CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A former paramedic accused of using eye drops to kill his wife for life insurance money is now facing charges of setting equipment inside a medical helicopter on fire while it was flying over Charlotte.
Joshua Lee Hunsucker, of Mount Holly, was arrested on March 29th and charged with burning personal property, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department report and court records.
Joshua Hunsucker – Burning Personal Property
The helicopter, which is owned by Atrium Health, was forced to make an emergency landing in November 2019 in the parking lot of a car dealership on Independence Boulevard due to the fire, according to the report. Hunsucker is accused of intentionally setting a syringe pump that was inside the helicopter on fire. No injuries were reported.
Hunsucker is still awaiting trial after being accused of murdering his wife, Stacy Robinson Hunsucker, by poisoning her with eye drops.
Eye drops have been linked to heart failure when ingested in large quantities, prosecutors said during a hearing connected to the case. State officials say Stacy Hunsucker’s death was tied to a $250,000 insurance payout.
Hunsucker wouldn’t allow his wife to get an autopsy, according to court records but North Carolina Insurance Department attorney Jordan Green said that authorities were able to test vials of Stacy Hunsucker’s blood that were stored by a company that is involved with organ donation.
Green said her blood contained high levels of an ingredient that’s found in eye-drop medication.
Attorney David Teddy represented Joshua Hunsucker in court. He said that the allegations would be “strenuously opposed.” Hunsucker is facing 1st degree murder, felony insurance fraud, and felony obtaining property by false pretense charges in connection to his wife’s murder.
