William and Donna Kitzmiller (Klaassen Family Funeral Home).
An 80-year-old man in Michigan fatally shot his wife of 54 years, calling 911 and saying he was giving her a “merciful ending from her Alzheimer’s disease” before turning the gun on himself.
William “Bill” A. Kitzmiller and 80-year-old Donna L. Kitzmiller were found dead inside their home last month in what authorities have deemed a murder-suicide.
According to a report from MLive/The Grand Rapids Press, Bill Kitzmiller at about 8:58 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, called the Ottowa County Central Dispatch center and delivered a harrowing message, stating that he had just killed his wife and would be killing himself as well.
“I’ve given my wife a merciful ending from her Alzheimer’s disease,” he reportedly said. “And, I am going to follow her now in death.”
The sound of a gunshot can be heard after Bill Kitzmiller has a brief discussion with the dispatcher.
The couple were memorialized in a joint obituary which said that after meeting each other while attending Albion College, they “shared 54 years of a loving marriage together” and were “true partners in life.”
Bill Kitzmiller was a U.S. Army veteran who went on to a career in law enforcement, retiring as a sergeant after 30 years with the Grand Haven, Michigan, Department of Public Safety. Donna Kitzmiller spent three decades as a public school elementary school teacher in the Grand Haven area.
The 911 call reportedly lasted about three minutes and included brief instructions from Bill Kitzmiller after he provided his name, address, and phone number.
“The front door to the house is open, unlocked,” Bill Kitzmiller says on the call. “There are notes on the kitchen table with some information. That’s all. Thank you very much.”
“Wait, so what happened?” the dispatcher reportedly responds. “What did you do?”
While Bill Kitzmiller’s response was redacted from the call, it was immediately followed by the sound of the gun firing, MLive reported.
A call log obtained by People shows the dispatcher noted that after the gun went off she could hear Bill Kitzmiller struggling to breathe and ultimately received “no response” from the caller. First responders reportedly arrived at the couple’s home on 178th Avenue at 9:09 a.m. and detected “no movement inside” before making entry.
Executive Director of the Ottawa County Central Dispatch Authority Peter McWatters told MLive that the dispatcher who took Bill Kitzmiller’s call had been on the job just over a year and did everything she could in an otherwise impossible situation.
“He was very direct in what he said and was going to do. You can’t take a call like that and not be impacted,” McWatters reportedly said. “It was difficult for her … She handled it well.”
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