Case in the USA

Husband kills wife because dialysis costs were too high

A man from the US state of Missouri kills his wife because he could no longer afford the cost of treatment.

An elderly man from Missouri (USA) is on trial for murder. Ronnie Wiggs is accused of strangling his wife in her hospital bed. Motive: he could no longer pay for her medical care.

Wiggs' wife was admitted to the Centerpoint Medical Center in the small town of Independence to have a new dialysis outlet installed. According to local TV station FOX4, the wife suffered a cardiac arrest in the intensive care unit at night after the procedure - which triggered an alarm.

Ronnie Wiggs was so distraught over the hospital costs that he killed his wife.(Bild: Police Missouri)

Caught in the act
According to court documents, when the nurses rushed in, they saw the husband "choking his wife with one hand around her neck while covering her mouth with the other". The pensioner is said to have admitted his crime several times in front of the hospital staff. His wife could no longer be saved - she was brain dead due to lack of oxygen.

Two previous murder attempts
The 76-year-old suspect was arrested by the police without resistance. According to the interrogation protocol, he confessed that he had tried to kill his wife twice before in hospitals without success: "He said he was depressed because he could no longer pay for his wife's medical treatment. That's why he preferred her to be dead."