A Utah man, DeWayne McCulla, 46, pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter for choking his terminally ill wife, Arenda Lee McCulla, 47, in an alleged attempt to "ease her suffering." According to the New York Post, Arenda was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer in 2020, which spread to her brain, lungs, and liver by 2021. Despite undergoing multiple rounds of radiation therapy to combat her terminal breast cancer, the disease had progressed, leaving hospice care as the final option.
In December 2021, DeWayne attempted to kill Arenda by choking her, claiming he wanted to end her suffering. Family members intervened, pulling DeWayne off Arenda as she struggled to breathe. Investigators later learned that Arenda was "gasping for air" during the disturbing incident. She died from her long battle with the illness the next night.
“She didn't die with dignity,” her son Anthony Ryder told KSL in December.
In 2022, Mr Ryder filed a police report against his father, prompting an investigation. According to the arrest affidavit, DeWayne McCulla confessed to authorities that he had attempted to end his wife Arenda's life while she was receiving hospice care. This investigation led to McCulla's arrest and subsequent guilty plea to attempted manslaughter.
''During the conversation with DeWayne McCulla, he admitted to placing his hand over the victim Arenda's neck in an attempt to ease her suffering as she was dying from cancer and was on hospice. He said he put his face up against hers and put his one hand around her neck next to her carotid artery and pushed just hard enough to help her suffering and make her pass away quicker,'' detectives wrote in the court documents.
During the investigation, DeWayne McCulla shockingly declared that "he would do it again" because of his love for his wife. He initially faced severe charges for attempted murder, carrying a potential sentence of 15 years to life in prison. However, he pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter, a third-degree felony, in Utah's Fifth District Court. Instead of a lifetime imprisonment, he now faces up to five years in state prison.
McCulla's sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 12, where the court will determine the outcome of his case.
