Senior who fatally shot terminally ill husband in hospital during botched murder-suicide says she wouldn’t change actions

Senior who fatally shot terminally ill husband in hospital during botched murder-suicide says she wouldn’t change actions

Io Dodds

Tue, January 27, 2026 at 3:21 AM UTC

4 min read

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.

Senior who fatally shot terminally ill husband in hospital during botched murder-suicide says she wouldn’t change actions

A 79-year-old woman imprisoned for killing her terminally ill husband as part of a botched murder-suicide pact in 2023 has said she wouldn't do anything differently and is “accepting the consequences.”

It was three years ago this month that Ellen Gilland of New Smyrna Beach, Florida smuggled her husband Jerry's gun into his hospital room in Daytona Beach and fired a single, fatal shot into his head.

An hours-long standoff ensued, forcing staff and patients to shelter in place until police officers finally threw a nonlethal explosive device into the room and took Gilland into custody.

A judge ultimately accepted Gilland's claim that her actions had been part of an agreement with her 77-year-old husband, but sentenced her to one year in prison and 12 years on probation due to the disruption and fear she had sown among bystanders.

Asked by Fox 35 Orlando whether she would change her actions now, Gilland insisted: "There wasn't anything else to do."

Gilland said it was a challenge to return to normal life after being released from prison, especially without her ‘supportive, quiet, generous’ husband (Daytona Beach Police Department)

According to reports, Gilland told investigators that three weeks beforehand, she and her husband Jerry — who was 77 years old — had agreed that she would kill him and then herself if his illness got worse.

"I knew what was coming. I knew how difficult it would be to be without him. Not just my best friend, but all of the things that we did for each other...,” she told Fox 35.

"In the 76 years before this event happened, I had never been in trouble before in my life, and never planned to hurt anyone ever,” she added.

Of her late husband, whom she had known since middle school, she said: "He was very supportive, very quiet, very generous. He was a lovely person."

Gilland said that she brought her husband's old gun to the hospital and sat with him talking for a while, before killing him. Afterwards, though, she found she could not go through with the suicide part of her plan.

When hospital staff entered the room, however, Gilland — apparently in a state of extreme distress — pointed the gun at them and told them to leave, beginning an armed standoff with police.

"Tell me what's going on! I don't want to hurt you!" one officer can be heard shouting on body cam footage.

"Things didn't progress the way I would have thought they would," Gilland admitted in her later interview.

In the aftermath, Gilland was initially charged with first degree murder, but her charges were reduced by a grant jury. She ultimately pled no contest to manslaughter with a firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer with a firearm.

One nurse testified during her trial that he had been forced to quit his job after the killing because he "didn't feel safe anymore" at the hospital and regularly "got nightmares" due to the incident.

Gilland told Fox 35 that she had struggled in prison, suffering a heart attack just six weeks into her sentence due to the stress. She did the rest of her time in the infirmary, before being released in November 2025.

"Most of the guards were very — not really friendly, but accepting," she said. "There were a few of them that were very rude, and shouting, and name-calling."

Now released, Gilland is doing court-ordered community service, and will do monthly as long as she is physically able. She has recently started working at a local animal shelter, according to Fox 35.

"I’m accepting the consequences," she told the outlet.. "I have to figure out how to survive after this."

She also told the outlet that she would try to live out the rest of her life without her husband, while advocating for some form of assisted suicide to be legalized.

"I don't want people feeling sorry for me. I did what I did," she said.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branchIf you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you

About Our Ads

Source