COPPELL, Texas — News 8 has reviewed more than 460 pages of documents from the investigation into unauthorized spending by former Coppell Mayor Jayne Peters.
Peters and her 19-year-old daughter, Corinne, were found dead at their home on July 13. The medical examiner ruled that Corinne had been a victim of homicide and that Peters had taken her own life.
The deaths came as Mayor Peters was accused of misusing more than $6,300 in city funds. The documents reveal more about Peters' litany of lies and excuses to cover up her spending habits, and the struggle that Coppell's city manager had trying to get answers.
There were 34 e-mails exchanged between Jayne Peters and city staffers over nine months concerning her questionable expenses, most of them from City Manager Clay Phillips, who made his first inquiry on October 20, 2009.
As the weeks passed, his e-mails became more pointed. "We're still trying to close out those old pending statements," he wrote in February.
But Mayor Peters always had an excuse and an apology. Her e-mail replies are filled with the word "sorry."
"I'll have everything to Debbie by Friday," another message said.
As the Fridays passed, however, Peters' excuses became more involved. In a message from March, the mayor canceled a meeting to discuss her expenses, writing: "I had some medical tests last week and the Dr.'s office called me late today to schedule a consultation..."
All along, staffers were finding questionable expenses — like one for a carpet cleaner at a Walmart store, and others for pet stores on the weekend.
City Manager Phillips became so concerned that in April, he started logging his conversations with Peters. In one, he wrote:
"I have had multiple face-to-face and telephone conversations and sent and received multiple emails to and from Mayor Peters ... are they simply oversights and honest mistakes or are they symptoms of a problem."
While the mayor had reimbursed the city in the past with personal checks, in April she paid back the city $361 using a money order, which caught the attention of staffers.
But it wasn't until July — nine months later — that Phillips finally had had enough and requested an investigation of Mayor Peters.
A memo dated July 13 details his frustration to get answers. He left City Council members with this:
"There is nothing to be gained for me by my drawing attention to this matter other than i will be doing my job."
That same day, Jayne Peters and her daughter were found dead.
There was a notation made on the memo that due to the tragic and untimely death of the mayor, it was never delivered to her.
E-mail ccivale@wfaa.com
