Linda Cooney, who shot and killed her ex-husband Jim in the 1990s, used the same firearm to shoot her eldest son, Kevin, nearly 20 years later. She was convicted of attempted murder in connection with the 2011 shooting.
Background and custody dispute
Cooney grew up on a farm in Wisconsin before moving to Florida for work. She married Palm Beach lawyer Jim Cooney, a well-regarded figure in the area's wealthy social circles. The couple had two sons, Kevin and Christopher, but their marriage deteriorated over time, marked by physical violence.
After nine years together, Linda and Jim separated, sparking a bitter custody battle. According to CBS News, Jim's brother Bob Cooney recalled: "[Jim] would go to pick up the kids for his weekend and they would not be there... but if Jim would give her some money, they might appear."
The 1992 shooting
In 1992, Jim arrived at his ex-wife's home to collect the boys for a weekend visit. As the children gathered their belongings in a bedroom, Kevin heard a disturbance and peered through a hole in the door. He saw his father clutching a shiny object while his mother shot him with a .357 Magnum as he advanced towards the bedroom.
Kevin called the police. Linda, who had been trying to contact a lawyer acquaintance, took the phone from him and told authorities she had shot her former husband, though she "didn't know" whether the bullet had struck him.
Linda was charged with first-degree murder. She claimed Jim had threatened her with a knife, and that Kevin had seen it in his father's hands. Investigators theorised she had placed the knife in the dead man's hands after his death and manipulated Kevin into believing he had witnessed his father holding it. Kevin testified that he saw a "glary shine" on his father's hand but could not identify what it was. Linda was acquitted of all charges.
Move to Las Vegas and the 2011 shooting
The family relocated to Las Vegas, where the boys had a difficult upbringing. In their adult years, Linda displayed controlling behaviour towards her sons, frequently meddling in their romantic lives. Prosecutor Shanon Clowers said: "Linda's purpose was to make the women's lives so miserable that they would no longer wanna be with Kevin."
When Kevin began a relationship with MMA fighter Karina Taylor in 2011, Linda allegedly contacted her to intimidate her. On the morning of 28 June 2011, Linda called police to report her 30-year-old son had been shot in the neck. She said she and Kevin had quarrelled over his new relationship, that Kevin had struck her, and that she had gone to bed. She claimed she woke at about 8am to find Kevin bloodied on the living room floor and had not heard a gunshot.
Las Vegas Metro Police Det. Lance Landholm said: "She seemed like a person who was trying to cover up what had happened." Authorities found a bloodied .357 Magnum at the scene - the same weapon used to kill Jim Cooney, which Linda had retrieved from evidence 20 years earlier.
Kevin regained consciousness in hospital three days later and said: "No mom. I'm afraid of Mom. Mom shot me." Linda was arrested. However, approaching trial, Kevin changed his account, saying he had attacked his mother and the shooting was an accident. He described himself as a controlling son, stating: "I tell mom what to do. Mom's the kid in this relationship, not me... Mom does what I say, or else Mom gets the fist."
Witnesses included Christopher, who said his mother told him shortly before the trial that the gun had gone off accidentally. Kevin's former girlfriend, Clarita Kendall, said Kevin told her in hospital that he had been seated on the sofa when his mother shot him at a downward trajectory, which contradicted his own evidence.
Conviction and sentencing
A jury convicted Linda of attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon, intimidating Kevin prior to his testimony, and stalking Karina Taylor. Kevin wrote a note stating: "My mother has been wrongly accused and convicted of crimes she did not commit. It was by my own actions that I find myself in my present condition...my mother is unjustly incarcerated."
At her sentencing hearing, where she received 13 to 40 years imprisonment, Linda said: "My son, Kevin, carried with him an anger and rage disorder that he must have inherited from his father... Yet, I always protected, defended, and loved my son, and I would never have intentionally harmed him... What happened was his fault. It was an accident... Please have mercy on me, Your Honor."
