial. Linehan was granted bail in April 2010 and released after a $250,000 bond was paid by a supporter.

In December 2011, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Philip Volland dismissed the murder indictment, citing that the evidence had likely influenced the jury’s decision in a way that violated Linehan’s right to a fair trial. In August 2012, the state announced it would not seek to re‑indict Linehan. Today, Mechele Linehan is a free woman, and the case remains one of Alaska’s most controversial and puzzling murder trials.