A Florida woman told detectives that her terminally ill husband had asked her to kill him before she fatally shot him in his hospital room Saturday afternoon.
Ellen Gilland, 76, barricaded herself inside the Daytona Beach hospital room after shooting her husband Jerry Gilland, 77, at around 3 p.m.
Authorities said that Ellen eventually surrendered and told detectives that she and her slain husband had planned the shooting three weeks ago.
“Upon arrival, our officers were directed to the 11th floor, where they encountered an elderly female who had apparently shot her terminally ill husband,” Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said.
“Apparently because he was terminally ill, they had a conversation about it and they actually planned this approximately three weeks ago that if he continued to take a turn for the worst that he wanted her to end this.”
“Obviously, we're unsure how she brought that gun into the hospital, but this was planned.”
Young described the incident as a “tough situation.”
“So she was already in a depressed state just based on her husband being terminally ill and knowing that the end was near.”
