Local woman's murder trial under way

The second-degree murder trial of Grace Pianka began Tuesday morning with two very different versions of what happened on April 15, 2006 in the 16600 block of South 30th Drive.

Police say that Pianka learned her husband, Adam Kostewicz, was having an affair, got drunk and then killed him when he returned home to get some clothes.

"A very, very tragic case," said Deputy County Attorney Cleve Lynch during opening statements. "We're talking about people who made mistakes."

He said that when Pianka discovered her husband was having an affair and preparing to leave her, she snapped and killed him.

"She just got to the point where it was too much," Lynch told the jury of six men and and five women.

But Alicia Dominguez, Pianka's public defense attorney, said it was the "other woman,'' Virginia McIntyre, who murdered Kostewicz, suggesting it was for financial gain.

A neighbor is set to testify that he saw Pianka drive away about the time of the shooting, crying. She was found the next day in Yavapai County, after attempting suicide.

But that, Dominguez said, was the natural reaction of a woman who had discovered that her husband was having an affair.

"She didn't know what would happen in her life. This isn't a woman fleeing a murder. This is a woman fleeing her life," Dominguez told the jury.

The trial in Maricopa County Superior Court is expected to take three to four weeks.

Continue to visit ahwatukee.com for updates throughout the trial or see the Aug. 1 issue of the Ahwatukee Foothills News.

More Pianka Trial coverage:

Wife's murder trial to begin Tuesday (7/28)

Murder trial set to open Tuesday (7/25)

Foothills murder trial ready to begin (7/21)