CNN posted a story tonight about an event that happened two days ago. A man took his invalid wife onto the balcony of their apartment, kissed her, and dropped her over the rail to her death on the street four stories below. Link to CNN page.
We might think this was a sordid tale of adultery or marital discord--and perhaps that will come out in court. Prosecutors have charged him with murder.
In the probable cause statement filed with the charges, police said Reimer was desperate because he could not pay the bills for his wife's treatment for neurological problems and uterine cancer.
Investigators said that Reimer was in the apartment when they arrived. He told them, "She didn't jump," but did not elaborate, they said.
She had no health insurance. His wife Criste was 47, blind, could not walk, suffered from cancer and neurological problems, and weighed 75 pounds. She'd been sick for several years, and her health care costs were more than her income each month.
Her husband was removed from the apartment by ambulance and seemed "dazed", telling police that "she didn't jump."
She didn't need to jump. She was pushed--by a profit-driven health care system. She was pushed--by every politician who believes a band-aid "fix-it" will correct a system that abandons millions of Americans and drives others to despair. Her husband is charged with murder, but we know who the real guilty party is...don't we? What will it take to get the American people to wake up? How can we get the word out!?
(This is my first diary, and I searched but didn't see another one about this event--if there is one, I'll remove this one. If someone tells me how.)