Authorities in Oklahoma say a 73-year-old woman attempted to kill her husband by disconnecting his oxygen supply and telling him to “just die.”
Naomi Austin of Claremore has been charged with solicitation for murder and abuse or exploitation by a caretaker, according to the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office. She was arrested late Saturday and booked into the Rogers County Detention Center early Sunday morning.
Deputies were called to the couple’s home after Austin’s 77-year-old husband phoned for help, claiming his wife had unplugged his oxygen and refused to reconnect it, KOTV in Tulsa reported.
Officials say this wasn’t the first time such an incident occurred. On October 11, firefighters reportedly responded to a similar call at the same residence involving the husband’s oxygen line being disconnected.
Investigators allege Austin had been contemplating her husband’s death for some time. In text messages obtained by deputies, she allegedly wrote, “I hate [victim]” and “He needs to die soon.” A family realtor told investigators that Austin even asked during a phone conversation whether they would help “facilitate” her husband’s death.
Austin denied the allegations, telling authorities her husband had “gone cuckoo.” However, Sheriff Scott Walton said the evidence strongly supported the victim’s claims.
“I take no pleasure in putting someone of her age in jail,” Walton told KOTV. “But considering the threats to his health and the crimes committed, it was the right thing to do. I think we’ve shown, beyond any reasonable doubt, that this woman wanted her husband dead.”
Austin remains in custody without bond and is scheduled to appear in court on November 12. Claremore is located about 30 miles northeast of Tulsa.