SEATTLE — More than seven years after David Pietz reported his wife missing from their Lynnwood home, he sat in court Monday morning prepared for his trial.
In 2012, investigators said that new DNA technology led to evidence, that combined with phone records, pointed to Pietz as a suspect in his wife’s murder.
Nicole Pietz disappeared Jan. 28, 2006 and was found about 10 days later in the woods in Burien. The medical examiner determined she was strangled.
At the time, David Pietz told KIRO 7, “I worked until 11, got home around midnight, came to bed, and that was the last time I saw her. “
See a photo timeline in the case here.
He also described her as a person always in contact with others, and that not showing up for an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and not showing up for work was “very, very unusual. That's why we're so disturbed.”
In court Monday, attorneys went through logistics for the trial that they predicted could last as long as six weeks. Jury selection is expected to begin on Wednesday.
When David Pietz was arrested in 2012, Nicole’s family celebrated in court by wearing signs in the shape of hearts, reading “Justice for Nici."
One of her friends, Shelley Sexton said then, “He's a coward. And if you see this tonight, David, you're where you're supposed to be.”
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