Ellen Gilland, 78, was sentenced to 366 days in prison after killing her terminally ill husband inside of a Florida hospital. Gilland faced up to 10 years in jail but pleaded no contest to charges of manslaughter with a firearm and three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Gilland admitted to the killing, claiming it was her husband’s will.
“I held the gun behind his ear. I pulled it away and asked him if he was sure. He raised his hand and placed it on my arm and pushed the gun to his head. There was a loud bang, and he was gone,” she described.
The judge accepted testimony but granted the sentence due to the trauma she inflicted on the nursing staff and law enforcement, who responded to the shooting.
Gilland even barricaded herself in the room for hours – threatening to shoot anyone who came in. She even fire a shot at the ceiling after she was tased by a police. One nursing staff testified in court that he had to quit his job and is seeing a psychiatrist for his nightmares after he was traumatized from the situation.