The late mayor of Coppell charged more than $6,300 of personal expenses to her city credit card, according to the city attorney.
Mayor Jayne Peters and her 19-year-old daughter, Corinne, were found dead in their Coppell home July 13 after Peters failed to arrive at a City Council meeting earlier that night.
City Attorney Robert Hager submitted the findings of his investigation into Peters' spending to the city manager Wednesday.
The city manager had been questioning Peters about questionable charges on her city card for months before that.
Hager said the city manager’s suspicion began last year when charges appeared from a Plano clothing store.
"She indicated to him verbally, initially, that it was a mistake by the store," Hager said.
The attorney said Peters promised to provide receipts and a reimbursement for that charge but never did.
After her death, Hager said he expanded the review of Peters’ credit card use to the time of her husband's 2008 death.
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He found that apparent misuse began in November 2009.
Between then and the time of Jayne Peters’ death, 68 charges appeared on her credit account. Hager said receipts or reimbursement were never supplied for any of them.
The attorney verified some of the charges as city business, but found most to be personal charges, including groceries, restaurants and a rented car that Corinne Peters reportedly received as a high school graduation present.
"It would appear that improper use of the card could possibly be theft or public integrity issues that we would have had a law enforcement agency investigate," Hager said.
The city report adds that evidence of the personal financial difficulties Peters apparently kept hidden since the death of her husband, maybe even from her daughter.
Her pastor said at Peters' funeral that her home had been posted for foreclosure a times.
Hager said he found it difficult to investigate Peters.
“I’ve known Jayne since before she ran for City Council," he said. "I was a resident of Coppell. I knew her and her husband. I’ve known Corinne since she was 2 years old. It was not easy, but it was my job."
A report from the medical examiner Monday said that Corinne Peters was shot in the head from several feet behind and that Jayne Peters shot herself in the forehead.
Coppell police say they are still waiting for test results on certain evidence before they complete their investigation of the apparent murder-suicide.
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