PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida (WTNH)– An elderly Florida man says he murdered his wife because she was sick and he couldn’t afford her medication.

According to the TCPalm, 86-year-old William Hager shot and killed his wife of more than 50 years, 78-year-old Carolyn, while she slept around 7:30 a.m. Monday morning. He then drank some coffee and called his family members to tell them what had happened.

“He talked about her medical condition, that she was in poor health. She was always in a lot of pain,” Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Garry Wilson told the TCPalm.

Police were later called to Hager’s home just before 1 p.m., where they found Carolyn in their bedroom, covered by a blanket with a gunshot wound to her head. Hager told police he would have called them earlier, but he contacted his daughter first.

“He was perfectly clear on that he was going to be arrested and go to jail, but again, he felt that this is where it had gotten to him and this was his course of action. He showed emotion and he was very clear that he was out of options in his mind,” said Wilson.

TCPalm reports that Hager told detectives he contemplated shooting his wife for several days, and that while Carolyn talked about her desire to die, she never asked her husband to kill her.

Hager, who has no criminal history, was charged with first degree murder.