Inset: William A. Lippold (St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The St. Augustine, Florida, home where Lippold is accused of fatally shooting his wife (Google Maps).
A 91-year-old Florida man is accused of spending weeks preparing to kill his wife, later telling investigators he shot her because he did not want to break a promise that she would never be placed in a nursing home while living with Alzheimer’s disease.
William Albert Lippold has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder with a firearm in the death of his 87-year-old wife, Mary Lippold, according to court records.
A probable cause affidavit from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office says deputies were called to the couple’s home on Como Court in St. Augustine shortly after 9:30 a.m. Saturday. The 911 call came from the couple’s son, who told authorities that his father had killed his mother.
When deputies reached the home, they ordered William Lippold and his 63-year-old son, David Lippold, to come outside. While securing the residence, investigators said William Lippold made an unsolicited statement, allegedly telling deputies, “It’s not complicated, I shot my wife.”
Inside the master bedroom, deputies found Mary Lippold dead on a bed. A firearm, a spent shell casing and a note were nearby, and blood was visible around her body, according to the affidavit.
David Lippold told detectives that his father had called him earlier that morning and said, “I did something bad, I need you to come over.” When David arrived, his father asked him to sit down before saying he had killed his mother, the affidavit states.
David Lippold said he then went into the bedroom and found his mother “obviously deceased,” with blood, a gun and a note nearby. He also told investigators that his father said he had tried to take his own life after the shooting by placing a plastic bag over his head, but “ultimately couldn’t do it.”
According to the affidavit, David Lippold explained that his father had been the sole caregiver for his mother.
During a post-Miranda interview, Lippold told detectives he had been planning the killing for about a month.
“William described his wife as blind and having Alzheimer’s and that he was her sole caretaker [sic],” the affidavit states. “William said he had previously promised his wife he would never put her in a nursing home, so he views this as keeping his promise to her. William also described text messages and emails he had shared back and forth with his adult children about the stress of the situation.”
Lippold allegedly admitted recently purchasing the firearm used in the shooting, going to a firing range to learn how to use it and planning to suffocate himself with a plastic bag afterward, though he said the attempt failed.
The affidavit also states that detectives canvassed the neighborhood and spoke with a resident who reported hearing what sounded like a gunshot around 11 p.m. the previous night.
Neighbors described the couple as well-liked members of the community in interviews with Jacksonville CBS affiliate WJXT.
“Well, she was blind, and frail. And then he started getting even frailer. But they were a really nice couple, and everybody’s heart broke,” neighbor Bill Meyers told the station. “Everybody in the neighborhood’s heart broke because we all loved the guy and we’d do anything for him.”
Lippold remained in custody on the murder charge as of Wednesday. Court records did not indicate whether he had retained an attorney or when he was scheduled to appear in court.
The post 91-year-old husband executed wife with Alzheimer’s to keep promise he ‘would never put her in a nursing home’: Police first appeared on Law & Crime.
