GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Joshua Hunsucker, the Gaston County man charged with killing his wife by poisoning her with eye drops, appeared in court Friday in connection with the case.
Hunsucker was charged with murder related to the death of his wife, Stacy Robinson Hunsucker, in September 2018. He was arrested in December 2019. Prosecutors allege that Hunsucker got his wife to ingest deadly amounts of tetrahydrozoline, the main ingredient in eye drops.
During Friday's arraignment, which lasted just seven minutes, the judge gave Hunsucker's defense team 60 days to find an independent lab to test a sample of Stacy Robinson Hunsucker's blood.
Investigators have said shortly after his wife died from cardiac arrest, Hunsucker refused to have an autopsy performed on her, saying he did not want Stacy to be cut up despite being indicating she was an organ donor. Previously released search warrants said an organ donation center still preserved some of Stacy's blood.
According to testing, her blood had 30 to 40 times the normal level of tetrahydrozoline, the main chemical in eye drops like Visine, which can cause cardiac arrest if ingested.
Following the results, special prosecutor Jordan Green said investigators brought Hunsucker in for an interview which gave them cause to arrest Hunsucker.
On Friday, defense attorney David Teddy said they had already called two labs that could not test for tetrahydrozoline and it was unclear if there was enough blood left to be tested. All involved parties agreed on the 60-day timeline set by the judge.
Hunsucker did not address the court when given the opportunity. There is still no set trial date for Hunsucker's murder charge.
He's also been indicted on charges of insurance fraud and obtaining property under false pretenses in relation to his wife's death.
Hunsucker was a paramedic. He is also accused of setting fire to an Atrium Health medical helicopter mid-flight in November 2019. An arrest warrant alleges Hunsucker intentionally set fire to a syringe pump and forced an emergency landing at a car dealership on Independence Boulevard in Charlotte. He pleaded not guilty to felony arson last month.
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