Wife Dead, Husband Jailed After Apparent Murder-Suicide Pact Fails

Gladys Marie McFadden, 63, had been an invalid for several years, confined to her bed or a wheelchair, while her husband, Jay Ward McFadden, 64, had suffered a stroke last July that left him partially paralyzed and barely able to speak.

The Garden Grove couple apparently agreed to a murder-suicide pact, police said, but the plans went awry Sunday night, leaving the woman dead and her husband in jail facing murder charges.

“Before he had the stroke he was so attentive to her,” said Ruby Hudson, the McFadden’s friend and neighbor. “I’m sure he did what he did out of compassion and love.”

It was the fifth attempted murder-suicide involving ailing and elderly Orange County couples since last August. But this time the act was not completed.

Shot in Lower Chest

Investigators believe Jay McFadden used a .38-caliber revolver to fire one shot into his wife’s lower chest area, said Garden Grove Police Sgt. Bruce Beauchamp.

“We’re not exactly sure why he didn’t go ahead and finish the pact,” Beauchamp said. “But one possibility may be that our investigators found the gun under the bed. If he had dropped it, in his physical condition he may not have been able to get to it again.”

Beauchamp said police received a call about 9 p.m. Sunday on the 911 emergency line, most likely from McFadden.

“We couldn’t understand what the person was saying,” Beauchamp said. “Fortunately, the system displays the address of the caller.”

When officers arrived at the McFaddens’ Dallas Drive home, they found the woman dead from a single gunshot wound.

Message Left

There was a tape-recorded message from Mrs. McFadden in the house, Beauchamp said, along with notes that included a request that their bodies be used for medical research.

“It appears they intended to go at the same time,” Beauchamp said. “We found documents indicating what they wanted done with their bodies.

McFadden was being held in Orange County Jail on Monday in lieu of $250,000 bail on suspicion of murder.

“If there’s going to be any change in those charges, it will be up to the district attorney or a judge,” Beauchamp said.

Hudson said the McFaddens were natives of Michigan who moved from Westminster into the house on Dallas Drive about four years ago.

Mrs. McFadden suffered from multiple sclerosis and in the last months of her life was unable to feed herself, Hudson said. Jay McFadden’s stroke left him paralyzed on the right side. “He could only say a few, simple words,” Hudson said.

Two of the McFaddens’ three sons live at home but were not in the house when the incident occurred, police said. The couple also had a daughter.

Coroner’s investigators say two or three murder-suicides involving elderly Orange County couples occur each year.

Wife Was Going Blind

Last July Leslie Hypes, 88, fatally shot his wife, Elsie, 87, in their Anaheim home, then turned the gun on himself. Police said Mrs. Hypes was going blind, and her husband was suffering from pneumonia and a broken hip that did not heal properly.

“It was obviously a prepared situation,” said Police Sgt. John Harradon.

The following month retired aerospace executive Reid Logan killed his wife, Edith, then shot himself in their El Toro home. Mrs. Logan, 78, was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and her husband, also 78, had a heart disease.

Days later Raymond Priniski, 77, of Fullerton, fatally shot his wife, Anna, 72, before shooting himself to death in the backyard of their home. Mrs. Priniski was suffering from cancer. “(Mr. Priniski) was emotionally distressed, and that had been evident for a long time,” said Police Sgt. Bud Lathrop.

Last October Walter John Prist, 73, shot his stroke-crippled wife, Irene, 69, in their Brea home before shooting himself in the head.