Emily Brown
Warning: This article contains content some readers may find upsetting
A Utah man has admitted to the attempted manslaughter of his cancer-stricken wife as he was allegedly trying to 'ease her suffering'.
Arenda Lee McCulla was just 47-years-old when she passed away on December 21, 2021, a year after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Arenda had been in hospice care after her cancer, which she had previously received treatment for, returned and spread to her brain, neck, lungs, and liver.
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On a GoFundMe page, her son Ryder explained his mom had been left without the full use of her right hand and arm as a result of the cancer, 'causing lower quality of life and terrible physical pain'.
On the night before Arenda passed away, Ryder was visiting his mom along with five other family members and his mom's husband, DeWayne McCulla.
According to investigators, this was when McCulla began choking Arenda in an attempt to end her life.
The allegations came to light after Ryder filed a complaint with police in 2022, prompting an investigation into McCulla's actions.
In December 2023, McCulla was charged with attempted murder, with accompanying documents stating that he 'admitted to placing his hand over the victim Arenda's neck in an attempt to ease her suffering as she was dying from cancer and was on hospice'.
McCulla made his admission after a police officer with La Verkin PD asked him to relay his version of what happened.
The documents continued: "He said this was all stopped by family members who observed what he was doing and pulled him off of her. DeWayne said he would do this again because he loved his wife."
After he was charged with attempted murder, McCulla entered into a plea deal with prosecutors which amended the charge against him.
In late September 2024 McCulla pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter, however Ryder previously argued McCulla's claim 'that his actions were in benevolence of [his] mother is ludicrous'.
Ryder said in an interview with KSL last year that the appropriate criminal charge was filed against McCulla, and in the wake of McCulla's guilty plea Ryder hopes to address the court to show his dissatisfaction with the plea deal.
In his interview with KSL, Ryder described his mom as someone who 'protected vulnerable people'.
"She spent her time volunteering at troubled youth centers, saved a few lives from drowning, choking and suicide," he recalled.
"She tried to see the good in people. My mother was a survivor who's had a lot of things happen in her life that have been very trying. She turned that into being a thriver in life."
Ryder added that his mom 'didn't die with dignity' when she passed away.
McCulla is set to be sentenced on December 12.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677.