Probe complete, but Mesquite murder-suicide still a mystery
In her suicide note, Mesquite City Councilwoman Donna Fairchild wrote that no one would ever understand what drove her to kill her husband and then turn the gun on herself.
With the final piece of the investigation into the couple’s death complete, it appears she was right.
Fairchild had no drugs, prescription or otherwise, in her system when she killed her husband, Bill, and then herself on Jan. 25, according to toxicology results detailed Wednesday by the Mesquite Police Department.
The strongest substance in her bloodstream that morning was caffeine, Mesquite Police Lt. Troy Tanner said.
"I don’t think we’ll ever know why," he said.
Friends of the 52-year-old councilwoman have said she exhibited no unusual behavior in the hours leading up to her death, and Fairchild left few clues as to her motives.
Speculation has run rampant in the community of about 21,000, some of it focused on a prescription medication Fairchild previously took to help her stop smoking.
Tanner said no trace was found of the drug, which is sold under the brand name Zyban.
"We specifically tested for that, and she didn’t have any of it in her system. Nothing," he said.
The only things that turned up in the toxicology tests were caffeine and a substance associated with cocoa or tea products.
Tanner said Bill Fairchild, 62, had the same two substances in his bloodstream, along with small amounts of an allergy medicine, when he was shot, most likely as he slept.
The murder-suicide rocked the town 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.
It didn’t take detectives long to determine the sequence of events, but an explanation has eluded them.
Tanner said investigators scoured the couple’s financial records, searching for some clue to Donna Fairchild’s desperation. They found "nothing to do with the case," he said.
On the day she shot her husband of 21 years and then killed herself about an hour later, Fairchild was facing discipline or possible removal from the City Council because of a $94.60 travel reimbursement form for a trip she did not take and for another possible violation of the city’s code of conduct.
On the night before her death, she made arrangements with city officials to resign from her elected post before that day’s council meeting.
Fairchild also left a box of personal items on a friend’s doorstep along with the note, in which she said she was sorry and she knew "this will never make sense."
Tanner said Mesquite police received the toxicology results from the Clark County coroner’s office last week, but the report was not released because it did not change the cause of death or the conclusions of investigators.
He said Bill and Donna Fairchild’s closest relatives gave police permission to release a summary of the findings in hopes of putting the matter to rest.
Tanner said the two families remain in contact and on good terms, despite the circumstances.
"They just want to put this behind them," he said.
The police investigation into the deaths is now officially closed, Tanner said.
Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal. com or 702-383-0350.