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Dallas County medical examiner releases autopsy reports
By Marthe Stinton, mstinton@acnpapers.com
Reports released Tuesday may answer some questions Coppell residents have regarding the sudden death of their mayor, Jayne Peters, and her daughter Corinne.
The Dallas County medical examiner released reports that provided much-needed information on the death of the Peters women.
Autopsy results indicate that 19-year-old Corinne Peters was not shot at close range and that the bullet came from several feet behind her. According to the reports, the bullet entered the left side of the back of her neck and exited near her right cheekbone. Reports also confirmed speculation that former Mayor Jayne Peters murdered her daughter before fatally shooting herself in the forehead.
It is still unclear what medication was present or to whom it was prescribed; however, the reports indicate that two fentanyl patches were present on the mayor's body, located on either side of her back.
"This is a piece of the puzzle," said Sharon Logan, community information officer.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, the fentanyl patch is a narcotic (opioid) pain medicine applied to the skin for treating persistent moderate to severe pain in opioid-tolerant patients who need to be on a narcotic pain medicine around the clock for more than a few days. It is most commonly prescribed to cancer patients, although, according to reports, the medical examiner listed no signs of cancer in Jayne Peters.
Reports indicate the medical examiner did not release the time of death for either woman.
The Coppell Police Department is continuing its own investigation into the murder/suicide.
"We hope to finish our investigation as soon as possible," said Steve Thomas, deputy police chief.
The city of Coppell held a press conference Friday, July 16 in an attempt to answer questions regarding what happened the evening of July 13.
"At 5:30 on July 13, we had a scheduled work session for the upcoming council meeting," Thomas said. "Mayor Peters was not in attendance; we had some police issues to discuss concerning funding so we could give the council members more information. Upon conclusion of the work session, Mayor Peters still had not arrived for the regular council meeting. As I was driving home, I was paged by the deputy city manager asking me to send someone over to the mayor's house to check on her status."
Thomas asked a captain, who had also attended the meeting, and the shift supervisor to assist on the courtesy check.
"As the officers approached the front door, they saw an envelope," Thomas said. "The front of the envelope was titled 'First Responders.'"
The envelope contained a key and a note that read: "Here's the key for the front door. I am so very sorry for what you're about to discover. Please forgive me."
The note was signed by Mayor Jayne Peters.
The officers entered the home and discovered other notes on the kitchen counter near the cremains of Peters' late husband, Don, who died of cancer two and a half years ago. One note contained instructions on how to care for the family's pets, while the other vaguely addressed the situation.
It read: "My sweet, sweet Corinne had grown completely inconsolable...she had learned to hide her feelings from her friends, but the two of us were lost, alone, and afraid. Corinne just kept on asking, 'why won't God just let me die?' We hadn't slept at all and neither one of us could stop crying when we were together."
The body of Corinne Peters was discovered on the first floor with a gunshot wound to the head, Thomas said, and the body of Mayor Peters, also found with a gunshot wound to the head, was discovered in an upstairs bathroom. A handwritten "DNR" note was found on the door.
"After we put together [an] investigative team, to do what they do, we were going through the collection of physical evidence - one of them being the weapon," Thomas said.
Cedar Hill Mayor Rob Franke was a friend and an associate of Peters who worked with her on the Regional Transportation Council. On July 8, Peters and Franke went to Bullseye Range and Guns in Duncanville, where Franke taught Peters the fine points of handgun usage.
After a quick lesson, Peters left the gun range with a camera bag containing a Glock 9mm handgun, magazines, ammunition, paper targets and ear protection. She told Franke that she would be attending a class that Saturday to obtain a concealed handgun license.
"Mr. Franke told me that if there was a gun located at the residence, it was a possibility that the gun belonged to him," Thomas said. "He informed me that Mayor Peters approached him with the premise that she was considering getting a concealed handgun license and was asking him for advice on what type of firearm to purchase. Mayor Franke had the discussion with her, and they talked about price and different types. The conversation then turned to her asking if he would lend her a firearm to take the class. Franke said he would feel more comfortable if he could take her to the firing range to familiarize her with the firearm."
When Franke heard the news of the Peters' deaths, he called the Coppell police immediately.
"At 10:22 [the evening of July 13] I spoke with Mayor Rob Franke of Cedar Hill," Thomas said. "He described the firearm as a Glock 9mm Model 17, and that was consistent with the firearm that we had in our possession," Thomas said. "He was very quick to call us when he found out about the situation, and I hope you understand that one of the things we are required to do is a complete investigation."
Franke does not face any charges.
Thomas said the Coppell Police Department had no information on whether Peters had actually scheduled a CHL class.
At approximately 6 a.m. July 12, Corinne was last seen by a neighbor loading property into a vehicle in the driveway of the residence. Approximately 15-20 minutes later, Mayor Peters was seen taking property out of the vehicle.
Mayor Peters was last seen that same day at approximately 12:30 p.m. walking southbound on the 700 block of MacArthur near the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Thomas said there is nothing to suggest anyone else is involved, and there were no signs of a struggle. Coppell police are treating the shootings as a multiple-death investigation.
"There is nothing to lead police to believe that the daughter would have been a willing participant in this act," Thomas said. "Their relationship was like most mother-daughter relationships, very loving at times and sometimes very volatile. There have been no reports of abuse, neglect or really overt opposition to one another."
Although recent reports have surfaced claiming Corinne was scheduled to attend the University of Texas at Austin this fall, Thomas said that is not the case and that he was unaware of plans she had to attend any other college or university.
"There were bags near the front door, but it was indicative of someone who is leaving or someone who has returned," Thomas said.
Thomas said both Mayor Peters' home and work computers were taken as evidence.
"This agency and this city are going to get as many questions answered as we possibly can," Thompson said. "But it will not happen overnight; it will be a process, and we are going to make sure every question we can ask and anything we can do will be done - you have my word on that."
One question the city will be asking concerns suspicious purchases charged by Mayor Peters on city credit cards. City Manager Clay Phillips addressed those concerns at the press conference July 16.
"We began to notice some things that caught our attention in respect to the mayor's procurement card sometime in November," Phillips said. He said he and Mayor Peters had spoken several times about the charges.
According to Phillips, there were purchases made that appeared to be of a personal nature, and the city was not reimbursed for them in a timely fashion.
"It had gotten to a point that we were going to have to deal with that," Phillips said. "She had never given an explanation. Without receipts to corroborate what the purchases were for, some of them were most likely very much legitimate city expenses, and some of them are most likely not."
Phillips said some of the purchases included rental cars, clothing, pet care items and groceries.
"In the absence of the receipts, I cannot explain it," Phillips said. "There were pet supplies, clothing - those were the main things. The mayor was active in the Coppell Youth Leadership Program, and there were a number of grocery charges on there, and I cannot tell you if they were personal or not."
Mayor Peters indicated to Phillips that she was aware that receipts and reimbursement was needed.
"It's between $4,000 and $6,000 of questionable charges," Phillips said. "She [said] that she had reimbursement and receipts prepared in her car and that she would be handing them over any day. We are going to look at her credit card statements, and there are a number of them in this. She very clearly understood she had some things she needed to take care of."
During the memorial service July 16, Reverend Dennis Wilkinson mentioned Mayor Peters had asked to borrow money from friends as well as the church, Mayor Pro Tem Bob Mahalik said.
"There was no indication that money was an issue," Mahalik said. "The first questions we got from everyone else were, 'Did you see something? Did you miss something?' And those are the same questions we are asking ourselves. She never gave us any indication that she needed help financially, medically or spiritually or any reason that made us think she was in a bad shape. Technically I wish she would've; we could've helped."
Thomas said the grief of losing Mayor Peters' husband, Donald, Corinne's father, played a part in the situation.
"Everyone grieves differently. All of us have different time frames to handle that grief, and that is a factor going into this," Thomas said.
Mahalik will remain mayor pro tem but will handle the duties of mayor until an election can take place this fall.
"We just have to move on now," Mahalik said. "We have to get past what has happened."
Staff writer Jim Kilpatrick contributed to this report.
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