Cheney man convicted of first-degree murder

SPOKANE – A jury has found a Cheney man guilty of first-degree murder.

David Pettis, age, is expected to be sentenced early next year.

Pettis was found guilty Dec. 13 after being accused of putting a lethal dose of hydrocodone in an ice cream float for his late wife, Peggy Pettis,

Closing arguments in the murder trial were presented Dec. 9 in Spokane County Superior Court.

The fatal dose was said to be 10 times more than a recommended therapeutic dose, court records show.

Pettis has been living in Oklahoma and working in Arkansas and recently returned to Spokane to face trial.

Detectives believe the murder was fueled by his interest in starting a romantic relationship with another woman and cashing out his wife’s life insurance policy, records show.

The prosecution used its final statements to remind the jury of the aggressive way Pettis pursued the life insurance policy – he tried to collect it just two days after her death, records show.

Prosecuting attorneys said he was eligible for three different life insurance policies after his wife’s death and tried to hurry the investigation so he could collect the money from the policy as soon as possible, records show.

At one point, they said he called the coroner’s office and was upset that the autopsy was taking so long, which needed to be completed for the insurance policy to be cashed out, records show.

The prosecution presented other evidence implicating Pettis in the killing.

Detectives collected seven months of Facebook communications between David Pettis and Robin Kaylor – the other woman he was communicating with, records show. They also have a statement he made to a real estate agent before Peggy Pettis’ death.

“Hoping to be there next month, wish I could be there sooner,” prosecuting attorneys presented for the jury.

The defense used their its statements to highlight alleged lies Kaylor told investigators.

On the stand, she told the jury her and David Pettis had been intimate, records show. But the defense said she didn’t relay the same information to Detective Johnson.

The defense admitted that while David Pettis certainly “acted inappropriately,” the trial isn’t about an affair, but a murder.

The defense also called witnesses to the stand to aid with their arguments.

One of the witnesses was the Pettis’ daughter, who testified that her mom suffered from issues with chronic pain and saw her mother crush pain medication and add it to her own ice cream in the past.

However, other witnesses’ statements seem to indicate David Pettis was feverish around the entire process of collecting the necessary documents to cash out on the life insurance policy, records show.

Krystn Meier is the policy agent that handled Peggy Pettis’s life insurance policy and told the jury that David Pettis complained about the life insurance policy’s procedural length.

Other people testified of similar complaints.

Carol Gahl, assistant physician at Cheney’s Multicare Rockwood Clinic and Taylor Diggles, former office assistant at the medical examiners office, both testified to David Petits voicing frustrations around how long the autopsy was taking regarding the life insurance policy.

There were other witnesses at the medical examiner’s office that said David Pettis tried to rush important pieces of the investigation, like the toxicology report, which was needed to collect the life insurance policy.