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Sometimes a suicide note raises more questions than provides answers. This seems true in a recent case that occurred in a Dallas suburb. On July 13th the bodies of the Coppell mayor, Jayne Peters, and her 19-year-old daughter, Corinne, were discovered in their home. Both had died of gun shot wounds. Police found an envelope taped to the front door with a key and note inside. The note read: "To our first responders, Here is the key for the front door. I am so very sorry for what you're about to discover. Please forgive me. Jayne." www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/16/jayne-peters-coppell-mayor_n_649855.h….
Although some have speculated that this was a double murder, the Medical Examiner's Office confirmed that Ms. Peters' death was a suicide and her daughter's a homicide. Although the case remains under investigation, it is believed that Ms. Peters killed her daughter and then committed suicide. What was especially troubling was that her behavior seemed premeditated. News reports indicated that she borrowed the Glock 9 mm on July 8th. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/16/jayne-peters-coppell-mayor_n_649855.html
It is very rare for a mother to kill an adult child. I was interviewed last week by Betsy Simnacher of The Dallas Morning News about my work with women who kill their children. www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-point….
A few weeks ago I posted a blog on Psychology Today about a similar case in Staten Island, New York. The evidence in that case suggested that the mother killed three of her children and then committed suicide. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-measure-madness/201007/murder-a…
As a forensic psychologist I have evaluated women charged with killing their children. The majority fall into three groups. The first group includes women who are severely mentally ill. Andrea Yates fit this pattern. Her long history of mental illness included hospitalizations and diagnoses of psychosis and severe postpartum depression. On June 20, 2001, she drowned her five young children. In her second trial she was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
The second group includes young women or teenagers who kill their newborns. They typically hide their pregnancies and give birth alone. The third group includes immature, young woman who neglect and abuse their children.
Ms. Peters did not appear to fit any of these patterns. By all appearances she was a stable and loving mother. News reports described her as active in her church and community. She was head of the PTA at her daughter's elementary school and won a City Council seat in 1998. Although she suffered a severe emotional blow when her husband Don died of cancer on January 15, 2008, she seemed to be coping with the loss. In 2009 she was elected to mayor of Coppell.
It seems that Ms. Peters hid her emotional and financial problems from her friends and daughter. Her post as mayor was unpaid and she worked as a contract software developer. A bank started foreclosure proceedings on her house last year and two liens were placed on her house when she did not pay the neighborhood association dues. She also faced investigation for using her city issued credit card for unauthorized, personal purchases.
Ms. Peters had approximately $4,000 in charges on the city issued credit card. She owed $1,600 to Enterprise Rent-a- Car for the 2011 Hyundai Sonata she had rented on June 2. It was commonly believed that she bought the car for her daughter as a high school graduation gift.
News reports indicated that Corinne believed that she had been accepted at the University of Texas and was planning to attend a university orientation session the day she was killed. Certainly, this could be no coincidence. Around 6:00 am on July 12 neighbors saw Corinne packing her car. Approximately fifteen minutes later Ms. Peters is seen unpacking the car. Approximately an hour after that Ms. Peters returned the Hyundai to the Avis office.
Could Ms. Peters have killed her daughter to prevent her from finding out the truth? The truth was that Corinne had not been accepted into the university. The school had no record of her application. Augustine Garza, the deputy director of admissions at the university is quoted as saying he never received Corinne's SAT or ACT scores. http://www.dailytexanonline.com/node/1589
Autopsy findings suggest that Ms. Peters killed herself a few days after she killed her daughter. Police went to her home after she failed to appear for a scheduled city council meeting. Ms. Peters left four notes altogether. Two notes were left alongside the urn which contained her husband's remains. One note 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 let me die?' We hadn't slept at all and neither one of us could stop crying when we were together." www.aolnews.com/crime/article/officials-friends-mystified-by-mayors-mur….
Many people were puzzled by this note. If Corinne was truly depressed, why did she seem excited to go to college? And why did Ms. Peters decide to kill her daughter? These questions may never be answered. From what I have read about this case, however, the only explanation that makes any sense is that Ms. Peters was severely mentally ill.
Depression can cause individuals to feel so hopeless and desperate that their thinking becomes distorted. In the most serious cases, they can become convinced that death is the only solution. It is possible that Ms. Peters decided to kill her daughter became she was convinced that she could not leave her daughter alone. Although this certainly does not excuse or condone her actions, it is one possible explanation. Doug Stover, the previous Coppell mayor, was quoted as saying, "Knowing how much she wanted to protect her from the embarrassment, shame and humiliation of their financial ruin allows those of us who knew her to understand why she took Corinne with her." http://www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/coppell_vr/stories/0718…
Unfortunately, we may never truly understand what caused this tragedy. Perhaps it was best explained by Reverend Dennis Wilkinson of Coppell's First United Methodist Church. At the joint memorial service he said, "Jayne was a deeply troubled and, finally, desperate soul." www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/16/jayne-peters-coppell-mayor_n_649855.h…
