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A North Carolina man accused of using eye drops to fatally poison his wife in 2018 entered a not guilty plea to new charges after prosecutors say he staged his own kidnapping.
Prosecutors said Joshua Hunsucker, a 41-year-old former paramedic, systematically killed his wife, Stacy Robinson Hunsucker, with eyedrops – which contain the chemical tetrahydrozoline – and lied about her cause of death to land a $250,000 life insurance policy in September 2018.
On Monday, Hunsucker stood quietly as his defense attorney entered his not guilty plea for first-degree murder, insurance fraud and obtaining property by false pretense in Gaston County, North Carolina.
Prosecutors allege Hunsucker put eyedrops in Stacy’s drinks over an extended period, eventually leading to her death in the couple’s Mount Holly home.
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According to WBTV, investigators said Hunsucker told people that his wife had died of a heart attack in September 2018, and filed paperwork with the insurance company.
Stacy’s body was cremated within two days of her death, but suspicion arose when Stacy’s mother reported that Hunsucker seemed unusually unfazed by the death and had moved in with a girlfriend shortly after.
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Prosecutors say they were able to build their case on a single blood sample taken by the hospital due to the North Carolina woman’s status as an organ donor.
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Hunsucker was arrested in December 2019 and was released on $1.5 million bond while awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges.
While out on bond in 2023, authorities allege that Hunsucker staged his own kidnapping and intimidated and harassed his late wife’s parents. He is accused of using zip ties in a staged kidnapping and claiming his in-laws injected him with an unknown substance.
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But he was hauled back into court in August 2024 to answer to new allegations that also attempted to poison his daughter, who was then 10, using the same method.
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Prosecutors demanded the revocation of his bail package, which a judge granted.
Hunsucker has requested that his trial be moved out of Gaston County due to the intense media coverage. A trial date for the murder case is still being finalized.
