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Martin 'David' Pietz Charged With Killing Wife,32-year-old Nicole Theresa Pietz, Six Years After Her Death

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Martin 'David' Pietz Charged With Killing Wife,32-year-old Nicole Theresa Pietz, Six Years After Her Death Empty Martin 'David' Pietz Charged With Killing Wife,32-year-old Nicole Theresa Pietz, Six Years After Her Death

Post by Wrapitup Fri Mar 23, 2012 5:04 pm













Authorities in Washington state say they have cracked a cold case from six years ago, charging a husband with killing his wife.

Detectives with the King County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit arrested 34-year-old Martin "David" Pietz Wednesday. The Lynnwood man is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his wife, 32-year-old Nicole Theresa Pietz.

"It took six years and 54 days, but we're finally there. We finally have an arrest," the victim's mother, Gael Schneider, told The Huffington Post.

Nicole Pietz was reported missing by her husband of four years to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office on Jan. 28, 2006, after she failed to show up to a dinner party. A hiker stumbled upon her body nine days later in a wooded area outside of Lynnwood. An autopsy revealed that Pietz had been beaten and strangled.

From the onset of the investigation, police focused their attention on David Pietz. He gave misleading statements to investigators and failed a polygraph examination, police said.

Schneider, too, said she and her husband were convinced from the start that their son-in-law was responsible.

"It couldn't have been anybody but him. It could not have," she said.

According to a statement of probable cause, David Pietz told police he came home late from work on Jan. 27, 2006, and his wife was asleep when he got into bed. He said when he woke up around 8:20 a.m. the following morning, his wife had already left. Recent advances in forensic science, however, allegedly indicate Pietz is lying about the timeline of events in the case.

Investigators know Nicole Pietz purchased a taco dinner around 6 p.m. on Jan. 27. An examination of her stomach contents show the food was undigested. According to forensic examiners, the lack of digestion indicates Pietz was murdered within six hours of eating the meal.

Investigators also noted that Nicole Pietz was wearing a dental retainer when her body was found. According to the affidavit, she only wore the device at night, while sleeping.

Nicole Pietz's vehicle, a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta, was found approximately two weeks after the discovery of her body, in a parking lot near the University of Washington.

In court documents filed Wednesday, prosecutors state David Pietz's DNA was found in several places in the vehicle that the car's last driver would have touched. His DNA was allegedly on the steering wheel, gear shift knob and windshield wiper knob.

Nicole Pietz's DNA was found in "very small quantities while the defendant's DNA was in much greater quantities," the court papers said. They also state that there was "no unidentified DNA in the car."

"It was new technology that allowed them to prove he was the last driver of her car," Schneider said.

In regard to a possible motive for the murder, prosecutors allege David Pietz was having extramarital affairs. Their marriage was "in some degree of turmoil," according to court documents.

"She had told somebody at work that morning that she had found out he was having yet another affair and I think that's what happened -- she told him she wanted out or something," Schneider said.

She added, "It's so frustrating because I don't understand why he didn't just get out of [the marriage]."

David Pietz is being held on $1 million bail in the King County jail. His arraignment is scheduled for April 4.

Schneider said that while she is happy with the latest developments in the case, she does not expect the outcome to heal all of the pain she has carried the last six years.

"The wheels have been set in motion, but nothing's going to bring her back," Schneider said. "If we win the case -- if we get a conviction and he's behind bars for the rest of his life -- maybe then I'll be able to not think about it so much, but when your daughter's been beaten and strangled, how can you not think about it? Your children are your heart, and mines broken."

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Last edited by Wrapitup on Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:52 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Martin 'David' Pietz Charged With Killing Wife,32-year-old Nicole Theresa Pietz, Six Years After Her Death Empty Re: Martin 'David' Pietz Charged With Killing Wife,32-year-old Nicole Theresa Pietz, Six Years After Her Death

Post by Wrapitup Fri Mar 23, 2012 5:10 pm



SEATTLE -- Police said Wednesday that advances in DNA testing and cell phone tracking gave them sufficient evidence to arrest Martin David Pietz for the 2006 death of his wife Nicole.

Pietz was arrested Wednesday morning and later charged with second-degree murder.

“We’ve known all along he did it,” said Nicole’s mother Gael Schneider. “And knowing that he’s having a life and my daughter’s life was so cruelly taken from her. It’s so unfair.”

David Pietz reported his wife missing Jan. 29, 2006, after she failed to show up for dinner with friends and family the night before.

The car he claimed she was driving on the day she disappeared was found in a parking lot in Seattle. Court documents say David Pietz's DNA was found in large quantities in the car -- particularly on the gear shift, steering wheel, and windshield wiper knob - the last places the driver would have touched.

Nicole's nude body was found in the woods off a dead end road in Burien, far from her home in Lynnwood. She had been beaten and strangled.

Charging documents released Wednesday (see below) say the time of death was likely in the early morning hours of Jan. 28 -- when David said she was asleep in their bed.
Documents also say Nicole’s body appeared to have been carefully laid in the brush – the bottoms of her feet were clean -- and “in her mouth was a dental retainer she wore only at night, while sleeping, because of a lisp.”

Though Nicole's cell phone was never found, records show it was used for one outgoing call on Saturday - a 21-second call to 24-hour Fitness, where David was working. New technology allowed police to determine that the call originated from a range of no more than three or four blocks from the gym - a range that includes the gym itself.
David and Nicole had financial problems and their marriage was in some “turmoil,” the documents state, and David had cheated on Nicole. She had learned that he tried to get other women to participate in a “threesome.”

Searches on the couple’s computer revealed inquiries about swingers clubs and how to cheat on your spouse, and within weeks of Nicole’s disappearance, David had begun seeking out phone numbers of women to date.
Charging documents say David Pietz failed a polygraph test during the investigation and refused to take another.
The King County Sheriff's Office says David Pietz was a suspect from the beginning. They put Nicole's picture on cold case playing cards, hoping to get leads.

On Wednesday, David Pietz was finally arrested outside the Kirkland bank where he's been working. The new developments involving old evidence lead to the arrest.
David Pietz is being held on $1 million bail.

"It's been six years of hell. Knowing that he's behind bars makes me very happy," said Nicole's mother.

Certificate for Determination of Probable Cause
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Martin 'David' Pietz Charged With Killing Wife,32-year-old Nicole Theresa Pietz, Six Years After Her Death Empty Re: Martin 'David' Pietz Charged With Killing Wife,32-year-old Nicole Theresa Pietz, Six Years After Her Death

Post by Wrapitup Fri Mar 23, 2012 5:11 pm

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Martin 'David' Pietz Charged With Killing Wife,32-year-old Nicole Theresa Pietz, Six Years After Her Death Empty Re: Martin 'David' Pietz Charged With Killing Wife,32-year-old Nicole Theresa Pietz, Six Years After Her Death

Post by Wrapitup Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:51 pm





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Martin 'David' Pietz Charged With Killing Wife,32-year-old Nicole Theresa Pietz, Six Years After Her Death Empty David Pietz Murder Trial: Prosecutors Point to Failed Lie-Detector Test

Post by NiteSpinR Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:20 pm

10/8/2013

Prosecutors in the nearly four-week trial of David Pietz are pointing to a lie-detector test he failed at the time of the alleged murder of his wife, as well as the second one he declined to take six years later when he was arrested in connection to the slaying.

Pietz, 34, is accused of killing his wife, 32-year-old Nicole Pietz, who vanished from her home in 2006 and was found strangled in a wooded area. Detectives with the King County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit arrested Pietz in March 2012 and charged him with second-degree murder.

The trial began Sept. 12.

That Pietz refused to take a second polygraph test won't be heard by the jury. But defense attorneys are now worried about testimony from a co-worker of Pietz, who said Pietz claimed that he called detectives every year to check in on the hunt for his wife's killer. Police deny the claim, saying they did not hear from him yearly.
Pietz has maintained his innocence, and his attorneys will begin arguing their side of the case later this week.

Monday was among the most difficult days in court for Nicole Pietz' family, when pictures of her battered body were shown to the jury.

Prosecutors tried to prove the injuries to her body show that she wasn't just strangled by a stranger on the street, as has been suggested by a witness, but by someone lying on top of her, as they believe her husband David was.

"That scenario could be consistent with the type of bruising that we're seeing," Medical Examiner Dr. Brian Mazrian told the court.

Prosecutors say David Pietz had been telling co-workers that he thought something must have happened to Nicole, who had previously battled addiction problems, while she was on the prowl for drugs. Nicole's co-worker Ashley Sauter said she agreed with that explanation.

"She was supposed to be going to an AA meeting, but that is what probably happened, a drug deal gone bad," Sauter told the court.

Toxicology results show Nicole had only small amounts of prescription drugs in her body and no signs of recent abuse, according to testimony.



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