Disabled Man Doesn’t Blame His Wife For Trying To Suffocate Him, Blames Himself And Illness Instead

A disabled man from Florida says he doesn’t blame his wife for trying to suffocate him despite the fact she tried to kill him before leaving to spend the weekend with her boyfriend. The 57-year-old James Olds is wheelchair-bound from what his son describes as Multiple Sclerosis. He has no use of his extremities but can still move his head. However, on September 30, James claims his wife 59-year-old Cherry Olds attempted to suffocate him with a pillow not once, but twice. The next day the wife, a Polk State professor, claimed she couldn’t remember the incident and left to spend the weekend with her boyfriend.

The Daily Mail reports that 57-year-old James Olds has been married to Cherry Olds for 25 years. However, on September 30, James claims his loving wife turned on him and attempted to suffocate him with a pillow as he lay on the ground. James claims that his wife “snapped” and put a pillow over his face. After the woman removed the pillow, James says he exclaimed “You almost killed me!” However, instead of claiming the suffocation was an accident, Cherry allegedly informed her husband that killing him was “the point” before placing the pillow over his face again.

“That’s the point a******”

James says he realized as she approached him with the pillow again what was about to happen so he knew how to react. As soon as the pillow came near him he turned his head. This allowed him to breathe around the side of the pillow instead of suffocating. Fortunately, the couple’s son, Steven Olds, was in the home and heard the altercation.

Steven Olds on the day of the attack, he was in the home, but did not witness the altercation. Instead, the son says he heard the confrontation and father’s cries for help and entered the room to find his father on the floor, but did not see the pillow over his face. Following the incident, James says that his wife went back to normal and even slept next to him in bed that night. However, James says he did not feel safe and begged his son Steven to stay in the home, which he did. The next day, James claims that Cherry didn’t recall her attempt to suffocate him in any way.

According to WTSP, despite her claims that she didn’t remember the attempted murder, James Olds turned his wife in on October 1. He says an arrest warrant was issued for Cherry, but she did not show up to the police station until after spending a weekend with her boyfriend.

Though he claims Cherry tried to kill him, James does not blame his wife for her actions. Instead, he claims she just “snapped” and feels like he may be to blame for her sudden lashing out against him. He goes on to say he loves his wife and always will.

“I do believe she was overwhelmed. I would say she just snapped. She just snapped. I love her still. I really do.”

Cherry Olds was a 13-year veteran teacher at the Polk State College. The college says that while the police investigate the case, Mrs. Olds is placed on administrative leave. They noted that all of her classes have been reassigned until the case goes through court. Meanwhile, James Olds says he is prepared to testify against his wife despite his continual love. He notes that he will leave his wife’s fate up to the court system and will simply tell the truth.

What do you think of the unusual case? Was Cherry Olds simply “overwhelmed” and “snapped” as her husband James believes or was there a more sinister plot at play?

[Image Credit: Polk County Sheriff’s Office]