Background: The Perry, Iowa, neighborhood where Richard Hoesing lived with his late wife (Google Maps). Inset: Richard Hoesing (Dallas County Sheriff”s Office).
An Iowa man who told police he slit his wife’s throat out of mercy was sentenced to decades in prison after pleading guilty.
Just over a year after telling police that he killed his wife, 74-year-old Jean Hoesing, to “put her out of her misery,” 76-year-old Richard Hoesing entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder. On Friday, a judge sentenced him to 50 years in prison with a mandatory minimum of 35 years until he is up for parole. Law&Crime previously reported that Richard Hoesing called 911 himself to report his wife’s death and claim responsibility.
On the night of March 16, 2025, Richard Hoesing called 911 and told dispatchers that he had killed his wife. When officers from the Perry Police Department responded to the home, they found Jean Hoesing dead in the couple’s bedroom with a “severe laceration across the front of her throat.”
Richard Hoesing told 911 dispatchers at the time that he “killed [his wife] to put her out of her misery,” explaining that she had been suffering from bipolar disorder and multiple sclerosis. Police said Richard Hoesing was cooperative when they encountered him at the couple’s home. A kitchen knife was found at the scene, and Richard Hoesing had blood on his clothes.
Police originally charged Richard Hoesing with first-degree murder. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder to avoid a life sentence. However, as local CBS affiliate KCCI reported, the decades-long sentence handed down to Richard Hoesing essentially meant that he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
Richard and Jean Hoesing were married for 52 years and worked together at an auto parts store that they owned together. They shared a son.
