A Wisconsin man claimed he fatally stabbed his wife to stop her suffering, according to local reports.
Braeden Ward, 48, was arrested May 18 after a brief standoff with police, Greenfield police said. He was charged with first-degree intentional homicide with the use of a dangerous weapon in the death of his wife, Jamie Ward, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
A relative called authorities and told them Ward called her and told her that he stabbed his wife in the throat about 10 days earlier and her body was still at the couple’s home, the Journal Sentinel reported, citing police and a criminal complaint.
The body of the 50-year-old victim was found and Braeden Ward was later arrested, police said in a press release.
The husband told police that his wife suffered from chronic pain and started to talk about killing herself about a year ago with his help, the Journal Sentinel reported.
Then on May 3, Braeden Ward said his wife asked him to end her life so he stabbed her in the neck with a large knife, the newspaper reported, and then an hour later he then stabbed her in the stomach and legs because he said he thought he needed to drain the blood from her body.
Court records also indicate the husband told police he used fans and washed the decomposing body when it began to smell, according to FOX 6 Milwaukee.
“The criminal complaint before the court is frankly one of the most gruesome and disturbing criminal complaints I’ve ever seen in a homicide case,” said Susan Roth, a Milwaukee County court commissioner, according to the TV station.