After allegedly killing his wife in a Missouri hospital while she was getting a new dialysis port, a husband faces second-degree murder charges.
According to a probable cause statement, officials at Centerpoint Medical Center informed Independence Police Department officers that the woman was alert approximately 7:30 Friday. However, when they checked on her about an hour later, she was unconscious. They initiated a “code blue” and transported her to the intensive care unit. She had no pulse or mental activity.
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The hospital staff discovered “suspicious injuries,” notably redness around her neck and a new wound on her throat, according to the affidavit. Staff then contacted the woman’s husband, Ronnie Wiggs, about her health, but he stated that he did not have a vehicle to transport her to the hospital. They called the victim’s son, and he agreed to pick up Wiggs, who is in his late 70s, and take him to the hospital.
While in the hospital, Wiggs allegedly told the victim’s son and a nurse that he had murdered his wife. He allegedly added, “I did it; I killed her; I choked her.” Police arrested him. In an interview with detectives, he admitted to killing the woman by choking her and covering her mouth to keep her from screaming, according to the affidavit. Wiggs informed the police that after killing her, he fled the hospital.
Wiggs allegedly claimed he had previously attempted to murder his wife on two occasions. The detectives wrote that the first time he started, he couldn’t bring himself to complete the killing. His wife woke him up and warned him not to do it again. His wife’s attachment to multiple monitors prevented him from doing it the second time.
“The defendant advised that he was depressed and killed the victim because he could not take care of her anymore and he could not pay the medical bills that had been acquired,” according to the investigators.
Doctors declared her dead at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office charged Wiggs with second-degree murder on Saturday. He is in the Jackson County Jail on a $250,000 bond.
