Texas mayor who killed self, apparently daughter, was in financial trouble, grieved for spouse

By Elida S. Perez, AP
Friday, July 16, 2010

Texas mayor who killed self had financial trouble

COPPELL, Texas — Authorities say a note left by a Dallas area mayor who killed herself and apparently her daughter explains the two still were grieving over the 2008 death of their husband and father.

Coppell Mayor Jayne Peters also had financial troubles. At a Friday afternoon funeral service for the two, Peters’ pastor said she had tried to hide the financial troubles from 19-year-old Corinne.

Also Friday, the Coppell city manager said Peters had questionable charges of at least $4,000 on her city credit card. He says he had repeatedly asked her to clarify those charges.

Peters and her daughter were found dead in their upscale suburban home Tuesday night when police checked on them after the mayor missed a city council meeting.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

COPPELL, Texas (AP) — The pastor of a suburban Dallas mayor who killed herself and apparently her daughter said during a funeral service for them that the mayor had “acute financial difficulties.”

Investigators found the bodies of Coppell Mayor Jayne Peters and 19-year-old Corinne Peters at their home Tuesday night. Authorities have said the mayor committed suicide and that her daughter’s death was a homicide.

Rev. Dennis Wilkinson, pastor at First United Methodist Church in Coppell, said Friday, “Jayne was a deeply troubled and, finally, desperate soul.”

The Dallas Morning News reports that Wilkinson said at the service that 55-year-old Jayne Peters tried to hide the family’s financial troubles from her daughter after the death of her husband in 2008.

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