Linda Cooney, the former Palm Beach woman acquitted of killing her ex-husband in 1992, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the attempted murder of her son in Las Vegas.
Prosecutors convinced a jury that Cooney, 64, shot her son, Kevin Cooney, using the same gun she used to kill tax attorney James Cooney in North Palm Beach 22 years ago.
In the earlier case, Linda Cooney said she acted in self-defense, and the jury believed her – largely because of Kevin Cooney’s testimony.
Kevin, who was 11 at the time, witnessed the aftermath of the shooting and told the jury he did not know whether his father had a knife in his hand at the time. Earlier, he had told investigators his father’s hands were empty.
Kevin Cooney was struck by a bullet from the same gun in June 2011. This time, his mother again raised a claim of self-defense, and again, her son backed her story.
According to Las Vegas prosecutor Michael Staudaher, Kevin Cooney said he attacked his mother, brutally beat her and punched her in the head. But the physical evidence did not match his testimony, and the jury decided in April that he was not telling the truth.
“She’s a master manipulator,” Staudaher said Wednesday. “She played the same card she’s played all along, portraying herself as the victim when she is the perpetrator. She is a danger to society. Anyone who gets in her way, who gets in her path, is in danger.”
Staudaher said Cooney’s only bruise on the day of the shooting was on her upper right breast and was consistent with the recoil of the gun hitting her after it was fired.
Linda Cooney was found guilty of attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon, intimidating a witness and stalking.
The stalking charges stemmed from Cooney’s interaction with a different victim, Staudaher said. Kevin Cooney’s girlfriend, Karina Taylor, said the defendant opposed their relationship and sent her text messages calling her a “whore” and a “succubus.”
She also said the defendant called a cancer charity where Taylor volunteered and told a supervisor there that Taylor was laundering money and dealing drugs.
Five months after the 2011 shooting, Kevin Cooney’s brother visited him in the hospital and used his cellphone to contact his mother. After that conversation, Kevin Cooney stopped cooperating with detectives and prosecutors, Staudaher said. That led to the intimidation charge.
Her defense lawyer, Michael Becker, said in April that he intends to appeal the conviction, arguing that the Nevada jury should never have been allowed to hear testimony about the Palm Beach case.
Linda Cooney will be eligible for parole in 2027.
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