A Washington state woman was arrested this week after spending nearly two weeks on the run, accused of killing her ailing husband back in Oregon — a case that took an emotional turn after their daughter appeared to defend her mother online, saying she hoped authorities would never track her down.
Shelly Peca, 56, is now facing a second-degree murder charge in connection with the death of her husband, Walter Peca, 59, whose body was discovered inside their home in Keizer, Oregon, on July 17. Investigators have not released an official cause of death, and detectives reportedly did not publicly identify Shelly as a suspect until several days into their search.
The couple’s daughter, in a since-circulated social media post, described her father’s health as having deteriorated sharply in his final weeks, claiming decades of medication had slowly worn him down. She wrote that watching him suffer without relief was something few people could truly understand, and defended her mother as someone who loved her husband “more than anything,” according to the post.
Neighbors described the Peca household as generally quiet, though some said they had recently heard arguments coming from the home. Several also said Walter Peca had been hospitalized more than once in the weeks before his death, and that his declining condition was becoming increasingly visible to those nearby. One longtime neighbor called the situation “shocking,” noting the couple had always seemed pleasant.
Shelly Peca was eventually located along a remote forest service road in Chelan County, Washington, and is currently awaiting extradition back to Oregon to face charges.
The case has also stirred renewed public conversation around end-of-life care laws, including Oregon’s existing framework that allows terminally ill patients to legally request physician-assisted death under strict conditions — though authorities have not indicated that law played any role in this case.