A Missouri man has been charged with his wife’s murder after confessing that he strangled her at a hospital because he could no longer afford her medical bills.
Police charged 76-year-old Ronnie Wiggs with second-degree murder in the death of his 72-year-old wife, Ellen Wiggs.
Wiggs’ wife was admitted to the Centerpoint Medical Center in a suburb located outside Kansas City to get a new port for her dialysis. Hospital staff recalled seeing her “alert and oriented” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, according to a police affidavit.
An hour later, someone initiated a “Code Blue” call after she was found unconscious. She was rushed to the intensive care unit with no pulse or brain activity.
Police said a staff member noticed “suspicious injuries,” including redness to the left and right side of her neck and a fresh wound in the middle of her throat. Ronnie Wiggs left the hospital after she was found unresponsive. At that time, no one suspected he was behind her injuries.
It wasn’t until he returned to the hospital that he confessed to her murder. Ms. Wiggs’ son told investigators that he called Wiggs after he left and picked him up so he could return and be with his wife. In the hospital room, Wiggs confessed to a nurse that he killed his wife.
He told medical staff, “I did it, I killed her, I choked her,” according to the affidavit.
Staff members were able to get Ms. Wiggs’ pulse back, but at that point, she was brain-dead, so they prepared to harvest her organs. She was pronounced dead Saturday morning.
Mr. Wiggs was initially charged with assault before his wife passed, but police upgraded the charge after her death.
In a police interview, Wiggs admitted that he choked his wife and covered her mouth and nose to keep her from screaming. He gave a detailed description of how he executed the attack and told police he left the hospital afterward.
Wiggs also confessed that he tried to murder his wife twice before this most recent attempt. The first time was at a rehabilitation facility for her medical issues. He tried to choke her but couldn’t follow through. He said his wife woke up and told him “not to do that again.” He admitted he wanted to try again after she was hospitalized another time but abandoned the attempt because she was hooked up to several monitors.
Charging documents state that Wiggs told police he became depressed and killed his wife because he could no longer take care of her or pay off her medical bills.
After his arrest, he was booked into a local county jail. A judge set his bond at $250,000.
