HOODSPORT, Wash. — A Mason County man who first told police he fatally shot his wife in a mercy killing is heard telling his shocking story on 911 recordings, but police said the man later admitted the story was a lie.
Police said Christopher Thorson told them he shot his wife on Apr. 12 because she asked him to, but later admitted he did it during a drunken argument with his wife, Vanessa Thorson.
When the 911 operator answered, Thorson said, “I just shot my wife.”
Dispatcher: “Is she still alive?”
Thorson: “Probably not. I shot her twice.”
Dispatcher: "What is your name, sir?"
Thorson: "Wait a minute I'm trying to remember. I think its Christopher."
Dispatcher: “Why did you shoot your wife?”
“I couldn’t put up with her any longer. She’s been really sick and she asked me to do it,” said Thorson.
Dispatcher: “Where is the weapon now?”
Thorson: “I broke it down and put it back in the gun locker.”
When asked what illness his wife had, Thorson replied, “She had dementia real bad, and she got to be a wicked, wicked person.”
Dispatcher: “Where did you shoot her, what part of her body?”
Thorson: “She was on the couch and I shot her probably in the stomach area … I shot her twice.”
Dispatcher: “What did you shoot her with, what caliber gun?
“A 12-gauge shotgun,” replied Thorson.
Dispatcher: “Where are you now?”
Thorson: “I’m sitting on the back porch. I didn’t want to do this, (sobbing).”
Thorson could be heard sobbing on the phone. The dispatcher said she would stay on phone with Thorson so he wouldn’t have to be alone while he waited for authorities to arrive.
At this point, he became increasingly agitated.
Thorson: “Would you do me a favor? Don’t tell them to come with lights and sirens. I don’t want people to know what I’ve done. I didn’t want to do this to her, but I can’t do this no more (sobbing). I don’t want to hurt anyone…”
The dispatcher warned Thorson to be open and not make any sudden moves, because he shot his wife, and officers would be approaching him, possibly with guns drawn, when they arrived.
“I should have shot myself,” he said, crying.
During the remainder of the call, Thorson repeatedly told the dispatcher several times that he should have killed himself instead of his wife.
He told the dispatcher he was dying anyway and had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dementia and anxiety problems and had been told he only had two years to live.
“I should have just shot myself, then she wouldn’t have been hurting,” said Thorson.
Dispatcher: “Is she still alive?
Thorson: “I can’t get close to her. I don’t want to go close to her.”
After police and medics arrived, Thorson was interviewed by investigators, who said Thorson’s story fell apart. Thorson admitted to officers that he and his wife had been drinking when an argument broke out, police said.
Thorson told officers that while his wife was lying on the couch, she told Thorson, "Why don't you just shoot me, then?" and Thorson got out a shotgun and shot her twice in the stomach, Mason County Chief Deputy Dean Byrd said.
He was charged with first-degree murder on Apr. 13.
Thorson was a longtime Department of Corrections employee who has since resigned.
KIRO
