Pianka Trial: Wife did it, prosecution tells jury

Closing arguments in Grace Pianka's murder trial began Tuesday morning with the prosecution laying out a detailed timeline that showed how the Ahwatukee Foothills woman allegedly killed her husband April 15, 2006, after learning he was having an affair.  

"She had been drinking tequila all day," Deputy County Attorney Cleve Lynch told the jury. "She gets mad and said 'I want an explanation' -- her words -- and he won't explain."  

Then Lynch said the couple struggled and in a rage Pianka, 51, pulled a gun from the night stand and fired five times, killing Adam Kostewicz in the couple's master bedroom.  

"This was quick, violent and planned," Lynch said.  

He detailed how Pianka then sped away from the couple's home, forgetting to put on a pair of shoes, take her cell phone or change a dirty shirt.  

For eight hours Lynch said she drove around before getting gas in Wickenburg, then traveled to Prescott before finally stopping in Bagdad, where authorities found her after a suicide attempt.  

"It was a hopeless situation for her because she knew what had happened," Lynch told the jury.  

The defense has said all along that it was the other woman, Virginia "Jen" McIntyre who did the shooting and Lynch addressed that directly, outlining how improbable it would be for McIntyre to kill Kostewicz, then stage the scene, then drive back to a Mesa hotel and call him repeatedly, then call the police and, finally, sit for a police interview.

The defense will begin its closing arguments at 12:30 today.  

The case will go to the jury for deliberations by the end of the day. For more information, visit ahwatukee.com.