North Carolina paramedic accused of killing wife with eye drops, collecting insurance money

Prosecutors in North Carolina have accused a paramedic of killing his wife and then collecting a $250,000 insurance payout, CNN reported Tuesday.

Joshua Hunsucker allegedly poisoned his wife, Stacy Hunsucker, with eye drops in September 2018. He was charged with first-degree murder following an investigation by a state Department of Insurance agent and a medical investigator, who found high levels of tetrahydrozoline, the active ingredient in a certain eye drop medicine, in her blood, according to CNN.

Prosecutor Jordan Green said investigators have ruled out suicide.

In a court appearance Friday, Hunsucker’s attorney, David Teddy, said his client has “done nothing since his wife passed away that would give the impression that he’s doing anything other than doing everything he can do to take care of his two little girls.”

“He also has $250,000 from life insurance proceeds that he collected upon his wife’s death. He has less holding him here than the picture was painted, and he has considerable assets as he collected this life insurance policy some one year ago,” Green said in response, according to CNN.

A judge set bail at $1.5 million and ordered Hunsucker, who remains in the Gaston County Jail, to be fitted with a GPS monitor if he posts bond. Hunsucker is due back in court next month.

Police have reported two similar cases in as many years of women arrested on charges of attempting to poison their partners with eye drops, according to Charlotte CNN affiliate WSOC.