Spokane nurse faces discipline after pleading guilty to role in husband’s death

The Washington Department of Health Nursing Commission charged a registered Spokane nurse with unprofessional conduct in September after she pleaded guilty in May to charges related to hitting and killing her husband with a car.

Kristy Ann Linerud, 50, who also goes by the last name Freeman, was originally charged with second-degree murder and vehicular homicide in relation to the death of her husband, Michael Linerud, last June. She pleaded guilty in May to a lesser charge of failing to remain at the scene of a fatal accident.

Linerud, who was a registered nurse at MultiCare Rockwood Clinic in downtown Spokane at the time of her husband’s death, told Spokane Valley deputies her husband jumped onto her car as she was driving away from their house and suffered life-threatening injuries, according to court records. She said she had been drinking and consumed prescription medication beforehand.

A breath test determined it was not safe for her to drive, according to court documents.

Linerud told deputies she parked her car in her driveway and walked back to where she thought her husband was faking an injury, according to court documents. He died in the hospital the next day.

Investigators determined Linerud should have been able to stop the car before hitting her husband, court documents say.

Linerud was released from jail after she was sentenced to 90 days and credited for 98 days served, according to court documents.

The state Nursing Commission could choose to revoke Linerud’s license, which is currently active, or fine her if investigators determine her conduct was unprofessional.

Linerud is no longer an employee at the MultiCare Rockwood Clinic, a hospital spokesperson said Tuesday.