Florida Man Kills Sick Wife Because She Was In Pain And Couldn’t Afford Medications


A Florida man has admitted to shooting and killing his wife, saying he did so because she was sick and in pain and the couple couldn’t afford her medications.

As WPTV (West Palm Beach) reports, William J. Hager of Port Saint Lucie admitted to police that he killed his wife, drank a cup of coffee, called his daughters to let them know what happened, and then called 911.

“I want to apologize I didn’t call earlier, I wanted to tell my kids what happened first.”

According to WPBF (West Palm Beach), Hager told detectives that he shot and killed his wife because she was sick and the couple couldn’t afford medications. He admitted to having been thinking about killing her for a long time because she was in such severe pain.

Police say that at about 7:30 a.m. Monday morning, Hager, 86, woke up, grabbed his .32 caliber pistol, and shot his wife in the left side of the head. When police arrived, Hager was unarmed and cooperative. A deputy checked the pulse of Hager’s wife, identified by KWWL (Waterloo, Iowa) as 78-year-old Carolyn Hager, and confirmed that she was dead.

Hager was taken to the Saint Louis County Sheriff’s Office, where was booked into jail and charged with first-degree murder, according to WPEC (West Palm Beach).

Speaking to reporters Tuesday afternoon, Sheriff Ken Mascara said Hager killed his wife because he felt he had no other options.

“There were medical situations, according to him, that were getting to be unbearable. In Mr. Hager’ s mind, there were no other options.”

Neighbors say the couple was quiet and kept to themselves. They knew the couple had previously experienced money issues, and that Hager had taken a job at Sears to try to earn some extra money, but it wasn’t enough.

Neighbor Corey Pippin said if Hager’s neighbors had known about the couple’s dire straits, they might have been able to try to help out.

As of this writing, it is not known what illnesses Mrs. Hager had or what medications she was taking.

Florida has a program, the Florida RX Card, to help people pay for prescription medications.

“All residents are eligible to get pharmacy discounts through this program. The program can be used to supplement most health insurance plans including Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and High Deductible Plans. It can also be used as a Medicare Part D supplement by providing discounts on non-covered drugs. There are no enrollment forms, no age or income requirements, no waiting periods, no eligibility required, no exclusions, covers pre-existing conditions, no claim forms to file, no annual or lifetime limits.”

However, it is not clear if the program would have been enough to help Mrs. Hager.

William Hager is not the first person to kill a terminally ill family member. In fact, it appears to happen with alarming regularity.

In December 2015, according to the New York Daily News, a 91-year-old Texas man went to the assisted-living facility where his terminally ill wife was living, and shot her and killed her. He admitted to the killing and told authorities he shot her to “end her suffering.”

Similarly, in 2013, 55-year-old Donlad McNeely of Washington state shot and killed his terminally ill wife, according to ABC News.

Do you believe William Hager should serve time in prison for killing his terminally ill wife?

[Image courtesy of St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office]

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