Ohio man faces court in wife's hospital shooting

[August 06, 2012]  AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- An Ohio man will be arraigned Monday on a charge that he walked to his wife's bedside in a hospital intensive care unit and shot her in what police say was possibly an attempted mercy killing.

Barbara Wise, 65, was declared brain dead at Akron General Medical Center Sunday night, authorities said.

Akron police said her husband, 66-year-old John Wise of Massillon, entered her room Saturday and shot her while standing at her bedside.

Capt. Dan Zampelli told the Akron Beacon Journal that the shooting may have been an attempted mercy killing.

"It seems to be slanting that way," Zampelli said. "He wanted to take away her suffering."

The couple had been married 45 years.

Jim Gosky, a spokesman for the medical center, said one shot was fired and security officers reached the ICU in about one minute. A doctor was in a nearby room.

Gosky said privacy rules prevent release of details why Wise had been admitted to the ICU a few days earlier.

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Information from: Akron Beacon Journal, http://www.ohio.com/

[Associated Press]

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