Category: Age: Elder

Age 60+

John Muir

No PhotoName: John Muir.
Died: November 6, 1985.
Age at death: 65.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Aptos, California, USA.
Disability: Partial paralysis from polio.

Details:
John was stabbed to death. His wife, who had married him only three months before, most likely paid two men to kill him. She had been the caregiver for his deceased first wife, and the two had recently separated.

John was a retired IBM executive.

Case status:
Richard Vance Richardson (hired killer), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 15 years to life.
Clinton Lee Burns, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
Charlene Richardson (Stepdaughter), charged with accessory to murder, sentenced to 6 months in jail.
Barbara Muir (Wife), charged with accessory to murder, sentenced to 6 months in jail.

Source:
Man who killed IBM executive in Aptos in 1985 denied parole

Emily Gilbert

No PhotoName: Emily Gilbert.
Died: March 4, 1985.
Age at death: 73.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease, osteoporosis.

Details:
Emily’s husband killed her by shooting her in the head.

She loved tailored clothes and traveling, and was the mother of one daughter.

Case status:
Roswell Gilbert (Husband), convicted of murder, sentenced to 25 years; granted clemency and released after 5 years. Received $50,000 for the rights to his story.

Source:
‘They adored each other’: Should court free caregiver who killed wife with dementia?
Shots in 1994 Fort Lauderdale death started mercy killing crusade
Roswell Gilbert, 85, Who Killed His Ill Wife and Went to Prison
Gilbert v. State
The Agony Did Not End for Roswell Gilbert, Who Killed His Wife to Give Her Peace – Vol. 27 No. 2

Ellen Wiggs

No PhotoName: Ellen Alice Wiggs.
Died: May 4, 2024.
Age at death: 72.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Independence, Missouri, USA.
Disability: Kidney disease.

Details:
Ellen’s husband allegedly strangled her as she lay in her hospital bed, where she was staying because she needed a new dialysis port. A detective says he told them that he had done it because he was tired of taking care of his wife and he could not pay the medical bills they owed. He also allegedly confessed that he had already tried to kill his wife twice before.

Case Status:
Ronnie Wiggs (Husband), charged with second-degree murder.

Sources:
Ellen Alice Wiggs (Tippie) Obituary 2024
Missouri Man Allegedly Murders Wife In Hospital Over Depression, Cost Of Providing Care
Man Says He Killed His Wife Because He Couldn’t Pay Her Medical Bills
Husband Strangles Wife in Hospital Over Cost of Medical Bills: Police