A Utah man was charged this week with trying to kill his terminally ill wife two years ago “to ease her suffering.”

Arenda Lee McCulla, 47, died the following day from breast cancer, KSL reported.

McCulla was in hospice care at the time. Six family members say that on December 20, 2021, DeWayne McCulla, 45, “choked the victim in an attempt to kill her to ease her suffering while they were with her during her terminal cancer and being on hospice,” charging documents say.

DeWayne McCulla told investigators that he did try to kill his wife “as she was dying from cancer and was on hospice.”

“He said this was all stopped by family members who observed what he was doing and pulled him off of her,” the documents say. “DeWayne said he would do this again because he loved his wife.”

According to a GoFundMe started by her son, Arenda McCulla was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020 and it quickly spread to her liver, lungs, brain, and neck. At the time of her death, she had lost use of her right arm, was in constant pain, and had difficulty eating solid food.

McCulla, an avid mountain biker before her diagnosis, had been in hospice care for a week, after scans showed the cancer had spread to her bones. Chemotherapy had extended her life for a few months, “if you can call it living,” her son wrote.

A warrant was issued on Wednesday for DeWayne McCulla’s arrest. Neither police nor prosecutors explained why they waited nearly two years to file charges.

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{Featured image: DeWayne and Arenda McCulla/GoFundMe]