Former Libby woman murdered in Coeur d'Alene
Police gather information outside the Health Resources Center in Coeur d’Alene after a woman was found dead in the parking lot of Kootenai Health Wednesday afternoon. (Coeur d’Alene press)
LOREN BENOIT/Press A police officer exits the Coeur d’Alene Police Command Center parked outside the Health Resources Center at Kootenai Health Wednesday afternoon after a woman was found dead inside a vehicle parked in the north lot of the hospital campus.
Steven T. Denson
COEUR D’ALENE — A former Libby woman was found Wednesday shot to death in a car parked at Kootenai Health in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, according to police.
Kelly A. Pease, 37, was discovered by a hospital employee inside her vehicle with a gunshot wound to the head around 2:45 p.m.
The ex-fiance of Pease and lone suspect in her death killed himself Thursday afternoon.
Steven T. Denson, 61, of Post Falls, was being sought on first-degree murder charges at the time his body was discovered.
According to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, Denson’s vehicle was observed on Highway 53 near Hauser, Idaho, before deputies pursued him. Denson was later found in his vehicle with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Pease, who grew up in Bonners Ferry, was a mother of five. She was a North Idaho College student and arrived at Kootenai Health on Wednesday morning for her program’s psychiatric rotation.
Coeur d’Alene Police Det. Jared Reneau said the hospital employee who found Pease “immediately started life-saving measures, but it was apparent that the female was deceased.”
Reneau said the initial investigation indicates the murder occurred at the hospital’s parking lot.
Hospital operations continued as normal during the investigation. When asked why the hospital was not locked down during the investigation, Reneau said police did not believe there was a threat to anybody.
“In reviewing surveillance, it appears that anyone who may have had a part in this has left the area,” Reneau said.