A Texas Town Honors a Killer

by Susan Murphy Milano

On July 15, 2010, the town of Coppell, Texas, flew the flags at half-staff in honor of their beloved, late Mayor Jayne Peters.

But how the hell can you honor anyone who shoots down their own child in cold blood and then commits suicide? The disturbing response of the mayor pro tem summed it up, saying the tony Dallas suburb needed to separate what Peters did in her personal life from how she performed as mayor.

So I ask: Why honor anyone who, in great detail, plans and carries out murder? As an elected official, Jayne Peters was a hard-core politician. Some people refer to politicians as empty suits. What lurked inside Jayne Peters's suit was rage, a rage most violent offenders hide from the outside world. Peters masked her controlling and manipulative ways behind a pretty smile, makeup, heels and stockings. She made sure she had all the answers when it came to city government.

But what no one has dared to say aloud since the murder-suicide is they are willing to forgive her crime because she was a woman and, at one time, a respected member of the community.

The side of an abuser that outsiders never see is saved for immediate family, behind closed doors. In news coverage, the murder-suicide was the tragic story of a recently widowed wife whose husband died of cancer in 2008, leaving her to raise a teenager on her own while struggling with personal finances. Peters, who'd hidden the family money problems from her daughter, faced an investigation into $4,000 of unexplained personal charges on her city credit card.

Police went to Peters's house when she failed to show up at the monthly city council meeting. Taped to the door was an envelope containing a key to the upscale house and a note that said: "God, please forgive me."

They found Corinne Peters, 19, in a laundry room, dead from a single gunshot wound to the back of her head, which her mother apparently had wrapped in towels. Upstairs, taped to a closed bathroom door, was a note that said: "Please do not resuscitate.” They found Jayne Peters's body on the tile floor with a single gunshot wound to her forehead.

According to Fox News, police found four notesin all. In one, Peters wrote: "We were lost,” which likely translates into an excuse: 'I could no longer control my environment at work or in my home.' The note also said Peters and her daughter remained inconsolable over the death of Donald Peters.

The last note? Peters left detailed instructions for the care of the family's dogs.

The relationship between mother and daughter was always filled with turmoil. They argued about everything from boys to after-school activities to Corrine being a daddy’s girl. Some of Corrine's friends remember her describing the abuse, anger and jealousy that blew out of control after the death of her father. Donald Peters had always shielded his baby girl from her mother’s temper. 

Corinne was a bright, vibrant young woman who, according to friends, always greeted people with a bright smile.

Corinne graduated high school on June 4 and planned to attend the University of Texas in the fall. This teenager, by all accounts, was happy and looking forward to her future. But the abuser -- her mother -- was not going to allow her daughter to live her life. Jayne Peters never intended for her daughter to enroll in college. Instead, she carefully planned to take her life.

Corinne Peters was murdered. As an abuser and a murderer, Jayne Peters likely decided that killing her daughter and making excuses for her own financial disaster was the best way to solve her problems. What abusers do best, male or female, is make life-altering decisions for other members of their immediate family.

And in the wake of this tragedy, what the town of Coppell, Texas, did was show the world that family-member homicide is acceptable. They looked the other way, hid in their homes and acted as if they'd lost a beloved member of their community. It makes me wonder how many women and children in that town are living in fear for their lives.

This woman should not be remembered as anything other than the "mayor who murdered her daughter in cold blood." And that is why you will only see photos of Corinne Peters in this story. I refuse to honor a murderer.

Corinne Peters must be remembered as a shining bright light who, while on earth, stood up to a darkness few have ever survived.

Rest in peace, young warrior! You earned it!

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Forensics Reveal Truth

by Diane Dimond

Imagine the hushed, sterile atmosphere of an autopsy room. A body arrives and a team of forensic experts quietly gets to work to try to determine cause of death. Scientific evidence is gathered to determine whether a crime was committed to cause the death, whether it occurred from natural, unavoidable causes or if it was death by suicide.

In many cases, such as that of retired NFL quarterback Steve McNair, the cause of death is pretty obvious. McNair, was found sprawled on his condo’s couch, shot twice in the head and twice in the chest. Nearby was the dead body of his 20 year old mistress, a gun underneath her. It was quickly ruled a murder/suicide.

But other deaths are not so clear cut. Take the case of 50-year-old infomercial scream-seller Billy Mays. After he was found dead in his bed by his wife, we heard that he’d violently bumped his head in an airplane just hours earlier. It was thought the hit on the head had something to do with his sudden death. But forensic science proved it wasn’t so. Once the medical professionals opened Mays’ chest they immediately discovered a diseased heart was to blame, an affliction Mays apparently was unaware he had.

And then there are the full blown forensic death investigations like the one surrounding entertainer Michael Jackson, suspected of dying at home from an overdose of a hospital strength anesthesia called Diprivan and, perhaps, a cocktail of other drugs. Cases like Jackson’s demand a full toxicology and histology workup. In layman’s terms: a full examination of blood, tissue, hair and organ samples to determine if someone should be charged with a crime.

All this scientific sleuthing takes time to accomplish and in the meantime families of the dead anxiously await the final verdict.

Autopsy blood workups are routine. The sample is usually taken from deep inside the body’s heart chamber and tests determine what compounds are present in the bloodstream. Some drugs like cocaine break down in the body quickly and are hard to detect. But most drugs stop metabolizing when the person dies and so the traces found in the bloodstream are indicative of what was present at the time of death. The forensic investigators also examine urine, bile and tissue samples from the liver, heart, spleen and kidneys. The information gathered fits together like pieces in a cause-of-death puzzle.

Hair is especially revealing, holding on to what the body has ingested like rings on a tree. Since scalp hair usually grows about half an inch a month the longer the body’s hair the more information can be found. A six inch hair will reveal a full year’s worth of clues. Traces of each drug used will be stored in the hair shaft and the coroner’s office will be able to list every one, be they prescription or illegal drugs, and when they were used. In the case of a bald person shorter hair from armpits or the groin area can be used, they’ll just yield less historical information.

But there is nothing as telling as what the scientists can deduce from studying the brain. Unlike other organs from which samples can be taken immediately, the brain requires special handling. The entire brain mass must be submerged and hardened in formaldehyde for about three weeks before samples can be taken. Once gathered a neuron-forensic pathologist usually needs four to six weeks to unravel all the telltale evidence about what happened to the body during life.

If the decedent was beaten as a child contusions on the brain will be seen as dead tissue, called necrosis spots. If in life the person suffered a drug overdose (or multiple drug overdoses) the scientist will be able to see evidence of that and can determine when the overdose(s) occurred. If the decedent suffered strokes there will be visible scar tissue.

When a family receives a negative cause of death determination from the coroner they are often in denial. They don’t want to believe their family member could have committed suicide or died of a self-inflicted drug overdose.

Media leaks about the state of Jackson’s body at death have been excruciating. The almost six foot tall performer was reported to have weighed just 112 pounds. The skin on his arms, neck and legs were said to have been pockmarked with both old and new needle punctures. All indications are he died from a fatal overdose of several different drugs.

If that is the final judgment on what killed Michael Jackson something tells me the Jackson family will never accept it. It will be more comforting to believe some outside force killed their loved one. It’s much harder to accept the fact that someone you cherished slowly and deliberately shortened his own life.

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