Man kills wife in hospital as he couldn't afford medical bill; confesses, 'I choked her'

A man facing the charges of murdering his hospitalised wife in the United States has confessed that he "choked her" because couldn't afford her medical bills and had failed to look after her, court records revealed on Monday.

The Kansas man, Ronnie Wiggs, first appeared in court for a second-degree murder charge. He was then referred to the public defender’s office.

Wiggs' next court hearing is scheduled for Thursday (May 9) to review his $250,000 bond.

What did Ronnie Wiggs say in his confession to the police?

Ronnie Wiggs' wife was getting a new port for her dialysis when the staff at Centrepoint Medical Centre called a "code blue" on May 3.

Following the resuscitation procedure, the hospital staff found that she was brain dead. They then prepared her for organ harvesting, and she was declared dead on May 4, according to the probable cause statement.

As per the statement, Wiggs ran away from the hospital after killing the woman and was brought back by her son when he confessed: "I did it, I killed her, I choked her," hospital staff members heard him say. He was then arrested.

Wiggs told a detective that he first covered his wife’s nose and mouth to stop her from screaming.

According to the statement, he was depressed and was not able to handle the caregiving and bills.

He also accepted that he had tried to kill his wife before too – when she was admitted to a rehabilitation facility. However, he said, she woke up and asked him not to do that again, as per the statement.

Wiggs, according to the statement, said that he made another attempt to kill his wife when she was hospitalised “but failed to grab a chance because she was hooked up to several monitors".

(With inputs from agencies)

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