Aug 28, 2013 6:49 PM 
 
 Laurel County Man Admits To Killing Wife, Says She Asked Him To 
 
 A Laurel county man is facing murder charges after sheriff's deputies say he shot and killed his wife early Wednesday morning. 
 
 Virginia Chumbley's body was found in a home on Greenlawn Subdivision Road. Her husband, Ernest Chumbley, spoke with LEX18 from jail and explained why he did it. He said it was her final wish that he kill her and put her out of her misery. 
 
 Chumbley admitted to killing his wife, but said he was just doing what she asked him to do. 
 
 "She told me to end the pain, stop the pain," said Ernest Chumbley. 
 
 From the Laurel county jail, Chumbley said through tears he killed his wife. 
 
 "Did I want to do it? For her I did. No, I don't. I didn't want to do it," he said. 
 
 It happened at their home on Greenlawn Subdivision around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday. Deputies say Ernest called 911 after shooting his wife. 
 
 911 Call: 
 
 Operator: "Hello" 
 
 Ernest: "Yes, I've shot my wife," 
 
 His defense is that it was a mercy killing. He says Virginia has been fighting cancer for several years now. 
 
 "She mentioned hospice and all that, she didn't want that," Ernest said. "I loved her. I love her, and she took it as far as she wanted to go." 
 
 And although they were shocked, a neighbor had the same reaction when we told them the news. 
 
 
 
 "The only reason I could think he shot her is she probably asked him to, because she was hurting so bad," said Stan Campbell. 
 
 Now, Ernest says, the only comfort he has, is that he granted her last wish, 
 
 
 
 "She isn't in pain no more. She's a good woman, a good woman..." he said. 
 
 Chumbley is facing murder charges, meanwhile funeral arragements for his wife are still pending. Virginia Chumbley's body has been sent to Frankfort for an autopsy. ||||| London, Ky. (WKYT) - Moments after his wife lay in her bed..with two gunshot wounds...Ernest Chris Chumbley picked up the phone and dialed 911. 
 
 “Hello….I just shot my wife,” Chris Chumbley is heard telling the dispatcher in the 911 tapes obtained by WKYT. 
 
 “What happened again?” the dispatcher asks. 
 
 “You need to come out here,” Chumbley responds. 
 
 “Tell me what happened, sir,” the dispatcher requests. 
 
 “Give me police. I’m under arrest,” Chumbley said. 
 
 From jail Chumbley says he shot his wife with a .32 handgun because she was terminally ill with breast cancer..and she asked him to “stop her pain.” 
 
 “I shot her,” he said from the Laurel County Detention Center. “She died from my shots, but it’s not murder.” 
 
 Chumbley said he simply complied with his wife’s request. 
 
 “She told me she wanted me to end her pain. All I said,’Jay, all I’ve got is what the doctor gave you. She said 'no, I want you to stop my pain for good,’” said Chumbley. 
 
 “We’re still investigating this. It’s in the early stages. And there are other people to interview on this case. So we’re not going to speculate on what the circumstances are,” said Gilbert Acciardo with the Laurel Co. Sheriff’s Office. 
 
 Neighbors say the couple had a great marriage that lasted more than 20 years. And one that was very loving between the two. But they say in the last couple of years, the cancer had gotten the best of Virginia Chumbley. 
 
 “She was hurting real bad. We could hear her at night like she was gasping for air,” said next door neighbor Stanley Campbell. 
 
 Chumbley pleaded not guilty to murder charges in Laurel District Court. He’s in jail on a $200,000 cash bond. He doesn’t blame police for arresting him. 
 
 “I just did what she asked. And I would expect no different from her if I was asking her,” said Chumbley. 
 
 Police say Chumbley gave them no trouble when they arrived to arrest him after the shooting Wednesday morning. 
 
 He is set to undergo a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 5th at 11 a.m. 
 

– "Hello … I just shot my wife." That's how Ernest Chris Chumbley introduced himself to a 911 operator yesterday morning. "Give me police. I'm under arrest," he said, according to a tape obtained by WKYT. Sure enough, police arrived to find his wife Virginia dead, and took a compliant Chumbley into custody. "She died from my shots, but it's not murder," the Kentucky man said, explaining that she'd asked him to shoot her because she was suffering from breast cancer. "She told me she wanted me to end her pain. I said, 'Jay, all I’ve got is what the doctor gave you.' She said 'no, I want you to stop my pain for good,'" Chumbley said. "I just did what she asked. And I would expect no different from her if I was asking." He's been charged with murder anyway, and has pleaded not guilty. He's in jail on a $200,000 bond. Neighbors say the two had a loving marriage, and tell LEX18 that they believe his story. "The only reason I could think he shot her is she probably asked him to, because she was hurting so bad," one said.