Man, 92, Who Killed Ailing Wife Gets 5 Years’ Probation

A 92-year-old man who stabbed his ailing wife to death, then tried to kill himself to fulfill their wish that they die together, pleaded no contest to manslaughter and was sentenced to five years’ probation.

“I did love that woman,” Albert Stager said in a shaky voice Thursday. “We had agreed that we would go together.”

Health problems had forced Stager and his wife of 64 years to move to separate nursing homes. Florence Stager, who was 95, had been suffering from arthritis, pneumonia and other illnesses.

Stager entered his wife’s room in August and stabbed her in the chest with a kitchen knife, officials said. He then stabbed himself twice in the abdomen and at least once in the neck before he was subdued.

Stager has undergone counseling, and he assured Circuit Judge Charles Luukinen that he would do no further harm to himself.