Man Tosses Wife From Balconey Over Medical Bills

[One2Snoop]

Kansas City Man Accused of Tossing Ailing Wife From Balcony Over Medical Bills
Thursday, August 16, 2007

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man threw his seriously ill wife four stories to her death because he could no longer afford to pay for her medical care, prosecutors said in charging him with second-degree murder.

According to court documents filed Wednesday in Jackson County Circuit Court, Stanley Reimer walked his wife to the balcony of their apartment and kissed her before throwing her over.


The body of Criste Reimer, 47, was found Tuesday night outside the apartment building, near the upscale Country Club Plaza shopping district.

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Kansas City Man Accused of Tossing Ailing Wife From Balcony Over Medical Bills

[packy]

A mercy killing but colored by money/expenses too?

If they agreed and this is what she wanted, couldn't they figure a more humane way to end her life -- how horrible.

[Sharon]

Originally Posted by packy

A mercy killing but colored by money/expenses too?

If they agreed and this is what she wanted, couldn't they figure a more humane way to end her life -- how horrible.

I can bet my last dollar that this is not what `she` wanted. For starters, there are much easier and more dignified ways to die. Most females would choose the sleeping tablet method.

No this guy probably just murdered her in cold blood. imo

[One2Snoop]

Man charged with throwing wife off balcony to her death
By JOYCE TSAI
The Kansas City Star

A husband, financially desperate because of his wife’s medical problems, walked her to the balcony of their fourth-floor Kansas City apartment, kissed her, then threw her to her death, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

Stanley Reimer, 51, was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder for allegedly killing Criste Reimer, 47. Her body was found Tuesday night on the pavement outside the Plaza Point Apartments, 4901 Wornall Road.

Snip
More at this link...
Husband Charged With Second Degree Murder

[beachgirl40]

My gosh, this is sad. The poor lady had so many medical problems. Were they receiving help from social services? Did he know it was available? How awful to have much high medical bills with no means to pay. Does that mean she was not being treated?

IMHO, we shouldn't rush to judge this man. Let's hear the facts first, please. I know somebody will want to smack me upside the head for being naive, but her problems were just so severe maybe he wanted to end her suffering.

beachgirl40

[HildaC]

Lots of suffering for both of them. Too bad they did not have any help with their problems.

[Results]

Originally Posted by beachgirl40

My gosh, this is sad. The poor lady had so many medical problems. Were they receiving help from social services? Did he know it was available? How awful to have much high medical bills with no means to pay. Does that mean she was not being treated?

IMHO, we shouldn't rush to judge this man. Let's hear the facts first, please. I know somebody will want to smack me upside the head for being naive, but her problems were just so severe maybe he wanted to end her suffering.

beachgirl40

I doubt that they could get any help from the government because her retirement account was over 4 Million. Why they were not allowed to use that is my question?

This was from the 1st link:

The documents listed her assets at approximately $6,700, with monthly income of $725 from oil royalties and Supplemental Security Income.

This one said her assets were $6,700,000.00


This was from the 2nd link:

An inventory of her assets at that time showed she had $200 in her checking account, household goods and furnishings valued at $500, an individual retirement account of $4,000, and real property valued at $2,000.

It also showed she was receiving $325 a month in Supplemental Security Income and $400 a month in royalties from the Kaiser-Francis Oil Co.

This one shows $500,000. $4 M and $2,000.00

The $200 in her checking doesn't have a comma or a period like the rest do so maybe it is just $200.00 since he said he couldn't pay the bills anymore.

This lady had a lot of money will be interesting to find out why she wouldn't or couldn't use it for her health problems.

JMHO

[Mishell1383]

If she was 75 lbs and couldn't walk and was partially blind, she probably wasn't going to live long anyway, he obviously wasn't thinking and acted on impulse. imo

[WarmNCozy]

Originally Posted by Sharon

I can bet my last dollar that this is not what `she` wanted. For starters, there are much easier and more dignified ways to die. Most females would choose the sleeping tablet method.

No this guy probably just murdered her in cold blood. imo

I agree, Sharon! The sleeping tablet method would have been more humane. I have a question, why second degree murder? Why not first degree?

[Mishell1383]

Originally Posted by WarmNCozy

I agree, Sharon! The sleeping tablet method would have been more humane. I have a question, why second degree murder? Why not first degree?

IMO, I think it could have been proven that it happened in the heat of the moment rather than planned.

[Family Snapshot]

Originally Posted by beachgirl40

My gosh, this is sad. The poor lady had so many medical problems. Were they receiving help from social services? Did he know it was available? How awful to have much high medical bills with no means to pay. Does that mean she was not being treated?

IMHO, we shouldn't rush to judge this man. Let's hear the facts first, please. I know somebody will want to smack me upside the head for being naive, but her problems were just so severe maybe he wanted to end her suffering.

beachgirl40

By throwing her off a balcony?! Maybe I don't have enough faith in human nature, but if you were trying to end someone's suffering don't you think you could find a more painless method? Something more along the lines of go-to-sleep-and-never-wake-up rather than fall-fourteen-stories-and-hope-your-neck-snaps?

[WarmNCozy]

Originally Posted by Family Snapshot

By throwing her off a balcony?! Maybe I don't have enough faith in human nature, but if you were trying to end someone's suffering don't you think you could find a more painless method? Something more along the lines of go-to-sleep-and-never-wake-up rather than fall-fourteen-stories-and-hope-your-neck-snaps?

He had to be deeply disturbed to do such a thing!

[dallasvic]

Originally Posted by Results

I doubt that they could get any help from the government because her retirement account was over 4 Million. Why they were not allowed to use that is my question?

This was from the 1st link:

The documents listed her assets at approximately $6,700, with monthly income of $725 from oil royalties and Supplemental Security Income.

This one said her assets were $6,700,000.00


This was from the 2nd link:

An inventory of her assets at that time showed she had $200 in her checking account, household goods and furnishings valued at $500, an individual retirement account of $4,000, and real property valued at $2,000.

It also showed she was receiving $325 a month in Supplemental Security Income and $400 a month in royalties from the Kaiser-Francis Oil Co.

This one shows $500,000. $4 M and $2,000.00

The $200 in her checking doesn't have a comma or a period like the rest do so maybe it is just $200.00 since he said he couldn't pay the bills anymore.

This lady had a lot of money will be interesting to find out why she wouldn't or couldn't use it for her health problems.

JMHO

There must have been some kind of hold on the $4 million because she was receiving SSI from the government of $ 325.00 a month and you are only eligible if you do not make or have a certain amount of money.that you have access to. Also with SSI you receive Medicaid Ins. and everyone that receives a SSI check every month automatically gets Medicaid ins. It is part of the package. This would have paid for all her medical bills.

As far as this being a mercy killing, that means that she wanted to die and she asked her husband to help her. He has not stated yet that was her wishes.
Second degree murder is not a planned crime is it ?

Hope we have more stories come in that will fill in alot of the blanks.

[Athena]

Maybe he thought it would look like she committed suicide.

I was looking for an update on this and still looking because he was supposed to appear in court on 9/10. Will continue to look but found this:

An official with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Reimer had worked in the museum's finance department since 1996 and that the museum offers full family insurance coverage to its employees. She would not say whether the Reimers had that coverage, citing privacy concerns.

The judge scheduled another hearing for Sept. 10.

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Aug...Killed,00.html

[Athena]

Check this out and to think I almost felt sorry for him:

The pro-socialized medicine lobbyists like to circulate U.S. health care system horror stories, such as this one they are circulating on email lists today (and which Daily Kos editorialized about here) about a man who allegedly murdered his wife, supposedly because he couldn't afford her medical bills.

Although the Kansas City Star reported Thursday that a sister of the dead woman was "scared to death" that the husband might mistreat the woman, while another sister said the alleged killer "seemed pretty unstable," few media outlets included information about a possible motive other than, or in conjunction with, health care costs.

Likewise, few readers outside of Kansas City were told that the couple had options. The wife had been living with her mother before her husband showed up to visit, the Kansas City Star reported. The husband told her family he was going to take her to dinner, but then "took her away and never came back."

If the bills were overwhelming, he could have returned her. Even divorced her; divorce being less dishonorable than murder.

The dead woman would have been eligible for a number of government and private aid health care assistance programs, especially if her savings were exhausted (the AP reports she had investments of $20,000 as recently as April, and $6,700 in assets at the time of her death). No story of the dozens I reviewed mentioned the availability of assistance.

http://www.nationalcenter.org/2007/0...eports-us.html

[dallasvic]

Originally Posted by Athena

Check this out and to think I almost felt sorry for him:

The pro-socialized medicine lobbyists like to circulate U.S. health care system horror stories, such as this one they are circulating on email lists today (and which Daily Kos editorialized about here) about a man who allegedly murdered his wife, supposedly because he couldn't afford her medical bills.

Although the Kansas City Star reported Thursday that a sister of the dead woman was "scared to death" that the husband might mistreat the woman, while another sister said the alleged killer "seemed pretty unstable," few media outlets included information about a possible motive other than, or in conjunction with, health care costs.

Likewise, few readers outside of Kansas City were told that the couple had options. The wife had been living with her mother before her husband showed up to visit, the Kansas City Star reported. The husband told her family he was going to take her to dinner, but then "took her away and never came back."

If the bills were overwhelming, he could have returned her. Even divorced her; divorce being less dishonorable than murder.

The dead woman would have been eligible for a number of government and private aid health care assistance programs, especially if her savings were exhausted (the AP reports she had investments of $20,000 as recently as April, and $6,700 in assets at the time of her death). No story of the dozens I reviewed mentioned the availability of assistance.

http://www.nationalcenter.org/2007/0...eports-us.html

Hi A,

This is truly sad ,but true. Some people take drastic measure when there are simple solutions.
It is true there are people out there that do not know about all the assistance they can get and suffer.
Just about 2 months ago I meet a little black lady in a pharmacy and she got to talking to me about all the medicine she was suppose to take ,but could only get what her insurance paid for.She received a check once a month and food stamps that was just 24 dollars. She had to pay bills and by more food with the extra money she said which left her with nothing else. That means she had to choose to eat or by her extra meds.
i felt so bad for her. I gave her my phone # and I got hers and told her I would check into somethings and call her when I found out anything.
The next mornin' I made some calls and then called her and told her we need to talk. She told me how to get to her house.
When I arrived she gave me a big HUG she was lonely I could tell. Anyway I found a place here were they pay for you meds that your insurance does not pay for. I also found out she could have her food stamps raised do to the amount of bills she had to pay living alone. I still visit her every week and take her to do her shopping.
There is help out there !!!

[Jo_Momma_82]

Bless you Dallas !

More people, including myself, should take more of an interest in helping others like you have ! Your an inspiration to me !

[Athena]

Originally Posted by Jo_Momma_82

Bless you Dallas !

More people, including myself, should take more of an interest in helping others like you have ! Your an inspiration to me !

You said it so well I'll just "ditto" this.

Dallas....

[Charon]

This is quite terrible.

I agree, Why SECOND degree murder? When you unlawfully and intentionally take the life of another human being, you are a murderer. The degree of murder does not make the victim less dead, does it?

Throwing people off balconies is unlawfull. It could not have been by accident. This is as pre-meditated as can be and IMO grounds for the full extent of the law. She is dead. He killed her. Full Stop.

[WarmNCozy]

Originally Posted by dallasvic

Hi A,

This is truly sad ,but true. Some people take drastic measure when there are simple solutions.
It is true there are people out there that do not know about all the assistance they can get and suffer.
Just about 2 months ago I meet a little black lady in a pharmacy and she got to talking to me about all the medicine she was suppose to take ,but could only get what her insurance paid for.She received a check once a month and food stamps that was just 24 dollars. She had to pay bills and by more food with the extra money she said which left her with nothing else. That means she had to choose to eat or by her extra meds.
i felt so bad for her. I gave her my phone # and I got hers and told her I would check into somethings and call her when I found out anything.
The next mornin' I made some calls and then called her and told her we need to talk. She told me how to get to her house.
When I arrived she gave me a big HUG she was lonely I could tell. Anyway I found a place here were they pay for you meds that your insurance does not pay for. I also found out she could have her food stamps raised do to the amount of bills she had to pay living alone. I still visit her every week and take her to do her shopping.
There is help out there !!!

Wow! You are a jewel (diamond), Dallas. God Bless!

[Mishell1383]

Originally Posted by dallasvic

Hi A,

This is truly sad ,but true. Some people take drastic measure when there are simple solutions.
It is true there are people out there that do not know about all the assistance they can get and suffer.
Just about 2 months ago I meet a little black lady in a pharmacy and she got to talking to me about all the medicine she was suppose to take ,but could only get what her insurance paid for.She received a check once a month and food stamps that was just 24 dollars. She had to pay bills and by more food with the extra money she said which left her with nothing else. That means she had to choose to eat or by her extra meds.
i felt so bad for her. I gave her my phone # and I got hers and told her I would check into somethings and call her when I found out anything.
The next mornin' I made some calls and then called her and told her we need to talk. She told me how to get to her house.
When I arrived she gave me a big HUG she was lonely I could tell. Anyway I found a place here were they pay for you meds that your insurance does not pay for. I also found out she could have her food stamps raised do to the amount of bills she had to pay living alone. I still visit her every week and take her to do her shopping.
There is help out there !!!

You are absoluely incredible D! You are an angel walking among the earth. Anyone and everyone is lucky to have you in their lives!

[dallasvic]

Thank you all. You aLL have ME CRYING

[Wildwombat]

Dallasvic, woman you are the bomb, MY KIND OF PEOPLE!!! (HUG SMILEY) I wish there was a hug smiley on here because you deserve a ginormous one. I would pray that my grandma would cross paths with a wonderful person like you if she did not have me and mine. Your name should be CLASSY.

[Sharon]

Originally Posted by Wildwombat

Dallasvic, woman you are the bomb, MY KIND OF PEOPLE!!! (HUG SMILEY) I wish there was a hug smiley on here because you deserve a ginormous one. I would pray that my grandma would cross paths with a wonderful person like you if she did not have me and mine. Your name should be CLASSY.

I would love to second that!!!!! Its so encouraging to hear a good story about someone amongst all the tragedy!!!!

[Wichita]

Correct. 2nd Degree is when premeditation cannot be proven.

[oldskoolgothgrl]

Originally Posted by Wildwombat

Dallasvic, woman you are the bomb, MY KIND OF PEOPLE!!! (HUG SMILEY) I wish there was a hug smiley on here because you deserve a ginormous one. I would pray that my grandma would cross paths with a wonderful person like you if she did not have me and mine. Your name should be CLASSY.

Originally Posted by Sharon

I would love to second that!!!!! Its so encouraging to hear a good story about someone amongst all the tragedy!!!!

Oh, wow. I'm thirding this. It almost made me cry, and in the good way. If we had more people like Dallasvic, the world would be a far beter place, that's for sure!