Man says he killed sick wife because he couldn't afford her medication

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. --- A Florida man killed his wife earlier this week because he said he could no longer pay for her medication, according to authorities. 

William Hager, 86, told the  St. Lucie County sheriff’s officials that his wife of more than 50 years was in poor health and pain.  He said he could no longer afford to pay for Carolyn Hager's medication, so he shot her in the head on Monday with a .32-caliber revolver as she slept.

He put the gun down, drank coffee and then contacted family members and told them that he killed the 78-year-old.

“He talked about her medical condition, that she was in poor health,” Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Garry Wilson said Tuesday. “She was always in a lot of pain.”

Hager was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder after the incident at his home.

He has no criminal history in Florida before the arrest, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records.

Wilson said Hager was concise and showed remorse in his interview.

“He was perfectly clear on that he was going to be arrested and go to jail, but again, he felt that this is where it had gotten to him and this was his course of action,” Wilson said. “He showed emotion and he was very clear that he was out of options in his mind.”

Deputies went to the home after a call shortly before 1 p.m. Monday of a verbal disturbance.

Wilson said Hager met the first deputy and said there was no disturbance and that he had shot his wife.

He said the shooting happened about 7:30 a.m. and that he shot his wife because her health was poor and they couldn’t afford her medication.

Detectives said Hager told them he had contemplated shooting his wife for several days. Hager said his wife had talked about her desire to die, but she never asked him to kill her, according to his arrest report.

Neighbor Kathy Diamond, 70, said she retired six weeks ago from Hospice in St. Lucie County where she worked as a nurse. She said the circumstances of the death were difficult for her, saying Hospice has services available.

“When Hospice gets involved with somebody with terminal illness, we pay for medications, we pay for beds, we pay for equipment we pay for doctors,” Diamond said.

Another neighbor, Kathy Hall, 85, said she’s lived in the community east of U.S. 1 in Port St. Lucie since 2001, and that the Hagers were there when she moved there.

She said Carolyn never came out of the front of the home. “She worked in the little garden in the back,” Hall said.

She said another neighbor recently spoke to Carolyn and that she said she wasn’t feeling well. Hall said that neighbor brought Carolyn cookies.

“It shook me up,” Hall said of the incident. “I didn’t know what was going on. I saw the crime scene ribbon, I said, ‘Oh, my God, something’s really bad’.”

People who are in stressful situations can sometimes make impulsive decision, according to Dr. Robert Brugnoli, a psychologist and executive director of the Mental Health Association of Indian River County.

“There is no doubt that people who are in stressful situations, for financial or health reasons, have judgments that cannot be that good," Brugnoli said.

He urges anyone who feels in despair and overwhelmed with stressful situations to reach out for crisis intervention through mental health associations, their doctors, Hospice or others, he said.

“We want to give them help to solve their problems including finding medications,” he said.