From Deseret News archives:
Woman who shot husband plea bargains
She cites emotional distress over finding him, guest in hot tub
Becky Lynn Peacock, 52, agreed to plea bargain to a charge of second-degree felony manslaughter in connection with the April 16 fatal shooting of her husband, Michael V. Peacock, 52, in the kitchen of their Holladay condominium.
Third District Judge Timothy Hanson has set Jan. 14 for sentencing.
Peacock had been set to go to trial Monday, but the four-day trial has been canceled.
Prosecutor Robert Stott said the Salt Lake District Attorney's Office originally charged Becky Peacock with first-degree felony murder. "It turned out it was a manslaughter case," Stott said. "The mitigation factors showed that he was killed after she found him in a hot tub with another woman. The woman was a guest in the house."
The woman, Julie Hardy, had been invited to the condo and was found by Becky Peacock soaking in a basement hot tub with Michael Peacock. Hardy told police she heard the Peacocks arguing, and when she went upstairs she found Michael Peacock bleeding on the kitchen floor with a chest wound. Hardy contacted police, and their search of the scene turned up a black revolver not far from Michael Peacock's body.
Becky Peacock faces a potential sentence of one to 15 years in prison.
Peacock set off a flurry of police activity after the shooting when she called her sister in Farmington, N.M., then drove to that community and turned herself in to police there about 12 hours after Michael Peacock died.
Later, Michael Peacock's children from a former marriage tried to prevent Becky Peacock from gaining access to the couple's mutual bank account until the estate went through probate, but another 3rd District judge disagreed because in a criminal case the defendant is presumed innocent.
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com
