It was Christmas day and 78-year old Jonathan McPhee’s wife was sound asleep in bed.
McPhee had plans to make this one Christmas his wife will never forget.
And a Florida man gave his wife one awful Christmas present that had police shaking their heads in disbelief.
Americans just finished celebrating Christmas and are preparing for the New Year.
A lot of folks are pinching pennies after spending money on Christmas gifts for their family and loved ones.
According to studies, Americans spend roughly $900 each year on Christmas.
Married couples often struggle with deciding what gift to get for their partner.
This can cause massive stress for those who are struggling financially and cannot afford to buy gifts.
And one Florida man’s financial woes and depression led him to give his wife an awful Christmas this year.
On Christmas day, 911 dispatchers in Largo, Florida, received a call from 78-year-old Jonathan McPhee informing them that he had killed his wife and would soon kill himself.
“I clubbed her and I’m going to try to stab myself in the heart,” McPhee repeatedly said, according to the arrest report.
McPhee also sent a text message to his wife’s daughter and informed her that he had “killed” her mother and would soon kill himself due to “financial and health issues.”
In the text, McPhee took the time to explain the details of his life insurance and funeral arrangements.
When police arrived at the home, they found McPhee with a self-inflicted stab wound along with his wife, Lainey McPhee, suffering from blunt-force trauma.
According to the affidavit, McPhee smashed his wife in the head with a sledgehammer, which fractured her skull and caused a “significant” brain bleed.
Police found the hammer he used in the bed next to the injured woman.
Emergency professionals rushed the couple to the local hospital for treatment.
While being treated at the hospital, McPhee allegedly told the doctors to “just let me die, I killed my wife.”
A neighbor and friend of the couple, John McCann, was stunned by the news.
“Jon, over the years I’ve known him, has many times expressed how fortunate he was to have her for his wife,” McCann said. “And loved her very much.”
However, McCann added that McPhee had mentioned his depression and suicidal thoughts on multiple occasions in the past.
He described him as “very depressed.”
“He is a person who has been very depressed and must have undergone an immense amount of pain to cause some sort of psychotic breakdown that would cause him to attack,” McCann said.
Both McPhee and his wife survived the incident.
She is suffering from a severe brain bleed, and they are both in critical condition.
And McPhee has been arrested and charged with attempted murder in the first degree.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
