Paramedic Accused Of Murdering His Wife With Poisoned Visine Eye Drops
Dec. 22 2019, Updated 11:05 p.m. ET
North Carolina paramedic Joshua Lee Hunsucker has been charged with murder after authorities claimed that he fatally poisoned his wife Stacy with Visine eye drops and collected $250,000 in life insurance.
According to the Gaston Gazette, Joshua, 35, was arrested on Thursday, Dec. 19, in Gaston County on a charge of first-degree murder in the September 2018 death of Stacy, 32.
Although Stacy's death was first reported as natural, her mother Suzie Robinson accused Joshua of cheating on her and an investigation was launched.
"We have probable cause he poisoned Mrs. Hunsucker with Visine, which caused her death," Jordan Green, an attorney for the fraud investigations unit of the North Carolina Department of Insurance, announced in court on Friday.
An affidavit has reportedly shown that Joshua gave different versions of where he was before he discovered his wife in their home slumped over, not breathing and blue on September 23, 2018.
The man who worked as a paramedic claimed to cops that he was typing on his computer and when he turned around, observed Stacy incapacitated on the couple's couch.
His wife, who had worked at the First Baptist Charlotte preschool, died after being rushed to a hospital.
Joshua allegedly refused to have an autopsy performed on Stacy's body, but a blood sample was preserved.
He collected $250,000 in life insurance following his wife's death, according to prosecutors.
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His mother-in-law Robinson reportedly became suspicious, and claimed that Joshua had a secret mistress before Stacey's death.
Insurance fraud investigators spoke with Joshua's co-workers at Atrium Health's MedCenter Air and they said he didn't seem distraught over Stacy's sudden passing.
He allegedly began dating another woman less than six months after his wife's death.
A test on the sample of Stacy's blood reportedly found massively elevated levels of tetrahydrozoline, which is found in over-the-counter eye drops and nasal sprays.
Green claimed that would have had a "dramatic effect on her heart, which would cause heart stoppage in a short amount of time."
Green said Joshua gave investigators enough information for cops to arrest him.
"I don't know that he would characterize it as a confession, but it certainly approached that level," he noted.
Joshua is currently being held in the Gaston County Jail in lieu of $1.5 million bail.
His lawyer David Teddy said the allegations against him would be "strenuously opposed."
Joshua is next set to appear in court on Jan. 9.
Stacy's pal Kelly Krueger told the media, "She did not deserve for this to happen to her. She was a great mother. She was a happy person."