Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Mesquite, NV: Mesquite councilwoman, husband dead in apparent murder-suicide

By Jackie Valley
Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011 12:39 p.m.
Donna Fairchild
A Mesquite councilwoman and her husband were found dead inside their home this morning in what appears to be a murder-suicide, city officials said.
Mesquite Police responded at 4:30 a.m. to a call from their home on Arguello Drive and found Donna Fairchild and her husband, Bill Fairchild, dead inside with single gunshot wounds, officials said. It's unclear who fired the shots, investigators said.
The Clark County Coroner's Office will perform autopsies, a process that could take four to six weeks for the investigation to be complete, officials said.
"Mesquite has lost two citizens that have devoted their life to public service," the city said in a statement from Mayor Susan Holecheck and the city council office. "On behalf of myself and the City Council, this is a tremendous loss to our community and we express our deepest sympathies to the Fairchilds' family, loved ones and friends."
Donna Fairchild was re-elected to the Mesquite City Council in 2009 after having served from 2001 through 2007. She and her husband moved to Mesquite in 1999 after they retired from the Denver Police Department.
Donna Fairchild was born in Munich, Germany, and had lived in Delaware and Turkey in addition to Denver, officials said. Her career path included being a paramedic, a news reporter for a radio station in Denver, a police officer, and technician and sergeant with the Denver Police Department.
After moving to Mesquite, Bill Fairchild worked at the recreation center and was a member of the Virgin Valley Honor Guard and VFW.
The St. George Spectrum reported that Donna Fairchild faced the possibility of sanctions at today's city council meeting after she submitted a travel voucher for a trip she didn't take, and made negative public comments about the Nevada Development Authority. She was the city's representative on the NDA, according to the Spectrum.
The couple was married for 21 years.

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