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Woman Held In Mich. Man's Killing Freed In Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A woman imprisoned in Alaska for a Michigan man's death 15 years ago is a free woman for now.

Within hours of having her bail dismissed Tuesday, KTUU-TV reports that Mechele Linehan was aboard a plane and headed to Olympia, Wash.

Linehan was convicted in 2007 of conspiring to kill Kent Leppink of Shelby, Mich., north of Muskegon.

He was shot on an isolated trail south of Anchorage in 1996. Prosecutors say Linehan was inspired by watching the 1994 movie "The Last Seduction," in which a femme fatale coaxes her lover into killing her husband.

The Alaska Court of Appeals ruled in 2010 the trial judge wrongly let that connection be made, and the indictment was thrown out in December.

Prosecutors are considering seeking new charges.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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