Triggerman in notorious Linehan murder found dead

A spokesman for the Alaska Department of Corrections says John Carlin, the gunman in a notorious Alaska killing, has been found dead at the state prison in Seward. Corrections spokesman Richard Schmitz says Carlin was found dead under suspicious circumstances Monday night.

Carlin was convicted of conspiring with Mechele Linehan, of Olympia, a former Anchorage stripper turned soccer mom, in the 1996 shooting death of Linehan’s fiance, Kent Leppink. Leppink’s body was found off a trail south of Anchorage.

Prosecutors say Linehan and Carlin orchestrated the killing in the mistaken belief that Linehan would receive insurance money.

Linehan was arrested in 2006 in Olympia, where she was living with her husband, a physician.