A Kansas City-area man who’s charged with killing his hospitalized wife told police he couldn’t take care of her or afford her medical bills, court records say.
Ronnie Wiggs made his first appearance Monday on a second-degree murder charge and was referred to the public defender’s office. A hearing was set for Thursday to review his $250,000 bond.
A phone message that was left with the public defender’s office wasn’t immediately returned.
His wife was getting a new port for her dialysis when staff at Centerpoint Medical Center in Independence called a “code blue” Friday because she was unresponsive.
Staff managed to get her pulse back, but they determined she was brain dead and made preparations to harvest her organs, according to the probable cause statement. His wife died Saturday.
After the attack, Wiggs left the hospital. But the statement said the woman’s son brought Wiggs back to see her and he confessed. Staff heard him say, “I did it, I killed her, I choked her,” according to the statement.
He then was arrested and told a detective that he covered his wife’s nose and mouth to keep her from screaming, the statement said. He said he was depressed and couldn’t handle the caregiving and bills.
He said he also attempted to kill his wife while she was at a rehabilitation facility, but she woke up and told him not do that again, the statement said.
He said he was going to try to kill his wife another time while she was hospitalized, but he didn’t get the chance because she was hooked up to several monitors.
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Terrible that LOTS of people lose everything, including their mind, because of the cost of healthcare when you get old and infirm.
Maybe, as a country we should explore better and more cost effective ways to take care of the old without the need to line up the pockets of rich evil dudes like Senator Rick Scott who want to set Medicare and Social Security up for approval of Congress every couple of years.
It is never right to do wrong in order to do right. Even in desperate times. nevertheless, it is sad that professionals were oblivious to the obvious needs of this man and his wife. Being oblivious is not an excuse for poor care.