News footage of the scene at the Largo, Fla. home of Jonathan McPhee and his wife, whom he tried to kill in an attempted murder-suicide on Dec. 25 (WTSP).
A Florida man was charged with the attempted murder of his wife following an unsuccessful murder-suicide attempt on Christmas Day, police say.
Jonathan McPhee, 78, was hospitalized at Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital on Dec. 25 and later charged by Largo police with attempted murder in the first degree. According to the criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime, McPhee bludgeoned his wife in the head with a sledgehammer while she slept in their home on Christmas morning. McPhee then called 911 and allegedly told the dispatcher, “I clubbed her, and I’m going to try to stab myself in the heart.”
When police arrived at the McPhee home, they found McPhee outside the house with a “self-inflicted knife wound.” McPhee’s wife was found inside, unconscious. Both were taken to the hospital in critical condition.
The criminal complaint also noted that before police arrived, McPhee sent a text to his wife’s daughter that stated that he “killed” his wife and was going to kill himself because of “financial and health issues.” McPhee also provided details about how to handle funeral arrangements and life insurance.
Both McPhee and his wife survived the ordeal, with the latter having suffered a “significant brain bleed,” according to reporting by Tampa NBC affiliate WFLA. McPhee reportedly told the medical professionals trying to treat him to “just let me die, I killed my wife.”
One neighbor of the McPhees spoke to CBS affiliate WTSP and described Jonathan McPhee as “very depressed,” and that he “must have undergone an immense amount of pain” that apparently led to “some sort of a psychotic breakdown.”
