ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Prosecutors have formally charged a 91-year-old St. Johns County man with second-degree murder — a downgrade from the first-degree premeditated murder charge he faced at the time of his arrest — in connection with the shooting death of his wife.
The State Attorney’s Office for the Seventh Judicial Circuit filed a criminal information against William Albert Lippold on Aug. 12, charging him with second-degree murder with a firearm in the death of his 87-year-old wife. The charge is classified as a life felony under Florida law.
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The formal charge differs from the first-degree premeditated murder charge Lippold faced when he was arrested Aug. 1. According to the filed information, the act was described as “imminently dangerous to another and evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life, although without any premeditated design.”
Background on the case
Deputies with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office responded to the couple’s St. Augustine Shores home after Lippold’s son, David Lippold, called 911 and said his father had killed his mother. When deputies arrived, William Lippold and his son came outside.
Lippold reportedly said spontaneously, “It’s not complicated, I shot my wife.”
Investigators found Mary Lippold dead on a bed in the master bedroom, with a firearm, a shell casing and a note nearby. A neighbor told detectives they heard what sounded like a gunshot late July 31.
Detectives said Lippold admitted he had planned the killing for about a month. He told investigators his wife was blind and had severe Alzheimer’s disease and that he was her sole caregiver. He said he had promised not to place her in a nursing home and described exchanging messages with his adult children about the stress of caring for her.
Lippold said he bought the gun recently, practiced at a shooting range and had planned to take his own life after the shooting but was unable to do so, according to the report.
Neighbors described the couple as well-liked in the community.
“They were a really nice couple, and everybody’s heart broke,” neighbor Bill Meyers said. “Everybody in the neighborhood’s heart broke because we all loved the guy and we’d do anything for him.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline anytime.