By Roberto Bustamante
A former Orlando police officer has been charged in connection with the murder of his 83-year-old wife, who suffered from dementia.
William Simmons80, is accused of fatally shooting Nancy Simmons at his Orlando home on Feb. 21 during an argument about a cruise, according to court documents.
Shortly before 5:30 p.m. that day, an Orange County sheriff’s deputy responded to a call about an unconscious woman at the couple’s home. When the officer arrived, Simmons was standing in front of his garage, making hand signals to get his attention.
Simmons told the officer that Nancy was lying on the kitchen floor.where the officer eventually found her face down in a pool of blood, according to the affidavit. Authorities also found a shotgun on the ground with a spent shell casing nearby.
When asked if there were weapons in the home, Simmons allegedly told the officer, “Well, one on the floor, I put it there.” He would also have said: “I know what happened, I did it”when questioned about what happened. He was then arrested on charges of first-degree murder with a firearm.
Court documents further allege that, during a subsequent interview with sheriff’s investigators, Simmons claimed to be guilty and that he had shot his wife after losing his patience when she insulted him repeatedly during an argument about a cruise. He testified that he told Nancy he had had enough before shooting her.
Simmons also reportedly told investigators that he had dealt with his wife’s dementia for too long, that he “loved old Nancy” and that I would rather live in prison than deal with it..
“He confirmed that Nancy did not try to harm him, that she was not under the influence of narcotics, and that this was not self-defense,” a sheriff’s detective wrote in the affidavit for the arrest warrant.
Simmons pleaded not guilty and remains in the Orange County Jail without bond.
According to an Orlando Police Department spokesperson, Simmons was hired in 1975 and retired in 2000.
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