Christianburg, VA: Pair face charges of first-degree murder

A burglary charge was also brought against Danielle McPeak and Don Walker, who in previous testimony described McPeak as having planned the killing.
By Tonia Moxley
381-1675


CHRISTIANSBURG -- A Christiansburg woman and her then boyfriend, both accused in the stabbing death the woman's husband last year, have been indicted by a Montgomery County Grand Jury.

First-degree murder charges were certified Tuesday against Danielle Vinese McPeak, 24, and Don Nathan Walker II, 25. A charge of burglary with a deadly weapon was certified against Walker, court records showed.

Danielle McPeak was also charged with burglary through a direct indictment by the Grand Jury, Commonwealth's Attorney Brad Finch said.

James Matthew "Matt" McPeak, 25, was found in his Christiansburg home on Dec. 21 bludgeoned and stabbed to death.

At a May 5 preliminary hearing, Walker testified in startling detail about the planning and execution of the attack. He described how he knocked Matt McPeak out with a broomstick handle and stabbed him repeatedly with a hunting knife, after luring him to his own basement by shutting off the power.

Police have said Walker and Danielle McPeak were romantically involved and that the McPeaks were estranged.

Walker, a Marine formerly stationed in North Carolina, testified that Danielle McPeak carefully planned her estranged husband's killing, telling Walker where to park, how to get inside Matt McPeak's home, how to quiet his dog, and where to hide to best attack him, according to court testimony.

She told Walker to turn off his iPhone so he couldn't be tracked and to talk to her only by a disposable cellphone he had purchased, he testified.

She told him to use Matt McPeak's cellphone to send her a text message -- something he didn't do -- that said, "Good night. I love you," to let her know the job had been done and to make it look like she and Matt McPeak were reconciling, Walker testified.

Another witness testified that Danielle McPeak told him she would kill Matt McPeak if he was granted custody of their two small children. Matt McPeak was granted that custody on Nov. 3.

Walker is being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail. Danielle McPeak is being held without bond in the Western Virginia Regional Jail.