Convicted wife murderer Pietz gets over 18 years in prison
Nov 7, 2013, 5:50 AM | Updated: 9:59 pm
It would take six years and great forensics work to finally build enough of a case to arrest David Pietz (left) for the murder of wife, Nicole (right).
(right)
One of Seattle’s most infamous and mysterious murderers, David Pietz, was sentenced to 220 months, or over 18 years, for the murder of his wife, Nicole, seven years ago.
When the body of 32-year-old Nicole Pietz was found naked in the woods in Burien in 2006 several days after she disappeared from her Lynnwood home, her husband David was considered the prime suspect, but detectives had nothing that tied him directly to the crime.
It would take six years and great forensics work to finally build enough of a case to arrest David Pietz for the murder.
“The defendant had it all figured out, deputy King County prosecutor Carla Carlstrom told the jury. “He’d done the big things right, and he almost got away with it.”
It was the little things and some technology that finally linked Pietz to the beating and strangulation of his wife. He was arrested in March of 2012. Detectives held onto Nicole Pietz’ cell phone records until the technology was available to triangulate exactly where those calls were made. It turned out a call placed by her phone the day after she disappeared was made near David Pietz’ Kirkland office. Detectives said he had made the call to throw off investigators.
Tiny amounts of DNA found on her car’s gearshift and steering wheel proved that he was the last person to drive her car. That car was found in a Seattle parking lot a few weeks after her body was found.
At trial, Carlstrom painted the picture of David Pietz as a man who had grown tired of his wife and had started cheating and having affairs.
“When Nicole married the defendant, she thought she had married the man of her dreams,” she said. “But on Jan. 28, 2006, that dream turned into a nightmare.”
Pietz’s defense team painted Nicole as a recovering drug addict who had slipped back into using and had simply gotten into trouble in a drug deal. He did not take the stand.
After a month-long trial and several days of deliberations, the jury reached a verdict and convicted Pietz of second degree murder.
After the verdict, Nicole’s mother Gael Schneider expressed relief.
“Nicky can rest in peace,” she said outside the courtroom. She also had one simple message for her son-in-law. “David, I hope you find it in your heart to be sorry because if you don’t you’ll burn in Hell forever.”
