Murder suspect found dead

The ex-fiance and lone suspect in the death of a 37-year-old nursing student apparently killed himself Thursday afternoon.

Steven T. Denson, 61, Post Falls, was being sought on first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of Kelly A. Pease, of Coeur d’Alene.

According to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, Denson’s vehicle was observed on Highway 53 near Hauser before deputies pursued him. Denson was found in his vehicle near 1100 Bruss Road with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The woman Denson is accused of killing was the mother of five. Pease, who grew up in Bonners Ferry, was a North Idaho College student who arrived at Kootenai Health on Wednesday morning for her program’s psychiatric rotation. At 2:45 p.m., a Kootenai Health employee found Pease’s body, a gunshot wound to her head, in a parked car on the hospital’s campus.

Just last month, Denson violated a no-contact order filed after he was charged with strangulation and domestic battery involving Pease in January/ Ryan Collingwood , Press. More here.