Missouri man confesses to murdering hospitalized wife claiming he couldn’t afford medical bills, police say

‘I did it, I killed her, I choked her,’ Ronnie Wiggs said

Ronnie Wiggs was charged with second degree murder in the alleged strangulation of his wife (Independence Police Department)

A Missouri man has confessed that he strangled his wife as she lay in her hospital bed because he couldn’t afford to pay her medical bills any longer, court documents revealed.

Ronnie Wiggs has been charged with second-degree murder after allegedly killing his wife last Friday while she was in hospital in Independence having a dialysis port changed.

Mr Wiggs was reportedly heard by medical staff saying, “I did it, I killed her, I choked her,” according to court documents in Jackson County.

Prosecutors allege that Wiggs “choked her unconscious,” covering her mouth to keep her from screaming and then left the hospital.

Before her death, the victim, who was not named but identified as the suspect’s wife, was “alert and oriented.”

At around 8.30pm, hospital staff found the victim unresponsive with no pulse and attempted lifesaving measures. While staff were able to get a pulse, authorities said that she died the following day at 8.28am, after being found to have no brain function.

Her injuries included redness to the left and right side of her neck and a fresh wound in the middle of her throat, court documents say.

At around 11.22pm, an off-duty officer responded to the ICU after the woman was reported to be a victim of assault.

While they were in the hospital room, Mr Wiggs announced that he had choked and killed his wife, the documents state. At the hospital, Wiggs was placed under arrest for first-degree domestic assault.

In a police interview Mr Wiggs claimed that he was depressed and could not afford to pay the medical bills and take care of his wife, documents show.

He is in custody and being held on a $250,000 bond.