I Never Meant to Hurt Anyone Else

There are couples who’ve been married a long time who worry about being left alone when one passes away. Due to a terminal illness, the husband was near the end of his life. The couple in this true crime supposedly made a pact to leave this world together.

Married for 53 years at the time of this crime, the husband was 77 years old, and his wife was 76. He was in the hospital and not expected to go home. His wife snuck a gun into the hospital. He was too weak to hold the weapon. She said she’d asked him one last time if, he was sure. He took hold of her hand and guided it to his head.

When the staff heard the gunshot, the hospital went into active shooter mode. The wife barricaded her husband’s hospital room door and wouldn’t let anyone inside for almost four hours. Later, at trial, she admitted she didn’t have the strength to pull the trigger again—she’d tried unsuccessfully.

The SWAT team used a flash-bang to distract and enter the room, then she fired the gun toward law enforcement officers. They arrested the wife without further incident. At her hearing, the judge denied her bail based on the charges.

After being in jail for almost two years, the wife agreed to change her plea from not guilty to no contest. The state where the couple lived and where the “mercy killing” happened is not a state with “Death with Dignity” or “Right to Die” options.

The sentencing judge seemed sympathetic toward the wife. She said she believed her husband was suicidal. But her actions traumatized others. After over two years in jail, the judge sentenced her to time served. The judge also ordered the wife to write letters of apology to the hospital staff and police officers whom she’d threatened and to complete community service every month for as long as she is physically able.

The wife said,

“I never meant to hurt anyone else.”

Source: Seventh Judicial Circuit Court, People, Law & Crime, The Daytona Beach News-Journal, News4Jax

All data and information provided is for information and research purposes only and not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. Criminal cases may have been appealed or verdicts overturned since I researched the case. All information is provided on an as-is basis.