GASTONIA, N.C. — A former Gaston County paramedic accused of killing his wife by poisoning her with eye drops briefly appeared in court Tuesday, Nov. 2.
Joshua Hunsucker was arrested in December 2019 and charged with murder in connection with the killing of Stacy Robinson Hunsucker in September of 2018. Prosecutors said Hunsucker got his wife to ingest deadly amounts of tetrahydrozoline, the main ingredient in eye drops. He was later indicted for insurance fraud and obtaining property by false pretenses greater than $100,000 in 2020.
During the brief hearing Tuesday afternoon, Jordan Green, the prosecutor in the case, said Hunsucker's defense attorney, David Teddy, filed several motions in the case, which will be heard on Dec. 6.
Investigators said Hunsucker was inspired by a South Carolina woman who pleaded guilty to poisoning her husband with eye drops in 2018. Court documents alleged that within days of learning about that case, Hunsucker placed eye drops in his wife's water and exposed her to deadly amounts of tetrahydrozoline.
Detectives said Hunsucker refused to have an autopsy performed and had his wife's remains cremated. Her family only discovered the possibility of being poisoned because she was an organ donor, and a donation center still had a sample of her blood. Special prosecutor Jordan Green said Robinson Hunsucker's blood tested positive for that eye drop chemical. Joshua Hunsucker gave enough information to detectives that he was arrested.
"I don't know that I would characterize it as a confession but it certainly approached that level," Green said.
Court documents revealed in July 2020 that Stacy Robinson Hunsucker's cause of death was changed from a heart attack to homicide.
The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Joshua Hunsucker, claiming he killed his wife to collect a $250,000 life insurance payout and be with his mistress.
Hunsucker is also accused of setting fire to a Charlotte medical helicopter in 2019. An arrest warrant charged Hunsucker with setting fire to a syringe pump during a flight on Nov. 26, 2019. The helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing across from the parking lot of a car dealership on Independence Boulevard in Charlotte. He was fired by Atrium Health less than a month later.
Contact Brandon Golder at bgoldner@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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