80-year-old Phoenix man faces charges in wife’s death

The suspected killing happened sometime between June 20 and 23, courts claim. The couple had a history of arguments, suspect’s son says.

PHOENIX — An 80-year-old man from Phoenix is facing second-degree murder charges after allegedly stabbing his wife to death and trying to frame it as a suicide.

According to court documents, Donald Cunningham called police on June 23 to tell them that his wife had stabbed him in the arm before taking her own life.

Cunningham also reportedly told police that the incident happened four days before he called, and that he attempted suicide as well.

When police arrived at his apartment near 19th Avenue and Camelback Road, they found the front door barricaded and saw what appeared to be blood throughout the apartment.

Officers found Cunningham locked in the bedroom “with his hand raised and jumper cables around his neck,” documents state. He was detained and taken to a local hospital to treat a cut on his arm.

The next day, shortly after noon, Arizona Humane Society workers and police were called back to the apartment for reports that Cunningham’s dog was still there.

While at the apartment, humane society workers reportedly found Cunningham’s wife dead between the bed and the wall. Court documents say she had been stabbed multiple times.

Cunningham was arrested upon being discharged from the hospital, where he had told staff once again that his wife had attacked him before dying from suicide. 

During the investigation, Cunningham’s son reportedly told investigators that his father had been using meth and had recently been arrested for assaulting his wife.

Cunningham allegedly refused to speak to investigators about the incident and was booked into jail on a second-degree murder charge.

The woman’s name was redacted in the documents.

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