A 79-year-old woman jailed for killing her terminally ill husband as part of a botched murder-suicide plot in 2023 has said she won’t do anything differently and is “accepting the consequences.”
It was three years ago this month that Ellen Gilland of New Smyrna Beach, Florida took her husband Jerry’s gun into his Daytona Beach hospital room and fired one fatal shot into his head.
An hours-long standoff ensued, forcing staff and patients to shelter in place until police officers finally detonated a non-lethal explosive device in the room and took Gilland into custody.
A judge ultimately accepted Gilland’s claim that her actions were part of an agreement with her 77-year-old husband, but sentenced her to a year in prison and 12 years on probation because of the disturbance and fear she had caused among those nearby.
Asked by Fox 35 Orlando if she would change her actions now, Gilland insisted: “There was nothing to do.”
Gilland said it was a challenge to return to normal life after being released from prison, especially without her ‘supportive, quiet, generous’ husband (Daytona Beach Police Department)
According to reports, Gilland told investigators that three weeks earlier, she and her husband Jerry — who was 77 years old — had agreed that she would kill him and then herself if his illness worsened.
“I knew what was coming. I knew how hard it would be to be without him. Not just my best friend, but all the things we’ve done for each other…,” she told Fox 35.
“In the 76 years before this event happened, I have never been in my life before, and I have never planned to hurt anyone,” she added.
Of her late husband, whom she had known since middle school, she said: “He was very supportive, very quiet, very generous. He was a beautiful person.”
Gilland said she brought her husband’s old gun to the hospital and sat with him talking for a while, before killing him. Afterwards, however, she found she couldn’t go through with the suicide part of her plan.
When the hospital staff entered the room, however, Gilland – apparently in a state of extreme distress – pointed the gun at them and told them to leave, starting an armed standoff with the police.
“Tell me what’s going on! I don’t want to hurt you!” one officer can be heard yelling on body cam footage.
“Things didn’t go the way I thought they would,” Gilland admitted in her later interview.
Afterwards, Gilland was initially charged with first degree murder, but her charges were reduced by a grand jury. She ultimately pleaded no contest to manslaughter with a firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer with a firearm.
One nurse testified during her trial that he had been forced to leave his job after the murder because he “didn’t feel safe anymore” in the hospital and regularly “got nightmares” because of the incident.
Gilland told Fox 35 that she had struggled in prison, suffering a heart attack just six weeks into her sentence due to the stress. She spent the rest of her time in the infirmary, before being discharged in November 2025.
“Most of the guards were very – not really easy, but they accepted,” she said. “There were a few of them who were very rude, and shouted, and called names.”
Now released, Gilland is doing court-ordered community service, which she will do every month until she is physically able. She recently started working at a local animal shelter, according to Fox 35.
“I’m accepting the consequences,” she told the outlet.. “I have to figure out how to live after this.”
She also told the outlet that she will try to live the rest of her life without her husband, while she claimed that some form of assisted suicide would be legalized.
“I don’t want people to feel sorry for me. I did what I did,” she said.
If you are experiencing feelings of sadness, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, confidentially, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.orgor visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the United States, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access an online chat from 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free and confidential crisis hotline that is available to anyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go on www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you