SUICIDE….There Are Other Alternatives
Coppell Mayor bought clothes, groceries with city-issued credit card
Brandon Formby and Erinn Connor bring us a very sad story from the State of Texas. The mayor of an affluent town decided to take the life of her 19 year daughter and then take her own life. According to the article, a contributing factor may have been their financial despair and the imminent loss of their house to foreclosure. The death of these two people surprised many that were around them.
You may be thinking, “Matt…What does this have to do with real-estate?” The answer is nothing…directly….but lots indirectly.
The vast majority of people (if not all?) that are reading this have either gone through foreclosure/short sale/loan mod, are going through it now or know someone that has/is. This can be a very harrowing time for the people that are going through what can be a very tumultuous time in their lives. Always keep your eyes and ears open to the warning signs. Always offer to find people professional help if they are on the brink. Always be understanding of the plight of those around you.
If you are reading this and you are thinking about suicide, think about the effect it will have on those that are around you. Also know that life isn’t that bad! If you think it is bad…guess what….it can only get better!
As quoted from the web:
“If you are feeling desperate, alone or hopeless? Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), a free, 24-hour hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Your call will be routed to the nearest crisis center to you.
Call for yourself or someone you care about
Free and confidential
A network of more than 140 crisis centers nationwide
Available 24/7”
Coppell Mayor bought clothes, groceries with city-issued credit card
06:56 PM CDT on Friday, July 16, 2010
By BRANDON FORMBY and ERINN CONNOR / The Dallas Morning News
Coppell city officials said Friday they now suspect that late Mayor Jayne Peters may have been using her city-issued credit card to keep up financial appearances in the face of personal money woes.
Rev. Dennis Wilkinson told those attending Jayne and 19-year-old Corinne Peters’ joint funeral Friday that the mayor had financial trouble since her husband died in 2008. He said Jayne Peters kept much of the information about the family’s finances from Corinne because she didn’t want to ruin the recent high school graduate’s memory of her father.
Police said at a 4 p.m. news conference that Cedar Hill Mayor Rob Franke had provided the Glock 9mm to Peters. Franke said Friday that he had spoken with Coppell police but declined to comment on the pistol, citing the ongoing police investigation. Franke said he first contacted police about the gun Tuesday night.
“We were friends through transportation, and I thought I knew the lady,” Franke said. “It was such a surprise when you think you know someone, but there’s a part of their life you know nothing about.”
Peters made more than $5,800 in charges on her city-issued credit card in the three months leading up to her suicide, according to documents obtained by The Dallas Morning New s on Friday. The charges included $1,600 to Enterprise Rent-a-Car in Lewisville , more than $300 in clothes from trendy young adult clothing stores in Plano and more than $480 spent at Kroger in Coppell.
The records showed that she did pay the city more than $300 in reimbursements during that time, but it was not clear what charges the reimbursement was for.
City staffers were preparing the routine report that listed the questionable charges when the mayor and her 19-year-old daughter Corinne were found fatally shot in their two-story house Tuesday, sources said. Police believe Jayne Peters shot her daughter and then herself.
When asked about the detailed credit card charges obtained Friday, City Manager Clay Phillips said that the mayor for months had promised to pay back personal items she charged to the card but never did. He said she also failed to present receipts for other purchases. Phillips said the missing receipts made it impossible for city staffers to determine whether some questionable items were for personal or city use. He said after months of being put off by the mayor, he went to the city attorney and asked for an investigation.
“We were at that point,” he said of his mounting suspicions that have only grown since the mayor was found dead.
The exact charges that are unaccounted for or may have been for personal use, and how much money they amount to, are not yet known. City officials said that the city attorney has not finished investigating the matter.
“When it’s complete, we’ll be able to answer anything it contains,” Phillips said.
Once the attorney is done, he will likely turn his finding over to police officers investigating what they say is a likely murder-suicide.
“There may be something in there that helps them determine motivation,” Phillips said.
Phillips said he began to wonder if the credit card charges and his repeated questions about them played a role in the mayor’s apparent suicide after media reported Thursday that Jayne Peters faced personal money problems.
Phillips said he didn’t suspect the credit card charges and lack of receipts and reimbursement were possible symptoms of a larger financial problem until media reports detailed Jayne Peters’ apparent personal money woes.
“If I’d have known what I know today, absolutely,” Phillips said.
The two-story Peters house in the 700 block of Greenway Drive was posted for foreclosure last July, according to Foreclosure Listing Service. It never made it to auction. Experts say several actions including making payments and filing for bankruptcy protection can get a home out of foreclosure.
A public-records search found no indication that Jayne Peters had filed for bankruptcy. Donald and Jayne Peters took out a $283,500 mortgage loan in 1998. Donald Peters died in 2008.
Foreclosure Listing Service estimated last year that $235,000 remained due, though that number is not exact. The Dallas County Appraisal District appraised the home’s value at $422,780 this year.
According to Dallas County records, an outstanding lien for $1,258 was filed on the house last August for nonpayment of neighborhood-association assessments.
Records show a previous neighborhood-association lien for $1,169 was filed in June 2008 and paid three months later.
At Friday afternoon’s news conference, Coppell Deputy Police Chief Steve Thomas said Franke called police late Tuesday night to tell them that there was a possibility that the gun belonged to him.
“He explained to me that Mayor Peters approached him with the premise that she was getting a concealed handgun license and she wanted to attend classes for training,” Thomas said. “The conversation shifted that it would be possible to loan her a gun in advance of a Saturday class.”
Franke said that Franke took Peters on July 8 to a firing range in Duncanville to allow her to become familiar with it. Peters took the gun in a camera bag along with some paper targets, earplugs and ammunition, Franke told police.
At the news conference, Thomas also detailed some of the four notes that were found at the house when police arrived on Tuesday night.
The envelope on the front door was addressed to “First Responders,” Thomas said.
One note, the only one which was handwritten, was found on the door to the room where Jayne Peters was found.
“It was a do not resuscitate wish, in her handwriting,” Thomas said.
Family friends, neighbors and Corinne Peters’ classmates said the 19-year-old planned to attend Texas Christian University in Fort Worth until she learned she was accepted by the University of Texas at Austin.
Friends said she had been wearing UT shirts all week and was planning to attend an orientation session at the university Wednesday. After The News reported those statements, a spokesman for the university contacted the paper.
The spokesman said there is no record of anyone named Mary Corinne Peters, the 19-year-old’s full name, applying to attend the school this fall. He said no one with her last name and birth date was either. He said she did not appear to be enrolled or scheduled to attend orientation this summer.
UT never received an SAT or ACT score from Corinne Peters, said Augustine Garza, the school’s deputy director of admissions.
TCU also has no record of Peters’ being enrolled for fall 2010, a spokeswoman said.