Elderly Man Charged in Mercy Killing

DELTONA, Fla. (AP) â€” Charges against a man who said he killed his elderly wife out of compassion were elevated to first-degree murder. <br><br>Leo Visco, 80, was also denied bond Wednesday, to the dismay

Thursday, December 28th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DELTONA, Fla. (AP) â€” Charges against a man who said he killed his elderly wife out of compassion were elevated to first-degree murder.

Leo Visco, 80, was also denied bond Wednesday, to the dismay of the woman's oldest son.

``Why put him in jail?'' Mike Bono asked. ``What's that serve? He loved my mother. He was a saint to that lady.''

Eva Visco, 74, survived six hours after being shot in the head Tuesday with a .22-caliber revolver.

Leo Visco said he dressed and fed his wife in what was supposed to be a murder-suicide pact. He told an emergency dispatcher that they both wanted to die, but he couldn't follow through.

Investigators initially believed Eva Visco was suffering from cancer, but an autopsy found no cancer or any other terminal illness, and she was taking no medication for a serious illness.

``She has undoubtedly been debilitated,'' said county medical examiner Thomas Beaver. ``She would probably be limited in her mobility, but nothing that would warrant an execution.''

Mark NeJame, one of Visco's attorneys, said the autopsy did not tell all.

``By every neighbor's account, she was in debilitating pain and crying out for help on a regular basis. Apparently she wasn't able to put on a pair of shoes for two years because of the pain she was living with,'' he said.

Bono said his mother had been a strong woman who fled Nazi Germany, but he said her bladder, hearing and vision failed in recent years, and she was nearly bedridden.

``We all wished we had a husband or wife who took care of us the way he took care of her,'' said neighbor Beatrice Renaud.