A 60-year-old Aurora man instructed police he shot and killed his spouse to spare her from homelessness after shedding his job and working out of cash, in keeping with arrest paperwork.
Phil Atchue dialed 911 on Sunday night to tell police he shot his spouse the earlier morning, the arrest affidavit learn. He instructed police he would anticipate them on a bus bench close to his condo at 927 S. Ivory Circle and that he was not armed.
When Aurora police arrived on the condo, they discovered his spouse, 61-year-old Kay Web page, mendacity in mattress, bleeding from her head. Police noticed a handgun on the kitchen desk. Web page was pronounced useless that night, police mentioned.
When police discovered Atchue, he agreed to speak to officers with out an legal professional current, police mentioned.
The 60-year-old man instructed Aurora police he had been fired from his job at American Signal & Barricade Firm in Could. He mentioned he didn’t inform his spouse about his firing, persevering with to rise up and depart the home on the identical time.
Atchue mentioned Web page labored at Lowe’s however that the couple — who had been collectively for 20 years — couldn’t survive on one earnings.
Atchue couldn’t bear the considered Web page residing on the streets, he mentioned, so he deliberate a murder-suicide, the arrest affidavit mentioned.
Atchue instructed police he stopped paying the payments and waited till they ran out of cash. The morning of July 5, Atchue mentioned he shot his spouse within the head twice after writing a foul examine the day prior, the arrest affidavit mentioned.
He had deliberate on killing himself afterward however couldn’t convey himself to do it, the affidavit mentioned.
Atchue instructed police he hardly ever fought with Web page and that the couple obtained alongside properly.
The person instructed police his motive was solely monetary to spare Web page from homelessness.
When an Aurora detective requested Atchue if there was a motive his first and solely concept to resolve his monetary issues was to kill his spouse, Atchue mentioned “Nope,” after which laughed, the affidavit mentioned.
“That they had no cash to remain, and so they had no cash to maneuver, so Phil noticed no different manner out of the state of affairs,” the arrest doc learn.
Atchue instructed police he suffered from melancholy and was suicidal. When he purchased his gun 5 years in the past, Web page instructed him she thought he was going to kill himself, the affidavit learn.
Atchue instructed police Web page instructed him to not kill himself, however that if he did, don’t take her with him, the affidavit learn.
The arrest affidavit mentioned the crime scene was in line with Atchue’s testimony of what occurred.
Atchue was arrested on costs of first-degree homicide. Atchue stays in jail with no bond. His subsequent court docket look is on Monday.
In the same case, Englewood octogenarian Reginald Maclaren was convicted of homicide in 2024 for the slaying of his spouse and daughter.
Investigators accused Maclaren of killing Bethany and Ruth Jennifer with an ax, dismembering one in all their our bodies and placing them each in giant trash cans in the lounge of their residence earlier than calling police to report somebody he knew had murdered them with a hammer.
Maclaren later instructed investigators he misplaced his job working with homeless individuals and was apprehensive his spouse and daughter would turn out to be homeless if he couldn’t afford lease.
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