Spokane Valley woman accused of killing husband in vehicular homicide
A Spokane Valley woman who told deputies her husband jumped onto her car was charged with second-degree murder after detectives claimed her story didn’t match the evidence, and she could have stopped her vehicle before hitting him.
Deputies responded to a collision at about 8 p.m. Saturday and found Michael Linerud lying in the middle of the road with life-threatening injuries, according to court documents. His wife, Kristy Ann Freeman, who also goes by Kristy Linerud, told deputies her husband had jumped onto her Ford Explorer.
Freeman, a registered nurse at the MultiCare Rockwood Clinic in downtown Spokane, told deputies she had been drinking earlier that night and takes anti-depressants and other medications. After administering a breath test, a deputy determined she was under the influence and it was unsafe for her to drive.
Freeman told deputies she heard her husband yell about the cleanliness of her son’s room, and he threw a new nightstand down the stairs. She said she didn’t want to deal with the issue, so she got in her car and began to drive north on Hodges Street. She said her husband jumped onto her car from the passenger side and she stopped and then drove back to her house, according to court documents. She said she thought her husband was “faking it” because she didn’t believe she was driving very fast. He died early Sunday morning.
According to court documents, a detective investigated the scene and found evidence of a direct impact on the driver’s side, not the passenger side. The detective maintained Freeman should have been able to stop the car before hitting her husband.
Freeman was booked into the Spokane County Jail for vehicular assault Saturday night, and was charged with second-degree murder and vehicular homicide Monday. A judge set her bond at $1 million.
Editor’s note: This story was changed Wednesday June 27, 2018 to reflect that Freeman told deputies that Linerud was yelling about the cleanliness of her son’s room.