Man Says He Killed Wife So She Wouldn't Be Homeless

A 60-year-old Colorado man is facing first-degree murder charges after allegedly admitting to police he shot and killed his common-law wife of 20 years to prevent her from becoming homeless. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Denver 7, Phil Archuleta called Aurora police late Sunday from a bus stop, saying he had killed his partner nearly two days earlier in their apartment on S. Ivory Circle. According to the affidavit, Archuleta told officers he had been fired from his job in early May and did not inform his wife, continuing to leave home each day as if he were still working.

He said he saw no way for them to avoid losing their apartment since they could not survive on her income alone and he allegedly told officers he'd been planning the killing as his financial situation worsened. The affidavit states he shot his wife twice in the head on a Saturday morning, shortly after realizing his rent check had bounced. "The next stop was going to be homeless. Wasn't gonna do that to her, so I put her out of her misery," he allegedly told police.

Archuleta told officers he considered suicide after the shooting but couldn't go through with it. He said he picked the time for the killing based on financial desperation and his belief that his wife would be unable to survive homelessness. When asked whether they could have worked through their financial issues together, he replied, "Maybe." He also told police they rarely argued and that his wife had not wronged him. The victim, whose name was not released, had two estranged children in Colorado and family in Indiana, none of whom Archuleta had met during their relationship. Police found the woman's body in the apartment's bedroom, 9 News reports. Archuleta, who has a minor criminal record, now awaits prosecution for murder, the Denver Gazette reports.