By Dominic Genetti
Hannibal Courier-Post
Posted Mar 19, 2011 @ 09:00 AM
Hannibal, MO —
After several delays, the trial for a Hannibal woman shot to death is slated to begin May 25 in Mexico, Missouri.
Calvin Duane Pettey, who was engaged to the victim, 32-year-old Sandra Fugate, is charged with first degree murder.
It was a little over 11 months ago.
The couple, both parents from previous relationships, were preparing to become man and wife. They had worked together at the General Mills plant and were dating for several years. April 17, 2010 was the day they planned to tie the knot.
As the big day approach the future Mrs. Pettey appeared to be going through the typical stresses of wedding planning.
“Have a busy week this week, but it’s all good! Can’t wait to do the chicken dance and cupid shuffle on Saturday night! lol,” Fugate posted to Facebook April 12, 2010.
But three days later, Fugate was dead.
Fugate’s mother, Mary Patterson, found her daughter dead in the basement of the home (3611 Iowa Ave.) she shared with Sandra and her hustand-to-be. Authorities ruled the death a homicide after they discovered the young woman friends and family described as a loving mother, shot several times.
While all this was going on, Pastor James Bridges, who had agreed to marry Fugate and Pettey, was at a downtown Hannibal coffee shop preparing to organize the rehearsal dinner in lieu of the big day.
“They seemed like down to Earth, blue-collar people,” Bridges said Friday morning. “He just seemed like an average guy. She had a lot of spirit to her.”
Soon the pastor’s cell phone rang. It was his cousin, Shawna. There was no need to worry about the wedding or rehersal dinner any more, she told Bridges. Sandra was just found dead.
The next day, just after 4 p.m. the grieving fiance turned to his Facebook profile.
“I want to thank everyone for their prayers, well wishes during this extremely difficult time! Tomorrow was to be our wedding day and this morning while at the house picking up some clothes I discovered a photo of Sandy in her wedding dress! I instantly started crying because she looked like a queen! Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers as the hard part is still yet to come,” Pettey posted to his Facebook page.
That post came on the site at 4:04 p.m.
Two minutes later--
“RIP Sandy Fugate (PETTEY) I love you darling!!!!”
An hour later, Pettey was arrested and charged with first degree murder.
At his arraignment, he plead not guilty and bail was set at $1 million, cash-only, bond. However, testimony at Pettey’s preliminary hearing appeared to weaken his plea of innocence.
Rebecca Kirk of Frankford, located south of Hannibal, had recently reconnected with Pettey. They knew each other in high school and had recently caught up with one another on Facebook. This relationship eventually escalated, growing from plutonic to intimate. Todd Schulze, the public defender representing Pettey, said during the preliminary hearing that it was Kirk who had “knowledge” and “opportunity” to kill Fugate.
Yet it may seems unlikely after Kirk testified that Pettey established three separate scenario as possible alibi that would leave him with a dead fiance and the opportunity to be with his secret lover.
Kirk said the first scenario was “plausible deniability.” Pettey wouldn’t supply the details of his plan and Kirk wouldn’t have any knowledge of what was going to happen.
Then there was the plan to make Pettey an injured victim as well.
Kirk testified the second scenario involved her shooting Pettey in the leg and stomach after he shot Fugate. A plan that would make the situation look like a home burglary gone wrong.
And then there was the third scenario aimed at scaring Fugate away.
Anonymous threatening letters to Fugate telling her not to marry her 40-year-old fiance and wounds to Petty were suppose to do the trick.
“I couldn’t do it,” Kirk said on the witness stand. “The neighbor came home and (Pettey) said that would screw everything up.”
It was on a trip back to Hannibal from Colombia, Mo. April 15 when Kirk said Pettey confessed to killing his future bride.
“He asked me what I would do if he went to the extreme to be with me,” Kirk told the court. “I asked him what he meant, and he said he had killed her.”
As it turned out it was a .22 rifle that was used to kill Fugate and Kirk testified Pettey stole the gun from her husband. She said Petty practiced shooting at soda cans.
Kirk later testified Pettey brought her a bag of items that needed to be disposed of.
According to court documents, Kirk said, “He put a white box in my van, it reached almost across the entire floor from one side to the other. He handed me a black trash bag. Duane (Pettey) told me it had to be burnt.
“He told me to make sure I burn the bag because they (authorities) could get prints off of the bag. He told me to take the gun apart, the metal part had to go in a body of water and I had to burn the wooden part. He said I needed to get rid of the bullets and dump them in a body of water because they may have his prints on them. He told me not to put the ammunition and the gun part in the same body of water.
“He left and said he would try to text.”
Kirk has not been charged.
Pettey is being held at the Marion County Jail.
In stead of watching Sandra Fugate get married April 17, 2010, her family and friends were instead planning her funeral.
“Well only one more week of freedom before entering the great domain of marriage! She is a nervous wreck! Hope she doesnt pass out at the alter,” Pettey posted on Facebook April 10, 2010.
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