I am trying to make the case about Grace Pianka known. Beneath is the link to the article.
A woman whose first murder trial ended up in a hung jury was convicted Monday of killing her husband by the second jury to hear her case.
Grace Pianka, 51, was found guilty of second-degree murder in Maricopa County Superior Court. She faces up to 22 years in prison when she is sentenced May 29.
Pianka was charged in the April 15, 2006, shooting death of her husband, Adam Kostewicz.
I am surprised not to see more outrage to this obvious injustice. Does anyone know what happened to Grace's appeal? Is the a website where people can voice their support?
Hi, I too have seen the program on Grace .. actually twice. It would appear to me that Grace was well and truly found guilty before she entered the court room! Where on earth is this other woman / thief? Surely in this day an age a rush to judgement should not still occur! I personally believe that Grace did not harm her husband ... however, lets say she did ... why has the other woman never come forward to back up her "story" ...
Unfortunately for Grace she has been left holding the baby ... I dont understand why that finger nail was not collected and tested (found in the bedroom) ... I really dont understand why her "story" was taken at face value and Graces wasnt??
People react to stress in different ways depending on their background, culture, religious ideals etc ...a particular reaction / or perceived lack of reaction does not mean someone is a murderer!
Imagine if you were Grace ... how dreadful to be deemed a murderer whilst the supposed girlfriend strips you of your husband and all your assets as well .. then doesnt show up to answer for her behaviour! God willing there will be lawyer or justice team out there somewhere ready to do battle on Graces behalf.
as i live and breath i wonder what people think some times, this women was found guilty before she ever went to court! i really think the other women had more to gain then grace, with grace gone who is there repersent her and her property... joe from charlotte
They need to find Virginia McIntyre and use military ways for her to tell the truth. There are ways to do this. She knew what she was doing. No matter who did it, Virginia should've got nothing.
Who would have known Polish husband abuse would have gone that far?
Woman: I need credit card for new model clothes and girlfriend hangout. Man: No, I have bills, and then need to go drink with pals. *BAM* wrong answer.....
I was extremely disturbed when i saw this on ID. Grace clearly did not commit this crime. There was absolutely no physical evidence against her. That detective Hansen should not be a detective. He did not do his job well at all. No fingerprints, no gun powder test on Virginia's hands, her fingernail, the money oh yeah and where is she? The list goes on. Virginia definately killed Adam. She may have fooled that stupid detective but she didn't fool me. What is wrong with the justice system? Aren't you supposed to convict someone beyond a reasonable doubt? There is plenty of doubt in this case. How can those jurors sleep at night? They sent an innocent woman to prison. I wish i could do something about it. Is there anything i can do?
Jen and her husband are definitely involved in this - having known both Grace and Adam -- even though they were both bright people -I feel they could have easily been taken in by this Jennifer McIntyre and her husband. I think they play them like a fiddle as well as the rookie detective. Checking both women for blood splatter and gun powder residue is basic police work 101. Yet, neither was done. I had contact also with Jen McIntyre when I tried to reach Adam by phone one day. I hadn't talked to him in a few months and called him - I got a call from Jennifer a few days later (who happened to have his cell phone) who then told me that he was dead. She is a little strange - the way she comes across and the way she spoke. She told me a few things that I couldn't quite believe either. It does seem though that Adam was seeing her, for what reason I still can't understand, and that was very uncharacteristic of him. The fact that she disappears after telling everyone, myself included, he was the love of her life - she also told me that they were to be married in December of that year - even though neither had told their spouses or even started divorice proceedings. And then to have her named executive of his life ins policy - a bit strange. Dont know if anyone will ever know what exactly happened.
At first I thought it was yet another story excusing a woman from killing her husband After reading it however, it seems that an injustice may have been done to Mrs Pianka. It also looks like shoddy detective work.
I just wonder about the specific facts on the aspirin overdose and the time tables involved.
You have not clue about the facts of this case. What you saw on TV only showed maybe half of the story. Pianka's appeal was turned down in January. She is where she belongs.
The whole Jen McIntyre thing was a stupid conspiracy theory advanced by the defense. The jury heard it and rejected. About the fingernail--when the image was zoomed in on, it was clear it was piece of paper, not a fingernail. Jen never got any money from Adam or Grace. The money went to Adam's parents.
Many people were disturbed after watching it on dateline. To read about their comments go on this link
Again: the Dateline did not tell you the complete story. It showed only what was good for TV. Pianka was guilty and got what she deserved. If you believe that Jen did it, then you must believe in UFOs.
Grace had the motive, opportunity, and means. At best, Jen had the motive (if you believe she wanted to get Adam's money). Pianka made admissions to her social worker at the hospital that were even more damaging to her than her statement to the police. The jury did not hear those statements because the defense got that testimony suppressed. I'll tell you what you can do--go crawl under a rock.
The criminal justice system in America is not perfect by any means.
These lawyers get carried away sometimes. For them 'winning' sometimes means sending an innocent person into jail. It also sometimes means setting a guilty person free so they can go and kill someone else.
Common sense gets thrown to the winds in some of these cases.
I don't know what kind of stupid idiots they had on the jury either.
This massive legal system in America is out of control.
I only read parts of it but I'd like to ask you a question. Did she kill her husband? Of what I read, I come to the conclusion that she did and if she did, what is this whole fuss about?
You didn't read the whole story so your conclusion is the same as prejudgement. You used exactly the same mechanism that people used for centuries to justify persecution of your kind - the dark skin means a person is not fully human.
If you read the whole story and if you watched the Dateline documentary you might have reached a different conclusion. But then... you don't need facts to issue an opinion.
I believeit was injustice for Grace.I don't think she killed her husband I think the mistress killed him and set it up to look like Grace killed him.I bet if a good investigator looked back on the mistress's and her husband's past, you would find a lot more disturbing incidents.They are sitting pretty now..somehow managed to get the estate of Adam.Good grief! Grace had a damn poor lawyer if you asked me.That witch came and picked Adam up at his house right in front of Grace..how brazen! Then when he didn't show up at the hotel ,she went to his house, said she looked in the window and saw Adam,but all the blinds were closed.She couldn't have seen Adam.She also knew where the gun was located and described what she thought happened..Adam came out of the bathroom and Grace shot him..lol.Maybe the mistress was waiting foir him. as he came out of the bathroom!If I had been on that jury ,noway I would have from Grace Guilty!
Please go to my blog, Grace Pianka...Fair trial?...and post your comments. I have been in snail-mail contact with this woman while she has been in prison. I have inquired at the Innocence Project and received a response. They cannot consider her case until all her appeals have run out. I, too, am outraged by her trial.
Adrienne Is there an update on Jen McIntyre's whereabouts? What a grievous gaffe. The court of appeals 14 page decision does not emphasize the importance of her being missing: mcdui.com/storage/2011-case-uploads/State%20v%20Pianka.pdf
How is this considered an injustice when Adam was killed? Adam was born in Poland, migrated to Michigan, then finally to Arizona. This is a human injustice as his life was taken from him. The evidence points to Grace, the jealousy points to Grace, the murder occurred in their house, with Grace fleeing the scene, with Grace trying to off herself the day he died. She didn't call the police, she left Boris, their dog, to run free in the desert, she abandoned the house. While Jen may not have stuck around for the trial, she gained nothing but bad press for her part in the relationship. Jen made no money, made no fame, her existence only severed as a catalyst to make the last days of his life happy and bring death upon him in the form of Grace being a jealous murderous unforgiving human.
May Adam's soul rest in peace and may Grace find forgiveness for her sins.
My name is Susan Weber (#232223) and I was incarcerated with Grace for two years. We have talked at great length about the crime, her life story and what her hopes are for the future. I could do what you're all expecting and speak highly of her, demand justice for her and try to right all her wrongs, but I won't nor would she want me to. Only 3 people can tell you what happened and irregardless of her conviction, we'll never truly know. Grace is doing the best she can to thrive in a society that is violent, well below the safety standards in building codes, over crowding that put her in a room with 8 others with no air or heat, the door doesn't lock and because of her citizen status she's not allowed to attend school or hold a job. Does she deserve to spend the rest of her time like this? Either way, pray for her and give her a few moments of kindness and peace. If you believe in her drop her a card or letter, just knowing that she's not alone goes a long way...
there WAY to much reasonable doubt in this case!! I cannot belive the jury was so ignorant in this case! and the idiot detective and crime scene tech's, what the *%$# ?
I don't know if Grace is guilty or not, it sure seems like she isn't, the police need to look into this Jen and Jim couple, they are scam artist's!!
I can not believe that she was convicted with no hard evidence. Any potential jurist should be required to attend basics of law classes prior to an actual trial. In my opinion, you should not convict someone of murder without some bit of hard evidence. American juries now a days seem to convict just about anyone without the slightest bit of hard evidence. This I believe is a reflection of todays society we live in ; an angry, violent mood where just sticking it to the other guy constitutes some form of perverted justice. The police seemed to concentrate on Grace from the beginning, which is their choice, but you still need to investigate a little bit past the obvious, because yes it is possible that someone can be set up and framed for a crime. It has happened many, many times before as evidenced by all the people being released from prison for being wrongly convicted due to DNA evidence. Without hard evidence I believe you need to entertain the idea of giving someone the benefit of the doubt. This case constitutes a very troubling trend in todays society. Hopefully the appeals court will overturn this case, which in my opinion should never in a million years have resulted in a guilty verdict.
After watching this on "48 Hours ID", I believe in my heart that she is innocent. All the evidence points to this other woman and her husband. The only thing that convicted Grace was her behavior. I would think that seeing this other woman's fingernail in Grace's bedroom would be huge, but no one went there.
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