NATION : Mate Held in Wife Mercy Killing
A retired Chicago police officer who feared that heart surgery would render him unable to care for his chronically ill wife faced murder charges today in the woman’s Christmas Eve slaying.
Gerald Williams, 67, told investigators he shot his wife in the head to end her suffering. Alice Williams, 67, was killed by a shot from a .38-caliber revolver as she sat in her wheelchair.
Gerald Williams was charged with first-degree murder.
Alice Williams suffered from multiple sclerosis, a crippling disease of the nervous system. Friends said she had the disease for 20 years and that her condition was deteriorating.
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