Deputy police chief, mayor pro tem address mayor's death

As the city of Coppell tries to understand the circumstances that led to the shooting deaths of Mayor Jayne Peters and her daughter Corinne, city leaders and police try to solve the puzzle of why one of the area's most recognizable people is dead.

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," Deputy Police Chief Steve 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 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 the 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 has been scheduled to provide a written statement to the Coppell Police Department, but as of Friday evening had not done so. He does not face any charges.

"It is not part of the permanent record yet, and there are certain things that need to be done before that interview can take place," Thomas said.

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."

Thomas said they are relying on the medical examiner for information on the manner in which Corinne was shot.

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.

Police found prescription medication used to treat depression at the scene but were unaware of any other amounts of pharmaceuticals. They are currently awaiting news from the medical examiner on what was in Mayor Peters' system.

Thomas said both Mayor Peters' home and work computers have been taken as evidence.

"We are going to conduct a professional, thorough and complete police investigation in reference to this," Thomas said. "This agency and this city are going to get as many questions answered as we possibly can. 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.

"We began to notice some things that caught our attention in respect to the mayor's procurement card sometime in November," Phillips said. "I began to have conversations regarding those charges with her and have since had several conversations since there was correspondence as late as Monday of this week. We have had many phone conversations about that."

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. The city attorney has been asked to look into those purchases, and he will complete his investigation some time next week."

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 Friday, 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 timeframes 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.

"As a community we will get through this," Mahalik said. "As we move forward we will do the best we can; each day gets a little bit better."

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