Crime & Justice

Elderly Georgia Man Shoots Wife of 55 Years in Botched Murder-Suicide

BIZARRE

Donald Staley called 911 to report that he shot his wife and was planning to shoot himself, but officers talked him out of suicide when they arrived.

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Carroll County Sheriff’s Office via Facebook

An 80-year-old man from Fairfield, Ga. shot his wife and planned to turn the gun on himself before officers talked him down and arrested him, according to a Carroll County Sheriff’s Office press release. Around noon Thursday, Donald Staley called 911 to report that he had shot his wife of 55 years, Judith Staley, in the head and that he would also shoot himself. When officers from the sheriff’s office and the Georgia State Patrol arrived at the couple’s house, they managed to convince Staley to put down his firearm and turn himself over to law enforcement. His wife was flown to Grady Hospital in Atlanta, where she later died from the gunshot wound. Staley was initially arrested on charges of aggravated assault and aggravated battery, but murder charges are now pending in the ongoing investigation, the release said.

Read it at Carroll County Sheriff's Office Facebook