This photo provided by London, KY Sheriff's office shows Ernest Chris Chumbley of London, Ky.apA southeastern Kentucky man charged with killing his wife says he fatally shot her because she asked him to end her suffering from breast cancer.
"She told me she wanted me to end her pain. All I said [was] 'Jay, all I’ve got is what the doctor gave you.' She said 'No, I want you to stop my pain for good,'" Ernest Chris Chumbley told FoxLexington.com from his cell in the Laurel County Detention Center
The Laurel County sheriff's office says Ernest Chumbley called 911 at about 2:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday saying he had shot his wife.
In a 911 tape, a dispatcher asks Chumbley, "What happened again?", to which Chumbley responds "You need to come out here." The dispatcher then says, "Tell me what happened, sir." Chumbley responds, "Give me the police, I'm under arrest."
Deputies found Virginia Chumbley dead in the couple's bedroom with two gunshot wounds.
The 48-year-old Chumbley was arrested on a murder charge and was being held on $200,000 bond. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in Laurel District Court.
"I shot her," Chumbley said. "She died from my shots, but it’s not murder."
Neighbors told FoxLexington.com that the couple had been happily married for more than 20 years, but Virginia Chumbley's breast cancer had ravaged her health.
“She was hurting real bad. We could hear her at night like she was gasping for air,” said Stanley Campbell, the Chumbley's next-door neighbor.
I just did what she asked,"Chumbely said from his cell. "And I would expect no different from her if I was asking her."
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