Man who murdered his wife dies suddenly in court: DA
Inset: James Paul Anderson being wheeled out of the courthouse after suffering a medical emergency (KHOU/YouTube). Background: James Paul Anderson appears in Harris County court in 2023 (KHOU/YouTube).
A Texas man set to accept a plea deal and be sentenced for allegedly murdering his wife suddenly suffered a “medical emergency” in court and died, authorities say.
James Paul Anderson, 39, was charged in a Harris County court with murdering his wife, Victoria Lynn Anderson, 34, in 2023.
On Friday, he was out on a $300,000 bond when he returned to court to enter a plea on the murder charge.
James Anderson was set to agree to be sentenced to 35 years in prison as part of the plea deal, the Harris County District Attorney”s Office said. And then a shocking event occurred.
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The defendant is said to have been talking to his attorney before asking for some time alone — and when he returned, he spit into a trash can and, minutes, later, started vomiting, Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported, citing witnesses in the courthouse.
Video obtained by the outlet showed James Anderson being wheeled out on a gurney.
A court bailiff gave him naloxone — a medication that can reverse an overdose — and then Houston Fire Department first responders brought him to an area hospital. However, he was pronounced dead not long after, at 11:05 a.m., the district attorney’s office said.
James Anderson worked as a public school special education teacher when he allegedly shot and killed his wife while she was on the phone with 911 claiming her husband was threatening to shoot her, Law&Crime previously reported.
The couple’s 3-year-old son was inside the home at the time.
While the dispatcher was listening to the wife’s pleas, they heard a gunshot.
Police officers arrived at the home on the 4300 block of Vista Ridge Drive in Northeast Houston and “asked for the husband to step outside the house.” He reportedly “refused to do so,” though he did allow his young son to exit into authorities’ care.
“After several hours of negotiations, the suspect surrendered to officers,” the Houston Police Department said at the time. Inside the home, officers found Victoria Anderson “unresponsive with a gunshot wound,” and paramedics pronounced her dead.
James Anderson was then booked into the Harris County Jail.
His death on Friday is being investigated, with an autopsy to be conducted by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.
