Ex-stripper accused in plot similar to ’94 movie

Woman: Suspect liked movie
At the trial, which is likely to end next week, Linehan’s blond hair is now glossy black, offset by porcelain skin and striking blue eyes. She has complained to photographers that her smiles look like smirks in their pictures.

“The Last Seduction” is a modern-day film noir in which a ruthless beauty — played by the sultry raven-haired actress Linda Fiorentino — uses her sexual wiles to manipulate others.

A former stripper, Lora Aspiotis, testified that she watched the movie with Linehan and that Linehan admired the tough-talking Fiorentino character.

“She told me that the character was her heroine and that she wanted to be just like her,” Aspiotis said.

Prosecutor: 'The seed is planted'
Gullufsen, the prosecutor, said: “The seed is planted. There is someone she admires, wants to be like and the wheels start turning; she can apply that plan to her circumstances.”

In the movie, the femme fatale gets away with murder, while her boyfriend gets convicted. Gullufsen said Linehan tried to write the same ending for herself, and he asked that the jury be allowed to watch the movie.

But Judge Philip Volland said he didn’t see enough similarities between the movie and the real-life murder, noting, for example, that there was no evidence that Linehan had sex with Leppink. The judge also said the movie could be too disturbing to the jurors.

Linehan’s lawyers maintain Carlin acted alone. They say he killed Leppink because he believed Leppink was stalking Linehan and because he was depressed that she loved a third man.

But another tawdry motive in the sensational trial also has been suggested: One defense attorney said the evidence will show that Leppink was bisexual or homosexual and had made advances toward Carlin’s 16-year-old son.

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