A Missouri man is facing second-degree murder charges for strangling his wife as she lay in her hospital bed over the weekend, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced. .
According to court records, Ronnie Wiggs admitted to police that he killed his wife, who came to the hospital asking for a new port for dialysis.
On Friday, May 3, just before 11:30 p.m., off-duty uniformed police officers responded to the ICU unit at a hospital in Independence, Missouri in reference to an assault. A “Code Blue” was called out for the victim, according to the probable cause statement.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, a code blue hospital announcement usually means an adult is in a medical emergency, usually cardiac or respiratory arrest.
Family furious: Husband convicted of murdering first wife freed after second wife disappears
Ronnie Wiggs was charged with murdering his hospitalized wife. He told police he couldn’t take care of her or pay for her medical bills, according to court records. (FOX5/Independence Police Department)
Wiggs said she heard medical staff say things like, “I did it, I killed her, I strangled her.”
Another witness noted suspicious injuries on the victim. The lesions observed were redness on the left and right sides of the victim’s neck. A fresh wound was also observed in the middle of the victim’s throat. Witnesses stated that the observed injuries were not caused by resuscitation efforts.
Hospital staff managed to regain a pulse, but determined he was brain dead and preparations were made to remove his organs, the statement said.
Prosecutors said Wiggs told her he strangled her and covered her nose and mouth to keep her from screaming.
South Carolina man suspected of killing estranged wife and her friend found dead
A Kansas City-area man accused of killing his hospitalized wife told police he couldn’t care for her and couldn’t pay her medical bills, according to court records. (Google Maps)
Wiggs then allegedly told police that he killed his wife because she was depressed and couldn’t care for her and couldn’t afford her medical bills.
Wiggs also allegedly told police that he had tried to kill his wife on two other occasions while in the hospital. The last time he tried to kill his wife was while she was in a rehab facility for medical issues. He said at the time he tried to strangle her, but he was unable to go through with it. According to court documents, Wiggs said his wife woke him up and she told him not to do it again.
Wiggs also allegedly told police that he intended to try to kill his wife again, but that he never got the chance because the victim was connected to multiple monitors in the hospital.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Wiggs made his first court appearance Monday on second-degree murder charges and was referred to the public defender. He also had a hearing scheduled for Thursday to review his $250,000 bail.
