After the murder, Mechele left Alaska. She met Colin Linehan. They married and started a family. Mechele went to school, earned a Master’s Degree. She worked as an intern in the Washington State Ethics Board and volunteered on a crisis hotline. 10 years passed. When she was finally brought to trial for the murder of Kent Leppink, jurors were forced to decide between competing images that were portrayed of Mechele. Was she the greedy manipulator who strung along three men and coerced one into killing the other? Or was she the loving mother, devoted friend and wife, a woman incapable of committing such a horrid offense? In the end, the jury sided with the prosecution and found Mechele guilty of First Degree Murder. Even though the prosecution accepted that Mechele was out of state when the murder occurred, she would be given the same sentence as the man convicted of being the triggerman. Mechele Hughes maintains her innocence and is appealing her conviction. ";
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A former steelworker, Carlin came to Alaska with his dying wife and their son for vacation, and stayed. After his wife died, Carlin met Mechele Hughes at the Great Alaskan Bush Co. where she was working as an exotic dancer. She would later move into his house while hers was being renovated. Carlin would spend lavishly on Mechele, even taking her on a trip to Europe, and send her emails professing his love. He wouldn’t be the only male suitor for Mechele’s affection. He was joined in the convoluted love triangle by Scott Hilke, a traveling salesman, and Kent “TT” Leppink, a fisherman.
Shortly after TT’s murder, Carlin left Alaska, but willingly returned over a decade later to testify before the grand jury which would ultimately hand down a first degree murder indictment against him.
The Prosecution claimed that Carlin and Hughes lured Leppink to Hope, AK, where Carlin shot him three times. The motive? Hughes would get Leppink’s million dollar life insurance payout and Carlin would get the girl. Based mostly upon emails and notes between Carlin and Hughes and testimony from his own son, John Carlin IV, Carlin was convicted of First Degree Murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. He plans to appeal.
";
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Went to Alaska with his father and dying mother for a vacation and stayed there with his father after his mother died. Just a teenager at the time, Carlin IV was the proverbial “fly on the wall” as the sordid events unfolded in his father’s house culminating in the death of Kent Leppink.
It was his testimony, almost a decade after the murder, which led prosecutors to finally bring charges against his father and Mechele Hughes. The damning evidence? Carlin testified that he saw his father and Mechele leaning over a sink that was filled with a liquid and, a gun. Despite this revelation, John Carlin IV maintains that his father is innocent.
";
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Moved to Alaska in the spring of 1993 for a fresh start and became “what he could be” according to his parents, Ken and Betsy Leppink. It was at the Great Alaskan Bush Co. where he met an exotic dancer named Mechele Hughes, and fell in love. He would dote on her, spend lavishly on her, even serve her and her fiancé, Scott Hilke, breakfast in bed.
Kent moved in with Mechele and John Carlin, III, another of her suitors. Kent told his parents that they were getting married. He took out a million dollar life insurance policy and named Mechele as his beneficiary. He sent her countless letters and emails professing his love. But something went wrong. Kent changed the beneficiary to his parents and brother right before his murder. He sent his parents a sealed envelope with instructions not to open it unless something happened to him. It did. Days after receiving the letter, his parents were informed that Kent’s body had been found just outside the tiny hamlet of Hope, Alaska. He had been shot three times.
His parents opened the letter. In it, Kent names three people whom he believes may have played a role in his death: John Carlin, Scott Hilke, and Mechele Hughes.
(pictured with Mechele Linehan)";
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dtl_stripper_who[i-1].body = "
Hilke was a traveling salesman from California. He, most will tell you, was Mechele Hughes’ “real fiancé”. He knew both John Carlin, III and Kent “TT” Leppink. Hilke moved back to California before the murder but he and Mechele continued their relationship long distance. She would often travel to see him and stay weeks at a time.
During Mechele’s trial, Hilke testified that thought Carlin and Leppink were morons and now considers himself one as well (because of the relationship with Mechele). Although he was named in TT’s letter as being one of his probable killers, Hilke was never charged with any crime.
(pictured with Mechele Linehan)";
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For the full story, click here.";
// END editorial data