Once a strip club owner, Terry Stahlman now owns a hotel, which he offered to put up as collateral for Linehan's release, saying he saw it as a way to help someone in trouble. A judge refused, but Stahlman would later co-sign on the bail.
"I know the value of being able to participate in your own defense," Stahlman said Wednesday. "If you are in jail, you see your lawyer once or twice a week. You can't do any good for yourself, so if she is innocent, give her a chance to prove it."
But another man -- whom Linehan's family declined to name, only saying he was from outside Alaska -- gave the family $25,000 as a bail fee, money the mystery man will never see again.
Without the unexpected money, said Linehan's mother, Sandy McWilliams, the family couldn't have posted bail.
"We are overjoyed and overwhelmed by the outpouring of support that we've had, and in most cases they've been total strangers that have been so willing to step up to the plate and help us out," McWilliams said.
For bail bondsman Fred Adkerson, it's just business. Still, he doesn't see Linehan as a likely runaway.
"She's got some friends out there that support her," Adkerson said. "The family has a lot of concern over her, so I don't think she's going to let them down by putting them in a position where she is going to violate the conditions. There is too much at stake, too much money spent."
As for the conditions, Linehan must stay in Anchorage, essentially under house arrest, until her trial, and she must always be in the company of a third party custodian.
Contact Ashton Goodell at agoodell@ktuu.com
