Linda Cooney , the once-beautiful Palm Beach socialite who shot and killed her ex-husband, James “Jim” Cooney, more than 20 years ago, and then later shot her own son, Kevin Cooney, will be profiled tonight on an episode of CBS’ 48 Hours . Tonight’s episode entitled “Mommy Dearest” is a repeat show.
In 2011, Linda Cooney was back in the headlines for brutally shooting her own son in the neck, leaving him partially paralyzed. The case garnered a lot of attention because the socialite had been accused of killing her ex-husband in 1992. In that case, the same son who was just an 11-year old boy at the time, stated in court that his mother killed James Cooney in self defense, leading a jury to acquit her of all charges.
Kevin Cooney could have never imaged that his mother would turn the gun on him two decades later. At Linda Cooney’s 2011 trial, Kevin Cooney tried to save his mother again by stating that she shot him only after he attacked her first. But a previous girlfriend testified that Kevin told her that his mother shot him as he sat on the couch.
Detectives allege that the shooting was incited by an argument between mother and son over his girlfriend, whom Linda Cooney couldn’t stand. The girlfriend told the courts the shocking tale of how she endured stalking, harassment, and revenge, all on the part of crazy mother-in-law-to-be.
At trial, prosecutors stated Linda Cooney was a danger to society and a master manipulator of everyone around her. For that, prosecutors begged the jury to give her life in prison. A jury decided that Linda Cooney was guilty of attempted murder and gave her a sentence of 13 to 41 years in prison, according to Daily Mail .
Linda Cooney denied having anything to do with the shootings, and stated that she was simply a woman wrongfully accused.
“I was a battered wife. My sons were battered as well,” she told the court. “I had done my best to raise, educate and protect my sons as a single mother. Unfortunately, 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,” Linda continued. “What happened was his fault. It was an accident….Please have mercy on me, Your Honor.”
Watch 48 Hours tonight to see how investigators finally brought Linda Cooney to justice. The tease is below.
“A Palm Beach socialite kills her ex-husband. Twenty years later, with the same gun, there’s another shooting in the family. Richard Schlesinger investigates.Two shootings, 20 years apart – same family – same gun. Was an aspiring socialite a killer?
[Photo Credit: YouTube]