Aug 06, 2021

Kan. woman killed boyfriend at illegal gambling hall

Posted Aug 06, 2021 1:00 AM
Peters photo Sedgwick County
Peters photo Sedgwick County

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas woman was sentenced to prison Wednesday for the shooting death of a man who she dated and who worked for her at an illegal gambling business.

District Court Judge Bruce Brown sentenced Stacey Peters, 47 of Wichita, to nearly ten years  in prison for killing 41-year-old  Robert Duvaul.

In June, Peters pleaded guilty to second degree murder and one count of commercial gambling.

In the early morning of November 19, 2019, police responded to the business at 3072 S. Hillside in Wichita after Peters called 911 to report that she shot “someone intruding.”

Officers found Duvaul with a fatal gunshot wound to his torso. Officers noted that Duvaul had been deceased for some time before Peters made the 911 call.

At an evidentiary hearing in the case prior to the entry of the plea, witnesses testified Peters called a friend after the shooting and said “I shot Bob.” Those witnesses testified that when they arrived, Peters said she had not called the police because she did not know what to tell them.

Investigators searched the premises and found evidence of numerous illegal commercial gambling devices in a back room. Surveillance video recovered from the scene showed Peters operating a commercial gambling establishment.

The video showed Peters and Duvaul working at the business earlier in the evening of the shooting. In a portion of the video, Duvual is seen with his hands up, then staggers backwards and collapses.

Witnesses testified Peters was known to carry a pistol on her hip while she worked at the business.

Testimony presented at the hearing indicated Peters and Duvaul had been in an on-again, offagain dating relationship for around five years. As part of the plea agreement, Judge Brown found the homicide was a domestic violence offense.